Bite-sized stroll in Beijing

Wangfujing Snack Street is located next to Wangfujing Pedestrian Street and on the south side of Youhao Shijie Marketplace in Beijing. Zhang Heping / for China Daily

Beijing

Wangfujing's famous snack street gives locals and visitors some good food - and a bit of history - to chew on. Cao Yin reports

As the saying goes, bread is the staff of life. People arriving at a new place or gathering with friends are always eager to find delicious food. Many find their way to Wangfujing Snack Street.

Located next to Wangfujing's bustling pedestrian street just east of Tian'anmen Square, the snack street offers both traditional local foods and delicacies from across China. A standout among the different snack streets around Beijing, Wangfujing combines the capital's historic architectural features and urban cultures.

The entrance of the snack street is a pailou, or a big archway, designed in Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) style at about 10 meters tall - a favorite spot for visitors taking pictures.

The street covers more than 2,000 square meters. Some of the typical old buildings are houses for the wealthy, while others belong to common residents. All reflect the vivid style of the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing dynasties and can take visitors back to the days of the old imperial capital immediately.

The street is jam-packed with small food stalls, and visitors can taste more than 500 kinds of popular snacks there.

Walking into the street, people will first see bunches of tanghulu, the famed candy-coated hawthorn fruit on skewers, at many stalls. Once usually eaten in winter, the 5-yuan (77 cents) treats, including those made of different fruits, can be enjoyed year-round.

After that sweet-and-sour appetizer, try one of Beijing's original pastries: aiwowo, steamed dumplings made of glutinous rice flour and stuffing, or perhaps ludagun, cakes made of glutinous rice flour and sweetened red bean paste that are coated with soybean flour (5 yuan for a slice).

Beyond those traditional desserts, look for zhaguanchang, or fried starch sausage in garlic sauce, is another Beijing specialty no visitor should miss. This tasty dish is commonly cooked in local residents' homes.

Other traditional snacks are luzhuhuoshao (pot-stewed pig's intestine with baked wheat cakes) and baodu (quick-boiled tripe), which are each 10 yuan a bowl and popular among natives. They may not be every visitor's choice, because of their particular tastes and cooking processes.

Besides different kinds of snacks that are traditions of the capital, people can also taste delicious foods from other places in China, such as yangrouchuan, or lamb kebab from the northwestern Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, and mifen, rice flour vermicelli from Southwest China's Guizhou province.

All the snacks are served as take-away only. People can either eat on the street or ask for a bag to take it home. As wandering about the street, visitors can also enjoy Peking Opera and kungfu shows nearby.

"For eating traditional food, Wangfujing Snack Street is my first choice," said Li Chenguang, a 23-year-old native. "Because eating in a street with gray tiles and walls is an enjoyment that cannot be described with words."

"Although the street is always crowded, it is worthy of going. Although many traditional snacks may seem a little bit weird, they are worthy of trying," Li said.

"Visitors can take about 30 yuan to enjoy the fantastic journey of delicious snacks there," he said.