Slice, Jelly, Honeycomb: What to Eat in Pingyao and How to Order It

In Pingyao, order Pingyao beef (平遥牛肉) cold and sliced as a shared plate, wantuo (碗托, buckwheat jelly) cold with vinegar and chili or stir-fried, and kaolaolao (栲栳栳, steamed oat rolls) with a dipping sauce. Groups can add a charcoal nuanguo (暖锅) hot pot. Eat a lane or two away from South Street, and check prices on the board before ordering.

What is Pingyao beef, and how do you order it?

Pingyao's best-known food: beef cured and slow-cooked until it is dense and slightly salty, then served cold in thin slices. Restaurants sell it by the plate as a starter. Shops sell it by weight (jin, 500 g) or vacuum-packed to take away. Order one plate for the table, not one each. It is rich, and you are likely to be eating it with noodles or vinegar dishes. Look for a firm, rosy cut with fine grain. Grey, dry slices have been sitting out too long.

If you are buying to take home, the vacuum packs in shops along the main streets are made for that. Check the production date. Price per jin varies by shop and cut, so compare two or three places before buying in bulk.

What is wantuo, and should you get it cold or hot?

Wantuo is buckwheat starch steamed in a bowl (wan) until it sets into a soft, slightly springy jelly, then turned out and cut. Cold, it comes in strips or cubes with vinegar, garlic and chili oil: cool, sharp and good on a warm afternoon. Fried (炒碗托), it is browned in a wok with chili and sometimes vegetables, chewier and more filling. Get the cold version first. It shows off the texture, and it is cheap enough to have as a snack between sites. Street stalls and small eateries usually sell it for a modest price per bowl.

What are kaolaolao and long yam?

Kaolaolao is oat-flour dough rolled into thin-walled tubes and packed upright in a steamer like a honeycomb. You tear off a tube and dip it in a sauce, often tomato, mutton or mushroom, or pour the sauce over. The oat flavour is nutty and plain, so the sauce matters. Ask what is on offer and pick one. It is common across Shanxi and Inner Mongolia rather than unique to Pingyao, but it is a good everyday meal here.

Long yam (长山药) is the local Chinese yam, and you will often see it on menus as a sweet dish glazed in honey or syrup. It is a nice contrast to all the vinegar and salt.

What about vinegar and nuanguo?

Shanxi runs on aged vinegar (老陈醋), and Pingyao is no exception. You will find it on the table and in sauces, and shops will offer tastings. Put a little on noodles and cold dishes the way locals do. The Datong knife-cut noodles guide works here too, since daoxiaomian is on most Pingyao menus.

Nuanguo is the regional charcoal hot pot: a tall brass or copper pot with a chimney in the centre, filled with layered meatballs, sliced meat, tofu and vegetables in broth. It is ordered as a whole pot, so it suits three or more people. Ask about the size and price before you order.

Where and when should you eat?

Restaurants on South Street (南大街) and Ming–Qing Street are convenient but cost more, and the menus are aimed at tour groups. Walk one or two lanes away and you will usually find simpler places with locals eating. Lunch is roughly 11:30–13:30 and dinner from about 17:30. Many small places stop serving earlier than you might expect. We do not quote any one shop's opening hours, so check the door or ask.

Checked October 2026 (Asia/Shanghai). Prices here are rough, based on a scan of 2026 listings on Qunar and Qyer. The menu board on the day wins. Prices go up around the October National Day holiday and the Spring Festival.

How do you put it together?

One cold beef plate and a cold wantuo to start, kaolaolao or knife-cut noodles as the main, and long yam if you want something sweet. For a group, nuanguo on one night. That covers the essentials over a day and a half in the old town. For meal stops on day trips, see the three-day plan.

Cover photo: N509FZ / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)