Travel Guides & Tips in this video
Rita Loves Travel takes a food tour through Beijing with a local guide, Garf. She tries Mongolian hot pot and hand-pulled Lanzhou noodles, tastes Yen Jing beer and Beijing yogurt, and samples rice wine with osmanthus. The trip continues with a donkey meat burger, a second jianbing stop and chicken wings at a family-run restaurant in a hutong. Rita also discusses courtyard homes, bread and rice wine, and the stories behind local dishes.
Next travel video:
More about the current video:()
Beijing food tour
Rita Loves Travel explores Beijing with a local guide named Garf. They begin with Mongolian hot pot, where Rita learns about the dipping sauces and flash-boiled mutton. At a noodle shop she tries hand-pulled Lanzhou lamian, traditionally served with vinegar and chili. The tour also includes Yen Jing beer, named for an older name for Beijing and linked in the video to German brewing influences. Rita tastes Beijing yogurt, a sweet and slightly sour dessert with Manchurian origins.
Hutongs and local dishes
A walk through a hutong introduces the shared courtyard structure and how these homes have changed as multiple generations live around central courtyards. At a rice wine shop, Rita tries different varieties, including one aged with osmanthus flowers. The most unexpected meal is a donkey meat burger, made from lean meat at a specialized restaurant. She revisits jianbing and finds a better version at a second vendor, showing how recipes can vary by stall. The final stop is a family-run chicken wing restaurant in a hutong that has cooked wings for over 40 years, with both mild and very spicy options. Rita compares French and Chinese food traditions in other episodes, and here her Beijing route focuses on local flavors and the stories behind ingredients.
More tastes from the tour
The route also contrasts food served in different settings, from a noodle shop and market to specialty restaurants. Rita learns that tofu skin forms when soy milk is boiled and can be rehydrated in hot pot, where its shape resembles noodles. The group talks about vinegar and chili as traditional accompaniments for Lanzhou lamian and samples Yen Jing beer, whose name recalls an older name for Beijing. Beijing yogurt provides a sweet, slightly sour stop between savory dishes. Each tasting adds a detail about preparation or local history rather than treating Beijing food as one single style.
Hutongs and cooking traditions
Walking through hutongs gives Rita and Garf a chance to discuss shared courtyards and how families have adapted these homes across generations. The rice wine tasting includes varieties aged with osmanthus, while their conversation connects rice-based drinks with cooking traditions. At a donkey restaurant, Rita tries a burger made from lean meat and considers the specialized shops that serve donkey dishes. She returns to jianbing at a different stall and compares the result with her earlier experience. The tour closes at a chicken wing restaurant that has operated for more than four decades, including a choice between mild and spicy wings. The food stops combine everyday snacks, historic buildings and specialty dishes.
FAQs (From the traveler's perspective)
- Q: What food surprised Rita most?
- A: She names the donkey burger. Rita had not expected to try donkey meat, but found it lean and delicious during the Beijing food tour.
- Q: What were Rita’s favorite dishes?
- A: She enjoyed the Mongolian hot pot, the jianbing from the second stall and the chicken wings. Her reactions show how much the vendors and preparation can affect a dish.
- Q: What did Rita learn about hutongs?
- A: The homes are built around shared courtyards and are used by multiple generations. Their layout has changed over time as Beijing has grown.
- Q: What did Rita learn about Beijing beer?
- A: The video connects Yen Jing beer with German brewing influences and discusses historical links between German brewing and Beijing.
