Late-night dining is a favorite Beijing pastime, and the most convenient way to experience it is to visit one of several night markets scattered about the city. This is street food, government regulated but not guaranteed to be clean, so the weak in stomach or courage may want to pass. Gastrointestinal gamble aside, the markets are a vivid and often delicious way to spend an evening.
The markets are typically made up of stalls, jammed side by side, selling all manner of snacks that cost anywhere from ¥0.50 (6¢) to ¥5 (60¢). Most legendary are the little animals on sticks, a veritable zoo of skewers that includes baby birds and scorpions. There are popular markets on Longfu Si Jie (north of Wangfujing Dajie next to the Airlines Ticketing Hall) and west of the Beijing Zoo (at the Dongyuan Yeshi), but the most celebrated is the Donghua Men night market, just off Wangfujing Dajie opposite the Xin Dong An Plaza.
In a year of citywide cosmetic overhauls, even the Donghua Men has received a face-lift. With a history supposedly dating back to 1655, it was closed during the Cultural Revolution and finally reopened in 1984. Previously a charming mish-mash of independent operators each in their own battered tin shacks, it was "reorganized" in 2000. The stalls are all now a uniform red and white, each with identical twin gas burners. Prices have risen into the ¥10 ($1) range and the food has fallen a bit in quality, but the payoff is a rise in cleanliness and an increase in revenues from foreign tourists.
Below are some of the most common items you'll find for sale at the stalls.
Baozi: Steamed buns typically filled with mixtures of pork and vegetable, but occasionally available with just vegetables (around ¥3/40¢ for a basket of five).
Jianbing: Large crepe with egg, folded around fried dough with cilantro and with plum and hot sauces (¥2/30¢).
Jiaozi: Pork and vegetable filling with doughy wrapper, commonly boiled (¥2-¥4/30¢-50¢ for 12).
Miantiao: Noodles, commonly stir-fried with vegetables or boiled in beef broth with cilantro (¥1-¥3/10¢-20¢).
Xianbing: Stuffed pancakes, usually filled with meat or vegetables, fried golden brown (around ¥2/30¢).
Yang rou chuan: Lamb skewers with cumin and chili powder, either fried or roasted; also available in a chicken (jirou) version (¥1/10¢).
