Aiwowo is a halal-style snack made with glutinous rice in Beijing, which is characterized by its snow-white color, ball-like shape, sticky texture, and sweet taste. Not only do Beijingers love this snack, but even people from other provinces often want to taste this nationally famous halal snack. Snack bars in Beijing sell Aiwowo from the Lunar New Year Festival to early autumn, so it is also a spring and autumn snack. Now Aiwowo is available all year round.

Fragrant Concubine, Qianlong's favorite concubine, is a Uyghur Muslim. In order to make Fragrant Concubine happy, Qianlong respected her living habits very much, and specially kept a Uyghur chef in the imperial palace to cook halal meals.

It's said that Fragrant Concubine already married before entering the palace, and she missed her husband very much. She did not want to eat and drink all day, which made the Emperor Qianlong very anxious. He hurriedly said that he would reward a chef with ten thousand taels of silver if he could make food that Fragrant Concubine wanted to eat. All chefs wanted to be rewarded, so they tried their best to make delicious food. Therefore, thousands of dishes were made, but when they were brought into the palace, Fragrant Concubine didn't even look at them. In desperation, Qianlong had to let the Uyghurs send the food of Fragrant Concubine's hometown to the palace.

Places to buy Aiwowo: Daoxiangcun and supermarkets in Beijing