What's good to eat in Chengde?

Chengde is a famous tourist destination in Hebei Province. It is most famous for its noodles and snacks. The well-known beggar's chicken is also a specialty food of Chengde. The Chengde snacks that we are familiar with include donkey rolls, pancakes, flower rose cakes, fried bowl dumplings, various kinds of steamed buns, and buckwheat noodles. Among them, buckwheat noodles are one of the three major pasta foods in the north, and are made from agricultural products that are characteristic of Chengde area.

(1) Chengde’s special snacks include : siomai, fried pastry, eight-treasure rice, Erxianju bowl dumplings, Baiyijiazi white buckwheat noodles, cake jelly, donkey rolls, baked cakes, pancake boxes, oatmeal snacks, Bagou sesame cakes, mutton soup, fresh flower rose cakes, Nansha cakes, fruit danpi, etc., which have unique local characteristics.

(2) Chengde is rich in buckwheat. Wantuo, made from buckwheat flour, is a traditional local snack in Chengde with a history of more than 200 years. During the Qianlong reign, when the emperor visited Rehe, Jianwantuo was very popular among the concubines who accompanied him. The raw materials for Jianwantuo are buckwheat flour, mung bean flour, five-spice flour, pepper flour, etc. It is rich in nutrition, sour, spicy, fresh, smooth and chewy. It is an economical and popular food with a unique flavor that increases appetite.

(3) Chengde has a long history of making various types of steamed buns . It is said that Kangxi, Qianlong and later emperors would almost always eat steamed buns when they came to the Mountain Resort every year. In recent years, convenience foods have become more and more popular among people, and most restaurants in the city also sell steamed buns. The most popular steamed bun in Chengde is the oil-fried steamed bun, which is characterized by being crispy, soft and layered. ( 4) The specialty of Chengde, Royal Soil Lotus Leaf Chicken , originated from the Beggar’s Chicken. Its cooking method is similar to that of Beggar’s Chicken. First, the raw chicken is slaughtered, the internal organs are removed, and it is washed without removing the feathers. It is then wrapped in lotus leaves and covered with yellow mud. After it is cooked over fire, the mud is smashed off and the chicken feathers fall off. Because it uses Chengde’s unique palace loess, Rehe spring water and lotus leaves from the lake as auxiliary ingredients, it is named “Imperial Soil Lotus Leaf Chicken”. The lotus leaf chicken is delicious, especially the faint, almost imperceptible fragrance of the lotus leaf, which will whet your appetite and leave a lingering aftertaste.

(5) Chengde’s buckwheat noodle soup is one of the three best northern Chinese noodles, along with Beijing’s pulled noodles and Shanxi’s knife-cut noodles. Buckwheat flour is divided into white buckwheat flour and black buckwheat flour. It is a traditional crop in Chengde, especially in the Bashang area. The noodles made with it as raw material are smooth and chewy.

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