LISTINGS - The Rough Guide to Beijing - page 202

tropical flavours that you might encounter are pineapple, seasoned pork and lots of mush-
rooms; dishes are often spicy, and some places serve them on banana leaves.
Hunanese If you think that Sichuanese food is spicy, just wait until you try some dishes from
Hunan, a province south of Beijing. The Hunanese love their river fish, often served under a
mountain of red-hot chilli peppers.
STREET FOOD
Any backpacker worth their salt will be itching to have a crack at Beijing's wonderfully
weird street food, but even if you're not on a budget the city's street stalls can be up there
with its most atmospheric places to eat. The best place to try street food is at one of the
designated night markets , which are at their busiest and best in the summer. The Noah's
Ark-like fare on offer would make a vegetarian heave: chicken hearts, sparrows, crickets,
silkworm pupae, scorpions (still alive, until fried), sheep testicles (and willies)… the list
goes on. Generally, though, what's on offer is hygienic, and you can feel confident of food
cooked in front of you.
At more regular street stands, which you'll find in every single part of the city, most pop-
ular are the skewers ( 串 , chuàn, though pronounced chuar in Beijing's pirate-like accent)
of heavily spiced, barbecued meat, often served up by Uyghurs from Xinjiang, China's far
west; lamb skewers ( 羊肉串 , yángròu chuàn) are top dog, though there are usually vari-
ous cuts of chicken to choose from too. If you want the most authentic possible experien-
ce, head to the streets just north of Niujie Mosque . Not far behind in the popularity stakes
are places serving malatang ( 麻辣烫 , málà tàng), various skewered comestibles boiled in
a spicy broth, and often served with a peanut paste.
NIGHT MARKETS
Dong'anmen Night Market 东安门夜市 , dōngānmén yèshì Dong'anmen Dajie; Wang-
fujing (line 1) or Dengshikou subway (line 5); map . Set up along the north side of this main
road are red-canopied stalls offering all sorts of weird and wonderful goodies, generally of
a higher quality and lower price than you'd get in Xiaochi Jie. Sadly, it shuts rather early
for a “night” market. Daily 4-10pm.
Xiaochi Jie Night Market 小吃街 , xiǎochī jiē Xiaochi Jie; Wangfujing subway (line 1);
map . This pedestrianized alley is lined with stalls selling xiao chī - literally, “little eats” -
from all over China. Though vendors are pushier than those at Dong'anmen, it's more at-
mospheric, and has the added bonus of tables at which you can actually sit down - perhaps
with an ice-cold glass of beer. Daily 10am-midnight.