China

• Beijing

  Perhaps because Beijing is home to the Forbidden City, the Great Wall, and other such landmarks that spring to mind when someone says “China,” travelers to China’s ancient, bustling capital may be surprised to discover that the local cuisine bears little in common with the take-out classics many of us know back home. Foreigners are by no means alone in their confusion; even many Chinese tourists and recent arrivals find themselves not entirely sure what to make of the city’s food.

  It starts to make sense if you consider Beijing’s history and geography, and understand that the cuisine merely reflects the city’s position as a unique cultural crossroads. Simple cooking styles date back to the nomadic Manchus (who established China’s last imperial dynasty); Middle Eastern flavors are thanks to the Silk Road’s Muslim traders. And as a city with a historically sharp divide between the rulers and the ruled, commoners’ meals were often scraped together with whatever was cheap and available, which more often than not included the livers, lungs, and other offal still enjoyed there today.

  But change is afoot in Beijing. As the city grows ever bigger and more affluent, its increasingly cosmopolitan locals are widening their palates, enjoying previously unheard-of cuisines from across China and around the world. As brick-and-tile hutong houses are increasingly knocked down in favor of glass-and-steel high-rises, so too are traditional Beijing eateries slowly being relegated to the history books. Now, more than ever, is the time to seek them out. Let’s explore and celebrate Beijing’s truly unique and often surprising local dishes and drinks before it’s too late.

  —Beijing text & photos by Michael Evans

  Perhaps because Beijing is home to the Forbidden City, the Great Wall, and other such landmarks that spring to mind when someone says “China,” travelers to China’s ancient, bustling capital may be surprised to discover that the local cuisine bears little in common with the take-out classics many of us know back home. Foreigners are by no means alone in their confusion; even many Chinese tourists…   Read more

   

  Find local foods in Beijing.

  Luzhu huoshao (卤煮火烧)

  Tang huoshao 糖火烧

  Shaobing, Beijing flatbreads

  Hot pot

  Chuan’r (串儿)

• User Content

Below is user-submitted content for this region. Have something to contribute? Upload your regional-food photo or food memory.

• 

  Beef Siu Mai

  Guangzhou Shi
  eatingadventures88
• 

  Chicken Soup cooked in Whole Coconut

  Guangzhou Shi
  eatingadventures88
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  Caramelised Water Chestnuts

  Guilin Shi
  eatingadventures88
• 

  Qingyuan Chicken

  Qingyuan
  blurryedgez

• • Third Wheeling By Accident

    lifethroughchocolate
    Hong Kong
    

    As some on TripAdvisor have called it, I’d just entered the ‘Mad Place,’ or Sai Yeung Choi Street, a pedestrian shopping street in Mongkok. I stumbled upon the street by acci…    Read more

  • Hemp Sugar or Cut Cake? A Uighur Delight in Southern China

    jonathand
    Shenzhen
    

    Peanuts, walnuts, apricots, golden and standard-issue raisins, candied fruit, and flour, sugar, and corn syrup densely packed into a cake. Am I in Turkey or the Balkans? Neither, though you…    Read more

• Blog Posts

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• 5 Local Foods to Try in Guangzhou, China

  Photo: Pavel L Photo and Video/Shutterstock When you first travel to a new place, the sights, smells, and sounds are often so new that there’s no question you are somewhere you’ve never been before. Traffic and language sound…   Read more