As an important outpost along the silk road, Dunhuang offers numerous cuisines for tourists from all over the world. Dunhuang food belongs to typical northwestern Chinese food which is known for its noodle and lamb dishes. Because of the great temperature difference between the day and night, there are also plenty of fruits. The most popular food and drinks include Yellow Noodles with Donkey Meat, Dunhuang Niang Pi Zi, Apricot Rind Tea, Braised Mutton with Wide Noodles, Mutton Soup with Starch Noodles, etc. Have a Dunhuang Tour and enjoy more about the amazing food here!
• Chinese: 驴肉黄面 Pinyin: lǘ ròu huáng miàn
• Price: About CNY 15
• Best at: Daji Donkey Meat & Yellow Noodle Restaurant 达记酱驴肉黄面馆 (Location: West side of Tianrun International Hotel, middle section of Xiyu Road, Dunhuang 敦煌市西域路中段天润国际大酒店西侧)
Yellow noodles with donkey meat is an unmissable specialty in Dunhuang, which is available in almost every restaurant. Yellow noodles are thin but chewy. The brown sauce atop the noodles are stewed mushrooms and donkey meat as well as some bean curd cubes. The juicy sauce with the hot noodles give off an appealing smell. Generally, the price of yellow noodles with donkey meat is about CNY 10 to 15. You can order a middle-sized or big-sized bowl, and the noodles always come with garlic, vinegar, pepper and other spices for you to dip a little bit. Special reminder: the noodle shop usually closes from 3 to 5 pm.
Yellow Noodles with Donkey Meat 驴肉黄面
Yellow Noodles with Donkey Meat 驴肉黄面
• Chinese: 敦煌酿皮子 Pinyin: dūn huáng niàng pí zǐ
• Price: About CNY 15
• Best at: Shun Zhang Huang Noddles Restaurant 顺张黄面馆 (Location: Building 1, Binhe Jiayuan, Jinshan Road, Dunhuang City, Gansu Province 甘肃省酒泉市敦煌市金山路滨河世纪家园1号楼)
Dunhuang Niang Pi Zi is a kind of jade-like food made of steamed starch water. It is usually a little yellowish and tastes sour and spicy after being mixed with special seasonings. It is cut into like chopsticks or mahjong blocks. According to your preference, the soy sauce, vinegar, mashed garlic, chili oil, mustard, salt, and other seasonings will be added. It's appetizing and refreshing. Eating it in hot summer can be a great enjoyment. It is almost on the menu list of every local restaurant in Dunhuang.
Dunhuang Niang Pi Zi 敦煌酿皮子
Dunhuang Niang Pi Zi with with Special Seasonings
• Chinese: 杏皮水 Pinyin: xìng pí shuǐ
• Price: About CNY 5
• Where to Buy it: Shazhou Night Market, Supermarkets in Dunhuang
Apricot Rind Tea is made of the local apricots in Dunhuang. It tastes sour and sweet with the fragrance of the apricots. It is a popular local beverage and almost every household there can make the drink. You can easily get one in the streets, supermarkets, scenic sites and Shazhou Market in Dunhuang.
Apricot Rind Tea Drink
Traditional Apricot Rind Tea
• Chinese: 胡羊焖饼 Pinyin: hú yáng mèn bǐng
• Price: About CNY 35
• Best at: Damo Braised Mutton Restaurant 大漠胡羊焖饼 (Location: 30 meters west of snack street beside Mogao Hotel, Mingshan North Road, Dunhuang City敦煌市鸣山北路莫高宾馆旁边小吃街内30米西侧)
The braised mutton with wide noodles is a typical northwest Chinese food. The braised mutton is soft and juicy with the fragrance of a lot of seasonings. The hand-stretched wide noodles were put atop the mutton and stewed together for about ten minutes. After it was done, the noodles taste chewy and tasty and the mutton also gets completely braised and soaked in yummy broth.
Braised Mutton with Wide Noodles 胡羊焖饼
Braised Mutton with Wide Noodles 胡羊焖饼
Chinese: 羊肉粉汤 Pinyin: yáng ròu fěn tāng
• Price: About CNY 20
Best at: Xia’s Restaurant夏家合汁 (Location: Shop 9, building 3, Tianrun garden, Xiyu Road, Dunhuang 敦煌西域路天润花园3号楼9号门店)
It is a traditional soup and a common breakfast for Dunhuang people. The soup is well cooked with mutton slices and seasonings and leek, onion, chili powder, etc. When drinking the soup and eating the mutton and noodles, you will also get a flatbread that comes with the soup. You can tear the bread into fingernail-sized pieces and soak them in the mutton soup.
Mutton Soup with Starch Noodles 羊肉粉汤
Mutton Soup with Starch Noodles 羊肉粉汤
• Chinese: 干果 Pinyin: gàn guǒ
• Where to Buy it: Shazhou Night Market, Supermarkets in Dunhuang
Dunhuang is close to Xinjiang, with abundant sunshine and a large temperature difference between day and night. Due to its great temperature advantage, It has been rich in various fruits since ancient times, including grapes, apricots, dates, melons, pears, etc. Even the murals in the Mogao Grottoes have patterns of these fruits. To preserve these sweet fruits, many dried fruits are selling on the market with good quality and cheap price.
Preserved Fruit 干果
Preserved Fruit 干果
Located in the city center of Dunhuang, Shazhou Night Market is a must-go site, where you can enjoy the nightlife in Dunhuang and try multiple Dunhuang local food and snacks, as well as some other provincial and exotic specialties, such as Dunhuang Rang Pi, yellow noodles, sweet fruits, roast lamb, etc. Besides food stalls and restaurants, there are also handmade crafts for sale.
Shazhou Night Market 沙洲夜市
▶ Location:Shazhou Commercial Street, Dunhuang City, Gansu Province 甘肃敦煌市沙州镇商业一条街
Shazhou Night Market 沙洲夜市
Shazhou Night Market 沙洲夜市
Nourished by the five thousand years’ history and multiple nations and regions in the vast land, China’s food culture is more than what words can describe. Rooted in traditional Chinese philosophy, like Yin-Yang and Five Element and Confucianism, Chinese cuisine is beyond the food itself but an artwork of the creative minds. Under the guidance of Traditional Chinese Medicine, most of the Chinese cuisines are healthy and nutritious, pursuing to maintain people’s health, and even help the patients get healed.
Are you wondering about Chinese cooking process? Is that hard? around 100 cooking techniques have been formed over the development of Chinese food culture. The diverse cooking techniques show the wisdom of Chinese people and also help a lot on the sustainable development and reformation of the Chinese cuisines.
To enjoy the authentic Chinese flavour in a right way, Chinese dining etiquette plays a rather important role in Chinese food culture. Getting to know the Chinese etiquette will not only show one’s good self-cultivation and manners, but also help your understand the culture deeply and avoid making taboos accidentally to behave offensively to your Chinese host.
Usually, 2~4 days are needed to explore the highlights of Dunhuang. The world heritage site Mogao Caves and the stunning landscape of Mingsha Mountain and Crescent Lake are two Must-Go attractions both of which take a half-day to visit. You can then spend one more day to explore the western region of Dunhuang which also has a lot of attractions, such as the ruin of Great Wall, Yumenguan Pass, Yardang Landform, etc. As for the downtown sites, if time allows, don't miss the Shazhou Night Market and Dunhuang Museum. Some travelers usually travel Dunhuang with other destinations in Gansu, such as Jiayuguan, Zhangye, Lanzhou, etc. One can even travel from Dunhuang to Turpan, Urumqi of Xinjiang. Travel with China Discovery! Please don't hesitate to contact us now to have a tailor-made Dunhuang tour for you!
Trace the Silk Road in Dunhuang, also enjoy marvelous Gobi Desert landscape, incredible Yardang landforms, Crescent Lake, etc. with your private guide and driver.
This is the essence tour of Dunhuang classic itinerary, money-saving, flexible. You will enjoy desert views of Mingshashan, visit Mogao Caves, and explore culture and history of ancient Silk Road.
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