Tasty treats for Chinese New Year

Beijing's festive culture will be on display this holiday week. Ye Jun samples the celebratory cuisines.

When in Beijing, eat as Beijingers do. Some of the capital's restaurants are offering typical Beijing foods during the Spring Festival. Take the chance to dig in and find out more about city's festive culture.

Nine Gates Snack Restaurant, for example, offers a great variety of traditional Beijing snacks. These can give you an idea of what you will find in the city's temple fairs during the Spring Festival holiday. Only, here, you can find them all conveniently in one stop.

Nine Gates Snack Restaurant, which recently reopened, will hold a Snack and Traditional Custom Festival from Jan 25 to Feb 15.

The eatery's name refers to Beijing's old city gates that had watchtowers on them, such as Zhengyangmen, Dongzhimen, Xizhimen, Chaoyangmen, Fuchengmen and Deshengmen. Some of these gates still remain, while others have disappeared.

The courtyard-style restaurant located inside the scenic Shichahai Lake area has recruited some of the most traditional Beijing snack shops. Heirs of traditional Beijing snackmakers will showcase their skills in a food street inside the restaurant.

Just look at their names and you'll know what they make - Feng's quick-boiled tripe, Wei's cheese, Qian's rice cakes, Ma's lamb head, Bai's bean curd, and Li's fried flour tea, to name just a few.

A total of 22 traditional Beijing snack shops will participate in the food festival. They will make and sell more than 100 traditional foods on the spot. If you are curious about what aiwowo, "donkey roll over", and baggy cake taste and look like, it's a good chance to check them out.

Some other snacks worth trying are white bean rolls, deep-fried flour cakes with beef and lamb filling, "cat-ear" dough balls, and steamed and deep-fried dumplings.