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Beijing snacks, combining varied flavors from different nationalities like
Han, Hui, Meng, Man and court snacks from the Ming and Qing Dynasties, include
many kinds and form the characteristic of their own.
Many believe that there are over two hundred kinds of snacks in Beijing,
including dishes going with wine, such as Quick-Fried Tripe (Bao Du), Boiled
Sheep's Head (Bai Shui Yang Tou), Flour-Pastry desserts, like Pancakes with
Meat-Fillings (Rou Mo Shao Bing) and some other snacks for breakfast or
as midnight snack, like Sticky Rice with Sweet Fillings (Ai Wo Wo) and Rolling
Donkey (Lu Da Gun). What local Beijing people, especially elder ones like
most are Mung Bean Milk (Dou Zhi), Fried Liver (Chao Gan) and Filled Sausage
(Guan Chang).
There are also lots of famous Restaurant serving snacks. For example, Fangshan
Restaurant serves Sticky Rice with
Sweet Fillings and Pea-Flour Cake (Wan Dou Huang); Donglaishun Restaurant
serves Cream Fried Cake (Nai You Zha Gao). You may always find something
special in many restaurants.
There are virtually too many places for snacks in Beijing for you to make
a decision on which one to go to. Here are some tips. Generally speaking,
there are four places popular of this kind.
One is Duyichu Restaurant,
sitting at 36 Qianmen Street in Chongwen District. It was opened in 1738,
and is famous for its Shao Mai, a dumpling alike snack with attractive appearance
and delicious taste.
Another is Nanlaishun in
Xuanwu District, where you can find about seventy different types of snacks.
The third place is Longfu Temple
or Longfusi Snacks Restaurant which primarily serves Islamic Snacks.
The fourth one is Evening Market
Snacks Street near Donghuaemen, Wangfujing commercial district. It is
a place where most common people go for snacks. Fangshan Restaurant is a
place serving the snacks derived from the menus that were once used for
preparation of imperial foods.
Besides what are mentioned above in the fixed facilities, tourists can always
find many other kinds along roadsides. As the best example, Sugar-Coated
Haws on a stick, or Bing Tang Hu Lu in Chinese,
is sold everywhere in the winter and is one of the daintiest snacks. It
looks brightly red, bearing a little sour and sweet. Another equally popular
roadside snack is baked sweet potato, or Kao Hong Shu in Chinese, it is
extremely fragrant and sweet if eating hot. Shish kebab, or Yang Rou Chuan
in Chinese, is another good choice for snack. Xingjiang Shish kebab, in
which mutton is strung together on a skewer and roasted over a charcoal
with salt, pepper, ziran and other Xingjiang seasonings added as spices,
is very popular not only in Beijing but also in most of cities all
over the country.
Other effective approach to tasting authentic Beijing snacks is visiting
small family-run Restaurants
that serve snacks. These small restaurants typically open
until late night when the bigger ones have closed. Common foods served by
small restaurants include steamed bread, steamed dumplings, dumplings, noodles,
and family-style dishes, which are not usually seen in the formal dining
facilities. You will also be surprised to see how little a dinner costs
you there.
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restaurants available, dining choices in Beijing are practically unlimited.
After a busy schedule of business meetings or a long day tour of the city,
the travelers can either enjoy the luxuries at an upper class restaurant
or dine cost-effectively at the smaller family-run facilities located
all over the city. We have put together a list of uniquely featured restaurants
in Beijing, based on our broad dining experiences, in an attempt to help
the tourists to quickly located the right dining places.
