Behind-the-scenes look at Xi's Buckingham Palace welcome

It is reported that more than 2,000 items of silverware and 1,000 glasses will be used during the banquet.[Photo/CRI]

Royal chef

Britain's "royal chef", Mark Flanagan, and his team will prepare meals for Xi and Peng. The talented team in the cavernous kitchens uses such occasions to showcase meat, game, fruit and vegetables from the queen's estates as well as promoting the "best of British". Attention to detail is remarkable with even post-dinner chocolates being molded from a button on a footman's livery and dusted with edible gold. There will be two showpiece events on the first day of the visit, a luncheon following the Chinese couple's welcome and the glittering state banquet later that night.