During the Kuang Hsu reign at the end of the Ching dynasty, the Empress Dowager Tsu Hsi dined on thirty different dishes for breakfast, of which seven included bird's nest.
燕窩燒鴨子、燕窩福壽湯，均是御筵常饌。光緒年間，慈禧的早膳三十幾樣菜中，用燕窩的就有七樣。