As Chinese cuisine has increased in popularity around the world, many Westerners have become familiar with a wide range of Chinese regional dishes. But Chinese breakfast foods are still relatively unknown outside China. Through this website, you can see what the average Chinese eat for breakfast and enjoy with them the ambiance, aromas and abundance of China's breakfast foods.
You'll see that the Chinese have a different approach to breakfast than Westerners:
They don't eat eggs, toast and coffee.
Breakfast with a morning paper is not a Chinese custom.
Breakfast is a quick, even on Sundays!
At home, breakfast is rice porridge or soy bean milk soup.
Neighborhood street vendors offer cheap, hot breakfasts.
Breakfast food street vendors open around 5:00 AM. They're gone by 8:00 AM on weekdays and by 8:30 - 9:00 AM on weekends. These vendors congregate at the free markets (farmers' markets) so early morning shoppers can pick up a few prepared breakfast items at the same time they do their daily market shopping.
Breakfast Choices "bing" (pancake) "tang" (soup) "gao" (doughnut) "bao" (bun) "zhou" (porridge) "mian" (noodles) There are too many local varieties for this website to cover them all. But a few snapshots will give you a flavor of the enormous diversity that's available. |
Breakfast Vendors makeshift "stove" on a 3-wheeled bike; an enclosed portable stand on wheels; a tiny shop with a walk-up window. Ovens are not used in Chinese cooking. But on the street, breakfast "biscuits" are baked in a tandori-type clay kiln or in steel drums. |
A Word About Tea Tea, a ubiquitous part of the day for most Chinese, is not usually drunk at breakfast. A variety of soups provide liquid for the typical Chinese breakfast, and milk has now become very popular, particularly among younger people. |
A Note About Oil |