Beijing Dining

Crisp Beijing Roast DuckCuisines from many different cultures permeate the Beijing dining scene. With literally thousands of restaurants available, dining choices are practically unlimited. And the best part is that you can splurge at a fancy restaurant or dine supremely well (any much more cheaply) at any of the smaller family-run operations located all over the city.

Beijing Roast Duck

It is said that there are two things that you must do when visiting Beijing: One is to enjoy the roast duck and the other is to take a stroll on the Great Wall. There is simply quite nothing like a perfectly roasted duck with bronzed crispy skin and tender, succulent meat. There are literally dozens of restaurants that serve this famous dish, but perhaps the best known are Quanjude and Bianyifang.

Beijing Imperial Court Food

Imperial Cuisine has evolved over time to be enjoyed by all of the country's people, characterized by complex preparation techniques, the freshest ingredients and elaborate presentation including colorful vegetable carvings. It is the foundation of Beijing cuisine. Probably the finest expression of classic imperial cooking is the Tan Jia cuisine served at the Beijing Hotel.

Beijing Snack

Fancy Beijing snack is a must in tasting the authentic Beijing flavor. These dishes emanate from many different cuisines, but the Chinese Muslim influenceis the most apparent. There are probably 200 varieties of snacks in Beijing. Most of the snacks can be found throughout the city. Here, let us begin a snack tourto seek most delicious snacks of Beijing.

Chinese Cuisines

Beijing RestaurantBesides of the eight cuisines, most of regions and minorities in China also have their own particular cuisines that supply customers with more choices. For example, the delicate Shanghai, Huaiyang and Chaozhou cuisines, the unconstrained Shaanxi, Shanxi and Dongbei cuisines as well as the exotic Moslem and Uygur cuisines. In Beijing, it is easily to find such a kind of restaurant for dinner. Here is a bilingual menu which can help ordering dishes in restaurants.

Western Restaurants

In addition to the thousands of Chinese restaurants, there are also lots of places serving foods from all over the world. You can basically get any type of food you want here, if you know where to find it.

American
Brazilian
French
Germen
Italian
Russian
Scandinavian
Swiss

Asian Restaurants

Are you still looking for the special food which could suprise you by totally different flavors? Why not try an Asian restaurant in Beijing?

Japanese
Korean
Indian
Indonesian
Thai
Vietnamese

  Sea Food

Seafood  is a special dish in east and south part of China. It is well liked around the country with its fresh and special flavor.

  Hot Pot

You will never be disappointed to look for various kinds of food. For the cold weather, Hot Pot is a good choice to try. It is no wonder that some love to have in summer too. Hot pot is so popular nationwide.

Fastfood

Apart from KFC, McDonald's and other well-known western fastfood shops, there is no lack of Chinese, Japanese and special flavor (such as curry) fastfood restaurants in Beijing, some of which are chain shops.

  Muslim Restaurants

Feature food from Chinese ethnic minorities contributes a lot to Beijing's colorful dining culture. Characterized by its fresh yet dense flavor, Muslim Cuisine is also known as Islamic cai and Hui cai, the best dish of which is Whole Sheep Banquet which has won wide praise. 

Vegetarian Restaurants

Like fastfood is for people in a hurry, the increasingly fashionable vegetarian dishes are for vegetarians or persons who love this healthy dining style, but not only for those vegetarians for the religion's sake. Merits and Virtues Vegetarian House is a time honored brand in Beijing that was first founded in Shanghai. Absolutely, there are more vegetarian restaurants listed on page for references.

Cafeterias

Helping oneself in Cafeterias is a popular and free dining style favored by multitudes of people. Many BBQ restaurants and cafes are of this kind. Here are many excellent cafeterias getting well spoken. For specialty cafeterias, Golden Jafuar, Amazon and Max's Cafeteria are all sound ones.

Buffets

If tired of big dishes all the time, buffets offering desserts, milk tea, ice cream and takeaway coffee are comfortable choice. One can sit and enjoy in the small but delicately decorated shops or buy some drinks and candies by the way while roaming about. If interested in old Beijing culture, tea house is a perfect choice where listening Beijing Opera and other folk art performances is enjoyable as tasting the tea aroma.

  Special Flavor

Some Special Flavor restaurants are enveloped in romantic atmosphere and they are ideal places for appointment between lovers. There are also other restaurants listed here in terms of food style to provide another way for customer to choose where and what to eat.

Travelers' Voices on Dining in Beijing

1.

Mar. 21,2009 22:07 Reply

Mrs.Miza(Indonesia) said:

Is there aby halal food / restaurant in beijing, especiallya near the renaissance hotel at 61 Dongsanhuan Middle Road, Chaoyang District
Beijing, Beijing 100022 China ?

Apr. 28,2009 22:51
Ms.Anna replied:

There are lots of Halal restaurants in Beijing that you could find then anywhere. Here is a brief list:
http://www.travelchinaguide.com/cityguides/beijing/dinning/muslim.htm

May. 11,2009 16:37
Mr.rasheed(america) replied:

how much was the food

May. 11,2009 21:41
Ms.Harion replied:

Well, I think the website has listed out the average cost under very restaurant. Actually, the cost varies greatly from each other.

2.

Feb. 28,2009 05:16 Reply

Ms.nue(Malaysia) said:

know any halal/muslim restaurant??

Mar. 6,2009 03:26
Mr.Dobby replied:

find what your need here:
http://www.travelchinaguide.com/cityguides/beijing/dinning/muslim.htm

3.

Mar. 4,2009 10:22 Reply

Mr.pakwan(Philippines) said:

anybody knows where a filipino resturant is located

Mar. 6,2009 03:18
Mr.Steven replied:

Have no idea about a Filipino restaurant, but would like to try some Southeast Asia restaurants, which may have philippine dishes, see here:
http://www.travelchinaguide.com/cityguides/beijing/dinning/japanese.htm

4.

Feb. 19,2009 16:37 Reply

Mr.ghori(Pakistan) said:

i want to take pakistani food plz located

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