Donghuamen evening snack market may be famous among tourists for its kooky cuisine - everything from fried scorpions to cicadas - but the truth is, average Chinese people find such foods pretty strange as well.
For a better example of Beijing's traditional snacks, or xiaochi, visit Jiumen Xiaochi (Nine-gate Traditional Snack Restaurant), a restaurant adapted from a courtyard house along the north bank of Houhai Lake. That's where you'll find a truer taste of Beijing.
Some popular city snacks include Qian's glutinous rice cake, Wei's cheese juice, Li's flour tea, pouch-shaped baked wheaten cake, Yue Sheng Zhai's stewed marinated beef, Ma's water-boiled sheep head mutton and Bai's jellied bean curd.
The oldest Beijing traditional xiaochi has a history stretching back more than 600 years. And the chefs making your fresh goodies today are descended from the family that perfected the original recipes.
The restaurant also offers some traditional Beijing desserts, such as strings of candied hawthorn fruit and dried fruits. Some traditional snacks have interesting names. Ludagun (donkey roll over) is a glutinous yellow rice cake roll, with fried bean flour sprayed onto the surface. Wandouhuang (pea yellow) is a mashed pea cake made from boiled and mashed peas and small Chinese jujubes. Aiwowo is a snow-white glutinous rice ball with sweet stuffing. Average cost is 70 yuan ($10) per person.
Other places to tempt your senses include Di'anmen snack restaurant and Huguosi snack restaurant, which both offer a variety of old Beijing snacks. The restaurants are small, with food samples offered in window counters and simple tables and benches to sit on. One can try 3-5 kinds of snacks for 20 yuan ($2.9).
Ye Jun
Beijing Nine-gate Traditional Snack Restaurant 九門小吃
Address: 1 Xiaoyou Hutong, north side of Houhai, Xicheng district 西城區后海北沿孝友胡同1號
Open: 10:30 am-1:30 pm, 5 pm-9 pm
Tel: 6402-5858
Nanlaishun 南來順飯莊
Address: 12 Nancaiyuan Jie, Xuanwu district, south to the west gate of Grand View Garden 宣武區南菜園街12號(大觀園西門南側)
Tel: 6353-4720
Di'anmen Traditional Snacks Restaurant 地安門小吃店
Address: 180 Di'anmenwai Dajie, Xicheng district 西城區地安門外大街180號
Open: 6 am-8 pm
Tel: 6404-2946
Huguosi Traditional Snacks Restaurant 護國寺小吃店
Address: 93 Huguosi, Xicheng district 西城區護國寺93號
Open: 6 am-8 pm
Tel: 6618-1705