Fast Food: Beijing's Best Street Snacks

Part of the fun of exploring Beijing's lively hutongs is the chance to munch on the city's traditional snacks, served up by itinerant food sellers. Sweet-potato sellers turn their pedicabs into restaurants on wheels. An oil drum, balanced between the two rear wheels, becomes a makeshift baking unit, with small cakes of coal at the bottom roasting sweet potatoes strung around the top. In fall and winter, sugar-coated delicacies are a popular treat. Crab apples, water chestnuts, grapes, and yams are placed on skewers, about a half-dozen to a stick; the fruit is then bathed in syrup that hardens into a shiny candy coating, providing a sugar rush for those all-day walks.

Perhaps the best place to sample street food is the Donghuamen market. Located on the north end of the Wangfujing pedestrian street, the market has an extensive lineup of cooked-food stalls. Sure, it's extremely touristy, and you'll be elbow-to-elbow with wide-eyed travelers from tour buses, but it is also an incredibly fun place. Cheerful vendors call out to potential customers, their wares glowing under red lanterns. Kebabs are the main attraction here, and it seems as though anything under the sun can be skewered and fried. There are the outlandish skewers of scorpion, silkworm cocoons, and even starfish, all fried to a crisp and covered with spices. There are also the more palatable (and more authentic) lamb kebabs flavored with cumin and chili flakes.

Worried about hygiene? The turnover at vendor carts and street-side stands is rapid, so it's unusual that anything has been sitting around long. It's easy to tell if the food is fresh, because it will be furiously hot when served. If you have any doubts, ask the vendor to cook yours to order, rather than accepting the ready-made skewers on display.

On the banks of Houhai, near the historical residence of Soong Ching-ling, is the entrance to Xiaoyou Hutong. Down this narrow alley you'll find Jiumen Xiaochi, a traditional courtyard house occupied by famous street-food vendors forced to relocate because of urban redevelopment plans. Some of these vendors have been producing the same specialty dishes for decades. Look out for lu dagun, a pastry made of alternate layers of glutinous rice and red bean paste; dalian huoshao, northern-style beef pot-stickers; and zha guanchang, deep-fried slices of mung bean dough dipped in a raw garlic sauce.

Some modern snacks are ubiquitous, such as the jiangbing, a hearty crepe made from mung bean flour and stuffed with egg and a crispy piece of fried batter. Briny fermented bean paste and hot chili sauce are spread on thick before they are topped with a sprinkling of cilantro and spring onions. Also on the streets: baozi, fluffy white buns filled with all manners of meat and vegetables, and xianbing, wheat flour pockets typically stuffed with chives and eggs. When the weather turns colder, expect fruit covered in syrup and roasted sweet potatoes. These snacks satisfy cold-weather cravings, and are an important part of the city's street-food extravaganza.