38 Street Foods You Should Try In China : Ultimate Bucket List (2026)
Introduction
This list has been curated by me, a person who has worked part-time for 8 years in Chinese restaurants and takeouts in a European country. Yes, I’m from a restaurant family. 👨🏻🍳
I am back in China permanently and frequently explore new street food, with an aim to recommend them to family and friends.
There is a huge amount of variety across the country, which has dozens of regional cuisines.
I have hand-picked these dishes to cover a range of tastes for visitors to China. Most of the dishes are top choices for the locals.
The items cover different regions of China but doesn’t cover every single province. There are hundreds of classic street food dishes that have not been covered here.
Wishing you an amazing food journey throughout China! Do your best to “collect” all of these dishes during your trip! 🥢
Everywhere in China
1. meat flatbread | ròu jiā mó | 肉夹馍
2. pan fried crepe | jiān bing | 煎饼
3. pan-fried pork buns | shēng jiān bāo | 生煎包
4. soup dumplings | xiǎo lóng bāo | 小笼包
5. steamed buns | bāo zi | 包子
6. pan-fried dumplings | guō tiē | 锅贴
7. meat or vegetable dumplings | jiǎo zǐ | 饺子
8. fried dough stick | yóu tiáo | 油条
9. candied hawthorns | táng hú lu | 糖葫芦
10. baked flatbread | shāo bǐng | 烧饼
11. crispy, multi-layered pancake | shǒu zhuā bǐng | 手抓饼
12. scallion oil pancakes | cōng yóu bǐng | 葱油饼
13. stinky tofu | chòu dòu fu | 臭豆腐
14. fish balls | yú dàn | 鱼蛋
15. meat skewers | kǎo chuàn | 烤串/羊肉串
16. grilled squid | kǎo yóu yú | 烤鱿鱼
17. spring rolls | chūn juǎn | 春卷
18. sesame balls | zhī má qiú | 芝麻球
19. fried rice | dàn chǎo fàn | 炒饭
20. fried rice noodles | chǎo mǐ fěn | 炒米粉
Regional Specialties | Selected stalls
21. egg waffle (from Hong Kong) | jī dàn zǎi | 鸡蛋仔
22. stuffed glutinous rice roll (from Shanghai area) | cì fàn tuán | 次饭团
23. shredded flatbread soaked in lamb soup (from Xi’an) | yáng ròu pào mó | 羊肉泡馍
24. meat pastry (from Beijing) | mén dīng ròu bǐng | 门钉肉饼
25. stuffed flatbread | guō kuī | 锅盔
26. Sichuan chicken skewers | bō bō jī | 钵钵鸡
27. grilled cold noodles | kǎo lěng miàn | 烤冷面
28. tofu pudding | dòu huā | 豆花
29. sugar cane juice | gān zhè zhī | 甘蔗汁
30. whole coconut milk | yē zǐ nǎi | 椰子奶
31. scallion oil noodles (from Shanghai) | cōng yóu bàn miàn | 葱油拌面
32. won ton noodles (from Guangdong) | yún tūn miàn | 云吞面
33. minced pork noodles with chili oil and Sichuan pepper | dàn dàn miàn | 担担面
34. Chongqing noodles | chóng qìng xiǎo miàn | 重庆小面
35. hot and sour noodles (from Sichuan province) | suān là fěn | 酸辣粉
36. hand pulled noodles in spicy sauce (from Xi’an) | biáng biáng miàn | 𰻞𰻞面/油泼面
37. cold noodles in chili and vinegar sauce (from Xi’an) | liáng pí | 凉皮
38. hot dry noodles (from Wuhan) | rè gān miàn | 热干面
Try street food in these major cities
Beijing Wangfujing + Qianmen -> see my Beijing travel guide
Shanghai Chenghuangmiao Laojie (Old City God Temple) + Wujiang Lu -> see my Shanghai travel guide
Xi’an Muslim Quarter
Chengdu Jinli Ancient Street -> see my Chengdu travel guide
Chongqing (areas in and around Hongyadong) -> see my Chongqing travel guide
Guangzhou Beijing Lu -> see my Guangzhou travel guide
Nanjing Fuzimiao -> see my Nanjing travel guide
For other cities, there’s usually a good selection in the city’s main pedestrian street
