As a fortress on the frontier of ancient China and a summer resort for the imperial consorts, Chengde has had an age to practice its culinary styles. It is the local produce that is the major factor on most menus and the cooking styles that this produce is subject to is even today of delicious standard. The most favoured of the locally caught produce is various game, including hare (Tu zi rou), deer (Lu rou), pheasant (Shan ji rou) and roe (Zhang rou), but it is Chengde's vegetarian products that are most plentiful, this being an area of high yield for the fairly infertile north. Specialties include different types of wheat and maize products (and from these noodles and dumplings), and a variety of fruits (including apricots, peaches & dates) and nuts (including chestnuts, almonds & peanuts).