Street food in China is very popular with the young generation for its low price and delicious taste. Almost each city has its own typical Street food. The Chinese people love to taste it while hanging out with friends. Here is a list of 10 Chinese street food popular all over the country.
Delicious Pearl milk tea
1.Pearl milk tea
Chinese Name:珍珠奶茶 (zhēn zhū nǎi chá)
Pearl milk tea (also known as bubble tea , bubble milk tea) is a tea-based drink that invented in Taiwan in the early 1980s. Bubble tea has many varieties and flavors, the most classic and popular one is black pearl milk tea with tapioca balls at the bottom. You can add some toppings like tofu pudding, grass jelly and puddings based on your favored.
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2.Snail rice noodle
Chinese name: 螺蛳粉
You may have seen a YouTube video by Li Ziqi,(李子柒) a famous Chinese blogger, about making snail rice noodles. It is very popular in China Now. It is a famous Chinese noodle dish and a speciality of the Liuzhou city, Guangxi Province, southern China. The pickled bamboo shoots make it “smelly”but actually it is very delicious.
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Snail rice noodle
3.Stinky tofu
Chinese name: 臭豆腐
Stinky tofu is a symbol of Changsha street snack. It is easy to make, just to ferment the regular tofu well. It can be eaten cold,steamed, deep-fried, and then sprinkle with various condiments, like chili sauce or soy sauce. It is said that the more it smells, the better its flavor.
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4.Guilin Rice Noodles
Chinese name:桂林米粉
Guilin rice noodles is the most famous and popular local snack in Guilin. Plain rice noodles is made from rice flour starch, it is in white, and taste soft and smooth. And it has round-shaped and flat-shaped. Local people consume it as breakfast, lunch, even dinner. You shouldn’t miss it when you travel to Guilin.
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Chinese hamburger
5.Rougamo (Chinese hamburger)
Chinese name:肉夹馍
TRoujiamo also called “Chinese Hamburgers”, is a popular street food in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province. It is easy to make it, just putting the meat into the bread which made from fermented paste is OK.
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6. Steamed stuffed buns
Chinese name: 包子
Steamed stuffed buns are a popular snack throughout China. They are made from wheat flour and stuffed with various meat, vegetables, been paste and sesame and so on.
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7.Sugarcoated Haws
Chinese Name: 冰糖葫芦
Sugarcoated Haws or we called Bingtang Hulu is a traditional Chinese snack, and It is one of the most authentic Beijing snacks. Now it developed from the simple sugar-covered hawthorn berries to a variety of candied fruits on a stick. It’s very popular in winter in northern China,you can easily found the vendors in the streets. If you are in Beijing, you can also find it in some tea buildings or opera theaters.
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8.Roast Sweet Potatoes
Chinese Name: 烤红薯
Roast Sweet Potatoes was first served as a street snack in Taiwan. Nowadays, you can see the street paddlers selling it in the busy streets, especially in winter. They usually use the oven which is transformed from oil barrel commonly to roasts it, which are hot and extremely tasty, charred outside and tender inside.
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Fried Dough Sticks
9.Deep-Fried Dough Sticks — great with soy milk
Chinese Name: 油条
Golden deep-fried dough sticks are a popular food for breakfast in China. The perfect matches for this food are soy milk and rice or bean porridge. At small eateries, you can see people holding deep-fried dough sticks in one hand and a porridge spoon in the other, taking mouthfuls of each in turn. Some people like to dip their youtiao in a bowl of soy milk. At some places, you can even see people eating dough sticks with soup or noodles.
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10.Spicy and Sour Vermicelli
Chinese Name:酸辣粉
Spicy and Sour Vermicelli is a symbol street snack of Chongqing city. Also is a popular snack in southern China. It mainly composed of sweet potato powder and highlights the sour, spicy and chewy taste.
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Useful Expressions
1.How much is this?
In Chinese: 这个多少钱?
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2.Too expensive
In Chinese:太贵了
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3.Could you make it cheaper?
In Chinese: 可以便宜点吗?
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4.I want a bottle of......(Snail rice noodle)
In Chinese: 我要一碗螺蛳粉.
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Further reading:
5 Differences between Chinese and English
How to Say Thank You in Chinese
Baggage Rules of China Railway