Our Beijing food tour is a private evening of eating your way through the old city: an early-evening walk through the hutongs tasting classic Beijing snacks, then a Peking duck dinner at a well-known duck restaurant. Your guide orders, explains and translates. Vegetarian and no-spice options are easy to arrange, and halal is available on request.
Price on request — send us your dates and group size for a written quote.
- Duration: an evening, hotel to hotel
- Group: private, just your group with your own guide and driver
- Pick-up: your hotel in central Beijing (within the 4th Ring Road)
- Walking level: easy; a gentle stroll on flat lanes with plenty of stops
- Best for: curious eaters, families, first-time visitors, a relaxed first or last night in Beijing
Itinerary
Early evening: a snack walk through the old lanes
Your guide and driver collect you from your hotel in the late afternoon. Depending on where dinner is, you start in the lanes around Qianmen and Dashilar, south of Tiananmen Square, or around Shichahai and Nanluoguxiang to the north. The main hutong streets are free to walk, and the lights coming on over the shopfronts make this the nicest hour to be there.
Along the way you share small tastings of Beijing snacks, chosen to suit the season and your group. Typical stops include:
- Lüdagun, “rolling donkey”: soft glutinous rice rolled around red-bean paste.
- Tanghulu: hawthorn berries on a skewer in a glassy sugar shell, traditionally a winter treat because cold air keeps the shell crisp.
- Douzhi with jiaoquan: a hot, sour fermented mung-bean drink, sipped with crisp fried rings and shredded pickles. It’s an acquired taste, and a fun one to try in a single sip.
- Zha guanchang: crisp fried starch slices with garlic water, a vegetarian pick.
- Shaomai: delicate open-topped steamed dumplings.
- Jasmine-tea soft-serve from the old tea merchant Wuyutai, a favorite on warm evenings.
Your guide tells you what each one is before you bite, and nobody has to finish anything.
Dinner: Peking duck, the Beijing way
After dark you sit down to a Peking duck dinner with side dishes at a well-known duck restaurant such as Quanjude, Bianyifang or Siji Minfu. We choose the restaurant to fit your evening’s route and your group. Quanjude and Bianyifang use different ovens. Quanjude, founded in 1864, roasts its ducks in a hung oven over a jujube-wood fire for about 45 minutes, which gives the skin a faint sweet smoke; its original restaurant is at 30 Qianmen Dajie. Bianyifang, which traces its history to 1416, uses the older closed oven, where the duck never meets an open flame.
The duck is carved and served with thin lotus-leaf pancakes, scallion, cucumber and sweet bean sauce. Some restaurants offer the crisp skin with a little sugar for dipping. Your guide shows you how to fold the first pancake, then leaves the rest to you. Roast duck came to Beijing from Nanjing in the early 1400s, when the Ming court moved north.
Vegetarian, no-spice and halal options
Tell us about any diet when you book. For vegetarians, we plan snacks such as zha guanchang and lüdagun and order meat-free side dishes at dinner, or plan the whole meal at a vegetarian restaurant. If anyone prefers mild food, your guide asks the kitchen for dishes without chili. On request we plan a halal evening instead: snacks such as baodu, douzhi, lüdagun and miancha are generally halal, and dinner can be copper-pot mutton, shuan yangrou, at a halal restaurant. We check halal certification as we plan.
What’s included
- English-speaking guide
- Peking duck dinner with side dishes
- Tastings of several Beijing snacks
- Private car or van for hotel transfers in central Beijing
Not included
- Alcoholic drinks
- Personal expenses and tips
What a guide does at the snack counters
Many Beijing snacks have names that mean little in translation, and nobody guesses that “rolling donkey” is rice and red-bean paste. With your own guide, you can point at anything that smells good and find out what it is. There are no shopping stops, and anyone can skip a tasting. Your car waits at the end of the evening, so nobody has to find a taxi after dinner.
In summer, the lanes stay light late and an ice cream makes sense. In winter a cup of hot douzhi makes more sense, and the cold keeps the tanghulu shell crisp.
Tell us your dates, group size and what you would like to see. We reply with a day-by-day plan and a written quote.
Booking: tell us about diets and allergies
- Message us with your dates, the number of travelers, their ages and any food needs: vegetarian, halal, allergies or no spice.
- We send a written plan and a quote.
- You confirm in writing; payment details are in your booking agreement.
The full process is on our how to book page.
Tell us your dates, group size and what you would like to see. We reply with a day-by-day plan and a written quote.
More on Beijing food and the hutongs
Learn more about what to order in our guide to Peking duck and Beijing food, read about the lanes in our guide to Beijing’s hutongs, spend the afternoon on our hutong and rickshaw tour, or browse all private Beijing tours.
Frequently asked questions
Which restaurant do we eat Peking duck at?
We choose a well-known duck restaurant such as Quanjude, Bianyifang or Siji Minfu to fit your route and group. Quanjude roasts in a hung oven over a jujube-wood fire, while Bianyifang uses the older closed oven, where the duck never meets an open flame.
Can vegetarians join the food tour?
They can. Tell us when you book, and we plan vegetarian snacks such as zha guanchang and lüdagun and order meat-free side dishes, or move the whole dinner to a vegetarian restaurant.
Is a halal food tour possible?
Yes, on request. Snacks such as baodu, douzhi, lüdagun and miancha are generally halal, and dinner can be copper-pot mutton at a halal restaurant. We check halal certification as we plan the evening.
Can we ask for food without spice?
Easily. Peking duck itself is mild, wrapped in pancakes with scallion, cucumber and sweet bean sauce. If anyone in your group prefers mild food, tell us and your guide asks the kitchen for dishes without chili and steers you to snacks that suit you.
What snacks will we try?
It depends on the season and your tastes. Typical tastings include lüdagun with red-bean paste, hawthorn tanghulu, douzhi with crisp jiaoquan rings, zha guanchang with garlic water, shaomai and jasmine-tea soft-serve from the tea merchant Wuyutai.
Are drinks included?
Alcoholic drinks are not included, so if you would like a beer or a glass of wine with your duck, you order and pay for it at the table. Personal expenses and tips are also not included.
Facts checked: 5 November 2026. Ticket prices, opening hours and entry rules can change; we re-check before every booking.