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Cheap and Delicious Beijing Snacks

Indulging in Beijing Roast Duck is a "must" for any tourist to Beijing, but the city's snacks are a special treat that should not be overlooked. The adventurous should certainly try specialties such as bean juice served with fried rolls, niangao, aiwowo and guanchang when visiting temple fairs or with a local family during the Spring Festival.

"Old Beijingers" have long-relished two kinds of snacks: bean juice (douzhi) and fried rolls (jiaoquan). Bean juice was produced during the Song Dynasty (960-1279) and is rich in protein, vitamin C, fibre and sugar. It is valued medicinally, because the concoction can reportedly reduce internal heat and toxins. The fried rolls that are always eaten with the bean juice will remain crisp, if stored, for up to ten days.

Since the Liao Dynasty (916-1125), people have eaten niangao, made of sticky rice, on the first day of the year in the lunar calendar. It symbolizes that life in the following years will get better and better.

Aiwowo, made of sticky rice, sesame seeds, peach kernels, melon seeds and sugar, was snack beloved by the laobaixing (common people) and the imperial families of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). Guanchang, sometimes cooked at home, is a snack made of flower and is dipped into garlic juice. It can be easily found at temple fairs and snack stores.