Jianbing guozi
A mung-bean crepe with egg, folded around a crisp fried dough stick.
Life in Mainland China
Breakfast and street food in China
Breakfast is eaten out, fast and cheap, and every city has its own. After dark, the night markets take over with skewers, noodles and snacks.
Play: Breakfast tourA breakfast tour
Millions of people eat breakfast from a stall or a small shop near home or work: a bun, a crepe, a bowl of noodles or porridge, often carried in a plastic bag and eaten on the move. The north leans to wheat, buns and soy milk; the south to rice noodles, congee and dim sum. Each city defends its own as the best.
The four warriors
Flatbread, fried dough sticks, sticky rice rolls and soy milk: Shanghai's four breakfast staples.
Morning tea
A pot of tea and baskets of dim sum, for hours on a weekend.
Hot dry noodles
Noodles in sesame paste, eaten from a paper bowl on the way to work.
Roujiamo
Chopped braised pork in a crisp flatbread, with a bowl of spicy soup.
Beef noodles
A bowl of hand-pulled noodles in clear beef broth, the city's breakfast since the 1910s.
Rice noodles
Rice noodles with braised meat, peanuts and pickles, ladled with sauce.
Mixed rice noodles
Round rice noodles tossed with chilli, pickles and peanuts.
Steamed buns
Pork-filled buns from the steamer with a bowl of millet or rice porridge.
Pan-fried buns
Pork buns fried crisp underneath, with sesame on top.
Play
Breakfast tour
A breakfast appears: which city is it from? A perfect round earns the breakfast stamp.
Which city starts the day with this: jianbing guozi?
Answer
Tianjin. Tianjin. A mung-bean crepe with egg, folded around a crisp fried dough stick.
Which city starts the day with this: the four warriors?
Answer
Shanghai. Shanghai. Flatbread, fried dough sticks, sticky rice rolls and soy milk: Shanghai's four breakfast staples.
Which city starts the day with this: morning tea?
Answer
Guangzhou. Guangzhou. A pot of tea and baskets of dim sum, for hours on a weekend.
Which city starts the day with this: hot dry noodles?
Answer
Wuhan. Wuhan. Noodles in sesame paste, eaten from a paper bowl on the way to work.
Which city starts the day with this: roujiamo?
Answer
Xi'an. Xi'an. Chopped braised pork in a crisp flatbread, with a bowl of spicy soup.
Which city starts the day with this: beef noodles?
Answer
Lanzhou. Lanzhou. A bowl of hand-pulled noodles in clear beef broth, the city's breakfast since the 1910s.
Which city starts the day with this: rice noodles?
Answer
Guilin. Guilin. Rice noodles with braised meat, peanuts and pickles, ladled with sauce.
Which city starts the day with this: mixed rice noodles?
Answer
Nanchang. Nanchang. Round rice noodles tossed with chilli, pickles and peanuts.
Which city starts the day with this: steamed buns?
Answer
Beijing. Beijing. Pork-filled buns from the steamer with a bowl of millet or rice porridge.
Which city starts the day with this: pan-fried buns?
Answer
Shanghai. Shanghai. Pork buns fried crisp underneath, with sesame on top.
The night market
From early evening, streets and car parks fill with stalls: lamb skewers over charcoal, stinky tofu, grilled squid, roast sweet potatoes, cold noodles, fruit cut to order, and candied hawthorn on a stick in winter. You pay by scanning the stall's QR code, and eat standing or on low stools.
Lamb skewers
Chunks of lamb with pieces of fat between them, grilled over charcoal and shaken with cumin, chilli and salt. Sold at night markets across China.
Changsha stinky tofu
Tofu soaked in a fermented brine until it turns black, then deep-fried and filled with chilli sauce and garlic. You smell the stall before you see it.
Luosifen
Rice noodles in a broth of river snails, with sour pickled bamboo shoot, peanuts, fried tofu skin, wood ear and plenty of chilli oil. The fermented bamboo shoot gives it its famous smell.
Jianbing
A crepe of mung bean batter spread on a hot griddle, an egg cracked over it, then sauce, scallion, coriander and a crisp cracker or fried dough stick, folded into a parcel. Breakfast eaten walking.