Qianmen Street Scenic Area [Photo via VCG]
What food streets are there in Beijing? Let's take a look.
1. Wangfujing Street
Wangfujing Street stretches from Dongchang'anjie in the south to the National Art Museum of China in the north, with a total length of 1,600 meters. It is the most famous commercial street in Beijing. Situated on the south side of Haoyou World Shopping Mall on Wangfujing Street, and with more than 100 shops and stalls, Wangfujing Snack Street is a market specialized in the selling of various types of local snacks in China, souvenirs, and folk crafts. It brings together more than 500 kinds of local famous snacks from all over China, so that tourists can taste the various local snacks from the eastern, southern, western and northern part of the country.
2. Qianmen Street Scenic Area
Qianmen Street is a well-known commercial street in Beijing. Situated on the central axis of Beijing city, it starts from Qianmen Yueliangwan (Moon Bay) in the north to the intersection of Tianqiaolu in the south, and connects with Tianqiao Nandajie. From the Ming and Qing Dynasties to the Republic of China (1912-1949), it was called Zhengyangmen Street. In 1965, it was officially named Qianmen Street. Nowadays, it gathers many time-honored restaurants and shops, as well as various types of local snacks of China, making the street an ideal place for people to go shopping and enjoy delicious food. In addition, the ancient buildings on the street, together with memorial archways, old signboards, red lanterns and other elements, reproduce the old days in Beijing.
3. Guijie Street
Guijie Street is located in Dongzhimennei Street, and the west section of Dongzhimen Bridge of the 2nd Ring Road, and reaches the east end of Jiaodaokou Dongdajie in the west. It is surrounded by many embassies, which makes it convenient for foreign tourists and foreigners working in Beijing to taste authentic Chinese food. On this one-kilometer-long street, 90% of over 150 commercial shops fall into the catering service industry. It may be hard for people to find out another street in Beijing with such a high density of restaurants. Therefore, Guijie Street is also known as one of the most famous food streets in Beijing.
4. Suzhou Street
Suzhou Street is a food street in Zhongguancun Science Park. The food price and the decoration of restaurants here are above medium-level. There are restaurants with various flavors, among which Cantonese and Hunan cuisines are the most popular.
5. Fuchenglu Food Street
Starting from the Hangtian Bridge on the West 3rd Ring Road in the east to the Dinghui Bridge on the West 4th Ring Road in the west, the street has a total length of about 3 kilometers and gathers many well-known catering companies specialized in various types of Chinese cuisines such as Hangzhou cuisine, Huaiyang cuisine, Hunan cuisine, Hubei cuisine and Sichuan cuisine. These restaurants have their own distinctive styles of decoration, some of which are exquisite with their carved and painted beams, some of which are luxurious with their magnificent designing, some of which look classical with their Chinese elements, and some of which look elegant with their Western elements. Therefore, it is a famous high-end dining area in Beijing.
6. Guanganmen Food Street
Stretching from Liuliqiao in the west to the Hufang Bridge in the east, Guanganmen Food Street is a food street that has emerged with the refitting and renovation of Southern Beijing, with spicy food as its major flavor. In addition, some time-honored brands in Southern Beijing can be very easy to find on this street. From seafood food stalls to abalones and shark's fin restaurants, from Chinese cuisine to halal flavors, the delicacies available on this street will make you feel that your whole lifetime is not long enough for you to taste them all.
7. Laitai Gourmet Street
On this street, there are nearly 20 restaurants specialized in different types of cuisine including Sichuan cuisine, Cantonese cuisine, Hunan cuisine, Hangzhou cuisine, Xinjiang cuisine, Japanese cuisine, Korean cuisine, as well as tea restaurants and coffee shops. Generally, their interior decoration is of high class and distinctive features can be seen in their environment, and the average consumption of each customer is mostly of middle-level.
8. Fangzhuang Food Street
Fangzhuang Food Street is one of the earliest new type of food streets in Beijing. Those well-known restaurants that gain presence in prosperous and bustling areas have opened their branches here. The street gathers diverse cuisines including Chinese and Western food, and attracts many brand shops. With complete facilities and a rich variety of delicious food in the restaurants, the street offers you an ideal place to enjoy midnight snacks when you feel hard to fall asleep at night.
9. Xiaoyunlu Food Street
Located between the Sanyuan East Bridge on the 3rd Ring Road and the Xiaoyun Bridge on the 4th Ring Road, Xiaoyunlu Food Street is a long street stretching from southwest to northeast. Restaurants of various grades offer different tastes of foods, most of which are exotic flavors.
10. Xingbalu (Bar Street) Food Street
This is a distinctive bar and food street in Beijing. In addition to Chinese food, you can enjoy various types of cuisines such as Japanese cuisine, Korean cuisine, Southeast Asian cuisine, Italian cuisine, African cuisine.
11. Ping'an Street
Ping'an Street is a food street in Beijing that witnesses the historical changes. When you walk straight from Dongsishitiao Bridge all the way to the west, or wander around Di'anmen, you will encounter various type of restaurants showing up one after another on both sides of the street. Eating only represents half of your enjoyment here, and the other half comes from appreciating the architecture and the history behind it, because many shops were built on the sites of some mansions and residences that once housed royal families. This street has strong cultural deposits, and the delicacies here are delicious. For example, the Peking Building (Beipinglou restaurant) near Ping'anli offers particularly authentic Baodu (quick-fried tripe), Douzhi (mung bean milk), and Zhajiangmian (noodles with bean paste).
12. The Asian Games Village Food Street
Stretching from Huizhonglu to Datunlu, the Asian Games Village Food Street offers you all kinds of food from high-end abalone to inexpensive Northeastern Chinese cuisine, allowing you to fully enjoy delicious Chinese food.
13. Oriental Plaza Food Republic
Located near the Oriental Plaza in Wangfujing Street, Beijing, the Oriental Plaza Food Republic is a food and commercial street known for the gathering of world-renowned brands. If you want to go shopping while eating, you can try the handmade Italian gelato of Romana Ice Cream or the cold drinks of Yogen Fruz. If you want to eat snacks, candies of Icandy from Switzerland or Watkins Brachs from the US are a good choice. Besides, the pork jerky of Bee Cheng Hiang can satisfy your craving for food. If you feel tired, you can sit for a while to have a rest, and a variety of food are available for you to enjoy including the nutritional meals of Chamate, the affordable ramen of Ajisen Ramen, the Japanese cuisine of Helv Sushi, the delicious barbecue of Sizzler, as well as the food of Le Jazz and Prima Taste. These food will definitely tickle your taste buds.
14. Shichahai Snack Street
This is a snack street that gathers more than a dozen time-honored brands including Yueshengzhai (月盛斋), Baodu (quick-fried tripe) Feng (爆肚冯), Chatang (seasoned flour mush) Li (茶汤李), Niangao (a Chinese New Year’s cake made from glutinous rice) Qian (年糕钱), Nailao (cheese) Wei (奶酪魏), Yangtou (sheep's head) Ma (羊头马), Doufunao (Tofu pudding) Bai (豆腐脑白). What is particularly interesting is that the names of many private rooms in the shops are named after the names of places in Beijing such as "Qianmen" and "Chongwenmen", which has fully shown the traditions of Beijing.
(Source: Visitbeijing.com.cn)