Treat Your Taste Buds in Baoding

Food in Baoding is of northern style, which is known for its aromas. Restaurants like Mei Shi Shan, Tian Yi Gong, and Zhong Yi have pleasant environments but relatively higher prices. Restaurants named Dong Lai Shun and Lao Cheng Gener are recommended.

 

Perhaps the best known item to supposedly originate in Baoding are Baoding Balls, which can be used to relax your keyboard hand and strengthen your wrist. The most famous local specialty food is the Donkey fire. Donkey fire is a local popular snack in Baoding that is said to be historically from the Ming Dynasty. People put minced donkey meat into a wheat cake, a Donkey fire is made. The chopped donkey meat is tender and used to fill the mouth. It is an open baked cake which is crisp.




Bing Tang Hu Lu of Baoding is known at home and abroad and once was introduced on Spring Festival Gala on CCTV-1. Various species are offered. For example, some of the Bing Tang Hu Lu is made of hawthorne. Hawthorne berries are a very delicious berry that is nutritious and good for your health. It helps to reduce high blood pressure and is good for your heart and blood circulation.Some are hawthorne mixed with red bean paste. Some are haws filled with green bean paste. Some are made of a kind of yam. There are many other kinds, all delicious and beautiful. The price of Bing Tang Hu Lu is less that 3 RMB each. The most famous local brands of Bing Tang Hu Lu are King of Tang Hu Lu and Lu-ji.



Daci Court Pickles is another dish you have to try in Baoding. Famous for its savory and light sweet taste, it is considered as one of the country’s oldest pickles. Traditionally, it was a vegetarian gift from the monks with fresh flowers, no seeds, cucumber, some peanuts and other varieties.


 

Baiyunzhang Buns have a long history in Baoding but basically it is made of fresh beef, fat, seasonal vegetables stuffing. The bun’s dough is mixed with herbs and baking spices.

Lu Zhu Chicken is one of the specialties in Baoding. To have authentic Lu Zhu Chicken, people can go to the Old Chicken Shop of the Ma Family or Mosque Street. Every day, there are dozens of stalls selling hot Lu Zhu Chicken and gizzards. The Lu Zhu Chicken of the three brothers of the Liu family is the most famous. But tourists should be careful or you may buy something fake: mutton, sheep hoofs and offal are also sold on this street.

If you want some music during your meal, come to Anxin County. Anxin County is home to the Quantou Village Music Association, a well known traditional music group performing on guan (oboes), sheng (mouth organs), and percussion. The village of Quantou is located on an island in Lake Baiyangdian. The city's streets follow a rough grid pattern, although this is less obvious in the older part of the city.