Xian Local Cuisine

Xian's local cuisine is well known throughout China for its diverse styles. Visitors to Xian can eat a huge selection of local dishes, Western-style food, and local snacks. Being such an ancient city, Xian's cuisine has been spreading throughout China for centuries and some of it has even spread to Western countries. Visitors who want to get a good feeling for local Xian lifestyles should start with its food.

Tang Dynasty Banquet:
The Tang Dynasty was China's most colorful and prosperous dynasty. It is famous for its art, poetry, clothing, and cuisine. Visitors to Xian can partake in a Tang Dynasty Banquet. The entire meal is Tang Dynasty themed. The dishes are reproductions of those eaten during the Tang Dynasty. The waitresses and hostesses wear Tang Dynasty styled clothing, and even the dishes and glassware are faithful reproductions of Tang Dynasty originals. Tang Dynasty music and dances are performed for the diners enjoyment during the dinner.

Enjoy the orchestra of the Tang Dynasty Show

Beautiful girls dancing traditional Tang Dynasty dances

Jiaozi (dumpling) Banquet:
Another famous banquet found in Xian is the Jiaozi Banquet. Jiaozi are Chinese dumplings. They consist of various ingredients wrapped in a thin dough covering. Jiaozi can be found throughout China, but the ones in Xian are special. The Jiaozi served in a Jiaozi banquet are made of only the finest ingredients and come in an unbelievable variety. There are also several cooking styles for the Jiaozi, steamed, fried, and boiled. The appearance of Xian's Jiaozi set them apart from Jiaozi found in other parts of China. The Jiaozi served in the Banquet are works of art. The Jiaozi in Xian's Jiaozi Banquets can look like butterflies, penguins, leaves, goldfish, ducks, golden ingots, flowers, clouds, and pearls. Many visitors find it hard to eat them, until they try their first one. Once they find how amazing the Jiaozi are they have no problem eating the little works of art.

These Jiaozi(dumplings) were made to different colours

A Jiaozi (dumpling) was made to resemble cornucopia,which one?

Mutton Paomo:
A very famous local Xian dish with a long history is Mutton Paomo. The dish consists of mutton soup with a loaf of flat bread crumbled into it. The The mutton is usually cooked with scallion, ginger, wild pepper, aniseed, fennel, cinnamon and other seasonings. Before eating, the bread is broken into pieces and put into an empty bowl. The waiter then adds the mutton soup. The mixture is eaten along with mutton soup, pickled garlic cloves, cabbages, cooking wine, vermicelli, and salt.

Mutton Paomo

Mutton Paomo soup

Xian is filled with many other wonderful dishes and meals. Some of the other popular dishes are: Roujiamo (steamed bread with mincemeat fillings), Qianshan Noodles, Chopped Buckwheat Noodles, Frying Persimmon Paste, Kettle Oil Tea, Honey jelly Cake. There are far too many amazing dishes available in Xian. Visitors usually end up spending a lot of their time in Xian eating. Xian is truly a gastronomical paradise.

Recommended a 3 days Xian culinary and cultural tour

Keep reading:

Things to do in Xian     Xian local lifestyle     Tang dynasty show    Xian shopping tips