王府井小吃街 Wangfujing Street in downtown Beijing is a bustling commercial area. In early 2000, it was made a pedestrian street, the only one in the Chinese capital, and not long ago, a snack street was opened in the southwestern part of Wangfujing Street. All the snack stalls there are built according to the architectural style of old Beijing, and the snack street attracts many customers every day, especially in the evening.

An archway stands tall in front of the entrance to the snack street. On the back of the archway is a large lamp-lit glass box with a text describing the construction of the snack street and the history of snacks in Beijing.

Lining the street are stalls with so many appetizing snacks that one cannot try them all even if one goes to the street every day for several days and eats one’s fill each time.

Beijing is known for its great variety of snacks. Most have their origin in the pastries invented by the people of the Manchu ethnic group during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). These include aiwowo (steamed dumplings made of glutinous rice flour and stuffing), ludagun (cake made of glutinous rice flour and sweetened red bean paste and coated with soybean flour), luzhuhuoshao (pot-stewed pig’s intestine with baked wheat cakes), and zhaguanchang (fried starch sausage in garlic sauce).

During the last few years, the migration of people to Beijing from other parts of China has introduced an abundance of other snacks. From Sichuan Province come snacks of Chinese prickly ash, chili, and hot seasonings; from the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, kebabs; from Guizhou Province, rice-flour vermicelli; from Guangzhou, fried beef; and from Suzhou, stuffed buns steamed in small bamboo steamers.

Chinese snacks are a must for visitors to Beijing, and the snack street on Wangfujing is the best place to go.