Snack attack!
By admin on 2015-01-19

Dec. 7, 2009 -- Whether you come to Beijing for a short trip or a long journey, visiting China really comes down to two things: culture and cuisine. For the latter, Beijing visitors simply must pop into two major snack establishments: Jiu Men Xiao Chi and Qing Yun Ge.

A snack stall in Jiu Men Xiao Chi

Jiu Men Xiao Chi

A hundred years ago, specialty snack food stalls could be found scattered throughout the capital. Jiu Men Xiao Chi, the Nine Gates Snack Shop, cleverly combined them all under one roof for the convenience of people who particularly fancy local snack foods but don't want the hassle of traveling all over town to get a decent sampling.

The shop opened on June 30, 2008, and the manager called it Jiu Men because he wished to establish nine branches at the former locations of nine gates to the capital. So far, he's just got the one. For elders, coming here to eat traditional snacks is a nostalgic activity, whereas the youngsters are in search of something beyond fast food.

The popularity of Beijing street snacks has an impressive legacy, and most treats are associated with specific families or individuals who have used the same recipes for years. The most famous snacks and their original creators include Chatang "Millet Paste" Lee, Xiaochang "Small Intestine" Chen, "Cheese" Wei, Shaobing "Baked Sesame Cake" Wang, Baodu "Quick-Boiled Tripe" Feng, Yangtou "Sheepshead" Ma and Niangao "Sticky Rice Cake" Qian. These families have passed their businesses down for three to four generations. Many of the current descendents are 80 years old. Some lucky visitors may even meet the successors and taste the food they cooked in person.

What worries Wang is that Beijing snack culture seems lost on younger generations. "There are more Chinese children who know about Western fast food than local Beijing snack food," she said. "Even though the snacks have been passed along for hundreds of years, they still have to face the change of perception and favor." Taking her family-made shao bing for example, she pointed out how the size of the snack has been reduced into a small bite-sized piece, so that patrons can try several snacks rather than filling up on one treat alone.

Other distinctive snacks in the area include uncongealed tofu with sheep meat and dried mushrooms (kou mo) that only grow in Inner Mongolia. Most of the snacks served here were those historically enjoyed by commoners, with the exception of the Wei family's cheese, which was served to emperors of the Qing Dynasty in the Forbidden City. Rumor has it that a royal chef was a close friend of a man named Wei Hongchen. The chef wrote his royal cheese recipe on a piece of paper for Wei, and it soon became one of the most popular snacks in Beijing.

If you want to enjoy the oldest local snack, get a glass of fermented bean drink, or douzhi. For a truly authentic experience, have it with a fried dough circle (jiao quan) or Chinese pickles.

Performances take place at Jiu Men every day between noon and 1 pm. Ar Long, a collector of old Beijing gadgets, brings his collection out for display.

Address: No. 1 Xiao You Hutong, Xi Cheng District, Beijing Tel: 64026868

Qing Yun Ge

Qing Yun Ge is another well-known Beijing snack shop. With the same variety of snacks for the choosing, this Xuanwu District shop has over 200 years of history. Qing Yun Ge means to rise in one's career or social position. The whole building was designed in the style of a sedan chair (or jiaozi) with a spacious middle hall. Qing Yun Ge is special for more than just its food; it has deep culture and history. The famous Chinese writer Lu Xun reputedly visited Qing Yun Ge up to 400 times during his stay in Beijing, using it as a place to both treat guests and get a little writing done. His favorite snack, spring rolls with shrimp meat and noodles, is still on the menu.

People may buy their snacks on the ground fl oor and bring them to the upper level, where they can sit and enjoy traditional performances, including storytelling and ballad singing (pingtan), Chinese storytelling (pingshu), Drum Songs of Peking (jingyundagu), mask changing (bianlian) and Beijing Opera.

Guotie "Fried Dumpling" Wang, who has a stall here, said that during the mid-20th century, people had little choice apart from seasoned vegetables for dumpling stu§ ng. Now food is so much more plentiful that she has increased the number of dumpling fl avors to eight. In Qing Yun Ge, there truly is something for every taste.