As China's capital city, Beijing offers visitors an exhaustive variety of Chinese cuisine. Over thousands of years Beijing's cuisine has been shaped by people from other regions of China as well as other nations. The city supports a dynamic culinary environment where virtually any delicacy from any part of the world is readily available. At that, local cuisine still reigns supreme and the signature dish is still 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 no set order in which to do these things but a walk on the Wall is sure to whet your appetite for the duck! 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. Each of the two has a different method of preparation, but each produces a delicious result. Quanjude roasts their ducks over burning wood while Bianyifang roasts its ducks using radiant heat from the oven walls.

Imperial Cuisine which was once the exclusive province of China's royalty has evolved over time to be enjoyed by all of the country's people. It is the foundation of Beijing cuisine. An imperial feast is characterized by complex preparation techniques and the freshest ingredients. It also can feature elaborate presentation including colorful vegetable carvings. Probably the finest expression of classic imperial cooking is the Tan Jia cuisine served at the Beijing Hotel.

Cuisine from many different cultures permeates 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.

Another kind of food you must taste is the Beijing Snack. These dishes emanate from many different cuisines, but the Chinese Muslim influence is the most apparent. There are probably 200 varieties of snacks in Beijing including Quick-Fried Tripe (Bao Du); Pot-stewed Tripe (Luzhu); Bean Soup (Dou Zhi) and Sweet Cake (Tang Huo Shao). Most of the snacks can be found throughout the city, but a prime location is in the Qianmen Gate area. A dazzling array of food from every corner of the country is available here. Longfusi, Wangfujing, Donghuamen and Gui Jie (Ghost Street) streets are other premier locations for these mouth-watering delights.

If you wish to take a break from Chinese cuisine, Beijing offers a vast number of foreign restaurants featuring dishes from virtually every location on the globe. Popular foreign dining spots include Hidden Tree (Mediterrenean); Justine's at the Jianguo Hotel (French); Courtyard (Fusion); Danieli's (Italian) and Matsuko (Japanese). Well-known fast food chains abound as well. You can always find KFC, Pizza Hut, and A&W Root Beer among others.

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