As a special local product of great reputation, the salted Nanjing duck has a long history of more than one thousand years. With white skin, fat but not greasy meat and good taste, it is appetizing, crisp and delicate, which forms its characteristics. The salted ducks of the best color and taste appear around the Mid-autumn Festival, when the osmanthus bloom luxuriantly. Thus the duck wins a good name of 'osmanthus duck'. The Baimen Recipes says,' Every August in Jinling, the salted duck is the most popular food, because everyone can smell the fragrance of osmanthus in its meat. The osmanthus duck is delicious but not greasy, so people are not bored with it, though they often eat it.'The salted duck is a good dish that goes with wine.

On New Year's Day or other festivals or when guests come home at ordinary times, people often go shopping for a bowl of salted duck, which has become a common etiquette in Nanjing.