Muslim area offers Spring Festival delights

That morning, Jiang Haoming, 30, waited in line for two hours to buy snacks and beef.

For the first time, Jiang will not return to his hometown of Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu province, to celebrate Spring Festival with his family. Instead, he will spend the week-long holiday in Beijing, as due to the pandemic, people have been encouraged to avoid unnecessary travel during the vacation.

"I often come to Ox Street to buy food because of the high-quality beef and mutton as well as the delicious snacks," said Jiang, who works for an online education institution and lives in the Maliandao area, about a 12-minute drive from Ox Street.

"I buy a lot of food－including snacks and drink－online, but I always want to come to this street because I enjoy seeing the snacks on offer and other food, such as steamed stuffed buns, beef pancakes and noodles with mutton soup, which taste best when they are hot.

"Although I am not going to Nanjing, I will have dinner with friends on Lunar New Year's Eve. Like me, they have decided to stay in Beijing during the holiday. We will share tasty food together and I don't think I'll be bored or lonely.

"My mother sent me some food from my hometown and I have started to prepare for the holiday by cleaning my house and buying food. After all, it's Spring Festival, one of the most important traditional occasions in China."

Unlike Jiang, Sha Zhigang, a member of the Hui ethnic group, was born and grew up in the area around Ox Street.

Sha, now in his 60s, visits small restaurants in the street for breakfast after taking his 7-year-old grandson to a primary school. He later shops for lunch and dinner at a food market in the area.

He said he waited about 40 minutes to buy one of his favorite snacks, wandouhuang (cake made from pea paste).

"Most of my family live in Ox Street, and we don't want to move because it's very convenient to buy food here. Before Spring Festival, we usually buy beef and mutton to make dumplings or hotpot during the holiday," Sha said.

He added that during Lantern Festival, which this year falls on Feb 26, his family will buy yuanxiao, a ball-shaped dessert made from glutinous rice, which comes in different flavors, such as chocolate, sesame and red bean paste.

"More people will be coming to Ox Street to buy yuanxiao, so we will get up early to join the line," Sha said, adding that his grandson loves chocolate-flavored variety.