Beijing

See the Districts articles for individual listings.

The best way to eat well and cheaply in Beijing is to enter one of the ubiquitous restaurants where the locals are eating and pick a few different dishes from the menu. Truth be told, anyone familiar with Western currency and prices will find Beijing a very inexpensive city for food, especially considering that tipping is not practiced in China.

Some of the cheapest and most delicious meals can be had on the streets. Savory pancakes 煎饼果子 Jiānbĭng guŏzi are one of the most popular street snacks, eaten from morning till night with most carts operating during the morning commute and then opening again at night for the after-club crowds and night-owls. This delicious pancake is cooked with an egg on a griddle, a fried dough crisp is added, and the whole thing is drizzled in scallions and a savory sauce. Hot sauce is optional. Diehard fans often go on a quest for the best cart in the city. This treat should only cost ¥2.50, with an extra egg ¥3.

Lamb kebabs 羊肉串儿 yángròu chuànr and other kebabs are grilled on makeshift stands all around Beijing, from the late afternoon to late at night. Wangfujing has a "snack street" selling such mundane fare like lamb, chicken, and beef as well as multiple styles of noodle dishes, such as Sichuan style rice noodles, but the brave can also sample silkworm, scorpion, and various organs all skewered on a stick and grilled to order.

A winter specialty, candied haw berries 冰糖葫芦 bīngtáng húlu are dipped in molten sugar which is left to harden in the cold and sold on a stick. You can also find variations with oranges, grapes, strawberries, and bananas, or dipped in crumbled peanuts as well as sugar. This sweet snack can also sometimes be found in the spring and the summer, but the haw berries are often from last season's crop.

The most famous street for food in Beijing is probably Guijie 簋街/鬼街 Guǐjiē, see Dongcheng District for further detail.

Beijing Roast Duck is a famous Beijing specialty served at many restaurants, but there are quite a few restaurants dedicated to the art of roasting the perfect duck. Expect to pay around ¥40 per whole duck at budget-range establishments, and ¥160-200 at high-end restaurants. Beijing duck 北京烤鸭 Bĕijīng kăoyā is served with thin pancakes, plum sauce 甜面酱 tiánmiàn jiàng，and slivers of scallions and cucumbers. You dip the duck in the sauce and roll it up in the pancake with a few slivers of scallions and/or cucumbers. The end result is a mouthwatering combination of the cool crunchiness of the cucumber, the sharpness of the scallions, and the rich flavors of the duck.

Quan Ji De 全聚德 is the most famous restaurant for Beijing Duck. Nowadays, Quan Ji De has become a chain and you can find it in many areas in Beijing, and other cities as well. Unlike McDonald’s, the quality, as well as price, among different Quan Ji De restaurants differs greatly. For quality and authentic Beijing Duck, only two Quan Ji De restaurants should be patronized: one in Qian Men 前门 and one in He Ping Men（和平门）. Both of them are in central locations, providing the most authentic Beijing Duck dishes and their prices are dearest too, but the former is right in the middle of tourist area and there is always a very long queue during lunch or dinner time. The latter is just one subway station away from former with a much bigger capacity, and you will be guided to your seats in no time when you walk in.