As the Spring Festival approaches,Local specialties have become the "new favorite" for New Year's goods. Each local specialty embodies the natural gifts of a specific region, traditional craftsmanship, and local customs. Beijing also has a super-rich selection of local specialties. Visiting relatives and friends during the holidays is all arranged! For those who come to Beijing for tourism, buying local specialties as souvenirs to take home is also a great idea.
Tea
Zhang Yiyuan
In the past, there was a popular saying in old Beijing: "For pastry, go to Zhengming Zhai; for tea, look for Zhang Yiyuan." In 2008, Zhang Yiyuan's jasmine tea-making technique was included in the list of national intangible cultural heritage representative projects. On November 29, 2022, "Traditional Chinese Tea-making Techniques and Related Customs" was included in the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Zhang Yiyuan's jasmine tea-making technique was among them. Zhang Yiyuan's jasmine tea uses Fujian green tea - spring tea as the tea base, which is repeatedly mixed with jasmine flowers to create a tea with the characteristics of "clear soup, strong taste, fragrant aroma, and endless aftertaste," which has won the favor of many tea lovers.
Wu Yutai
From its origins as a tea shop to the present day, Wu Yutai has a history of 138 years. In 2011, its core technique, Wu Yutai's jasmine tea-making technique, was included in the list of national intangible cultural heritage representative projects. In 2022, "Traditional Chinese Tea-making Techniques and Related Customs" was included in the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Wu Yutai's jasmine tea-making technique was also included. Wu Yutai's jasmine tea goes through nine processes, including tea base production, flower selection, flower preservation, mixing and fermentation, flower spreading and cooling, flower rising, baking, uniform stacking and packaging, and Wu Yutai's secret blending, resulting in a fragrant and rich tea when brewed.
Pastry
Beijing Daoxiangcun
Founded by Guo Yusheng, a native of Nanjing, in the 21st year of the Guangxu reign of the Qing Dynasty (1895), it was located in front of the Guanyin Temple outside Qianmen, with a shop in the front and a factory in the back. It was the earliest shop in Beijing to produce and sell southern-style food. Mr. Lu Xun loved Daoxiangcun's pastries very much. Even if he had a toothache the day before, he could run to buy biscuits the next day, which shows his true love.
Recommended for purchase:
Ding Ding Car Gift Box (pastry): red body, imitation wooden car windows, pleasant bell, with 13 pieces of pastry and 1 blind box of pastry refrigerator stickers.
Beef Tongue Biscuit: long and thin, slightly salty and sweet, the fragrance of pepper and salt mixed with the crispy pastry, it crumbles in one bite.
Hawthorn Guo Kui: Hawthorn cake with melon seeds and honey made into a sweet and sour filling, paired with a crispy and delicious outer layer, the good taste can only be known by trying it.
Jujube Flower Pastry: petal-shaped crispy pastry, the delicate and sweet jujube paste blends with the light and crispy pastry.
Century of Yili
The Yili brand originated in Shanghai and was founded by a Scottish chef in 1906. In the 1950s, it moved to Beijing. The word "century" not only means a hundred years literally, but also implies inheritance and longevity. For many people in Beijing, a Yili bread is the best reward in childhood.
Recommended for purchase:
Guozi Bread: Large in size and sufficient in quantity, one bread weighs nearly half a kilogram, and is filled with old Beijing dried fruits.
Vitamin Bread: During the period of material scarcity, Yili added vitamins to the bread to improve malnutrition. The golden bread body is hidden under the brownish-yellow outer layer, and it has a soft and slightly fragrant taste.
Sauce Products
Yueshengzhai Sauce Beef
Yue Sheng Zhai was founded in the 30th year of the Qing Dynasty's Qianlong reign (1765). Its cured meat production techniques are divided into two categories: sauce-making and roasting. Based on the absorption of palace sauce meat technology and traditional folk characteristics, traditional Chinese medicine health theories and related medical knowledge were introduced, and more than 20 kinds of spices were used in the production, which not only add flavor but also have medicinal value. Yue Sheng Zhai's sauce-roasted beef and mutton production techniques were listed in the national intangible cultural heritage list in 2008. The meat products produced not only have a more delicious taste, but also have the effect of nourishing health.
Tianfu Hao Sauce Pork Knuckle
Tianfu Hao Sauce Meat Shop
Empress Dowager Cixi also greatly appreciated it after tasting it, and awarded the "Tianfu Hao Waist Card". It was founded in the third year of the Qing Dynasty's Qianlong reign (1738). The sauce pork knuckle produced is crispy and delicious, with excellent quality. The ingredients for Tianfu Hao's sauce pork knuckle are carefully selected, and the finished product is fatty but not greasy, lean but not tough, with non-retractable skin and a rich aroma. In 2008, the production technique of Tianfu Hao's sauce pork knuckle was listed in the national intangible cultural heritage list.
Seasoning
Liubiju Pickles
Liubiju Pickle Garden was founded in the Ming Dynasty and has been famous for its pickled vegetables and sauce seasoning for nearly 600 years. Mr. Liang Shiqiu once summarized the charm of Beijing pickles, which lies in not being too salty or too sweet. Liubiju has continuously developed and introduced new products that suit the taste of Beijing people in its nearly 600-year history, such as sesame and peanut candy, crispy fresh melon, eight treasures vegetables... each one is a classic.
Tongrisheng Lianghang
The predecessor of Tongrisheng was a grain and oil shop under the jurisdiction of the Dongcheng District Grain Bureau. Beijing people love the 28 sauce. In hard times, it was the "soul sauce" of the common people. The 28 sauce of Tongrisheng Grain and Oil Shop is made by selecting Shandong Luhua peanuts and Hubei Xiaogan white sesame seeds, and mixed and ground with 80% peanuts and 20% sesame seeds. It is excellent for dipping hot pot, mixing cold dishes, and mixing noodles.
Beijing Dried Fruits
Hongluo Food Dried Fruits
Beijing dried fruits, also known as Beijing-style candied fruit, originally belonged to the royal snack. The chefs of the Imperial Kitchen classified fresh and ripe fruits, soaked them in honey for dehydration and preservation, "fried with honey", for long-term storage, to meet the needs of the royal family to eat fruits all year round. Beijing Hongluo Food Co., Ltd. was founded in 1909, formerly known as "Beijing Fruit Preserves Factory" with a title personally inscribed by General Zhang Aiping. It mainly produces dried fruits, mutton jelly, Poria cocos stuffed cakes and other leisure food, which are also sweet memories of Beijing people's childhood.
Beijing Cultural and Creative Products
This year, museums and scenic spots in Beijing have become popular with a series of wonderful cultural and creative products. In addition to the highly popular National Museum of China's phoenix crown refrigerator stickers and the Beijing Ancient Architecture Museum's Tiangong caisson refrigerator stickers, the cultural and creative products of other scenic spots in Beijing are also worth taking home!
Temple of Heaven Four Seasons AR Flowing Sand Refrigerator Stickers
The Temple of Heaven AR Flowing Sand Refrigerator Stickers are inspired by classical Chinese mythical beasts and have four seasons scenery as the background. Scanning with a mobile phone can achieve a naked-eye 3D effect, which is too cool!
Dazhongsi Ancient Bell Museum
In 2025, the Dazhongsi Ancient Bell Museum launched a new pendant refrigerator sticker, with the mountain gate and the bell tower as the main design, and hanging five decorative pendants including the Chen Taijian seven-year bronze bell, the horned bell, the Yongle bell, the New bell, and the Qin Gongbei, which are highly unique and recognizable as the Dazhong Temple Ancient Bell Museum.
