Donghuamen Night Market

Some places have good food, and then some places are just plain fun and have good food at the same time. The Donghuamen Night Market is the ultimate you are looking for a fun, cheap food experience. Here you can find everything you could want to eat, everything you couldn't want to eat, and everything you could want to try all in one place.  

You want examples? Well, if you're looking for something safe, go with the noodles, coconut milk straight from the coconut, fruit-on-a-stick, egg-rolls, or stir-fried dishes. If you're feeling adventurous, try the sparrows, frogs, snake, scorpions, (all on a stick, of course), or green jello stuff with tomatoes. Or if you're a really brave sort, check out the heaps of pig and cow stomach and other such dishes. 

The atmosphere plays a huge role in the excitement of the experience, too. You'll see dozens of stalls standing in a long row with their red tops and red chinese lanterns, and behind them the cooks calling out to everyone in the crowd to come try their delicacies. It's a sight to behold. 

The great thing about this place is that you can try as much as you want, and it's cheap - especially if you take the time to bargain down the prices! If you don't like something, give it to the guy who is sure to be hanging out around the garbage cans, and it won't go to waste. Be adventurous... you'll never know if you like it until you try it. And even if you don't like it, you will still impress your friends when you tell them all the crazy things you ate. Just don't tell them that you only ate a few bites off of a stick! 

No trip to Beijing is complete without a trip to this night market.  Rows and rows of what most of the world would consider inedable items such as seahorses, silkworms, and eyeballs.  Out of the dozens of crazy food items available the timid should go for the small scorpions on a stick.  These are fried in front of you and then salted.  They taste like the stuff at the bottom of a bowl of popcorn and make for a great picture!

It was crazy, seller from the stall keep calling you to buy their food, from a sugary fruit (delicious, a must try) to scorpions. 

It was crowded, actually i found it quite fun and exotic. We try a soup in a shape of dumpling, using a straw and zip it (careful, winter or not this soup are boiling hot). Meatballs soup (dont ask me what is it made of) it taste like it made from pig, yummy and warming during cold season. my husband try the satay (again we dont know what meat it is, probably mutton), its nice and well, for guys anything grill is nice. Jelly (the taiwanese style) made from living creature, refreshing and they said it's good for your digestion system. Fruits on stick with sugar or caramel, very nice and juicy.  Oyster with garlic, not nice, well lets just say not my family's taste. Stinky tofu, these stuff is real genuine stinky, my husband stop at a tiny bitty bite, too much to handle for us. 

but in general, its really an experience anyone visiting Beijing shouldn't miss, you can blend with the local and learn about their culture through street snack.