Scorpions Anyone?: The Wangfujing Food Street

Scorpions! Nom nom nom :)

 Before heading on out to Beijing, Phil decided that he was going to try out exotic munchies. True to his word, he came, he saw and, well....ate :P

the entrance to the Wangfujing Food Street

The place we went to was a little alley in Wangfujing.

Asia's biggest Apple Store is found in Wangfujing

Wangfujing has a station on the Beijing subway network, Line 1 has a station at the southern end of the street, which is a stop away eastbound from Tiananmen Square (Tiananmen West or East Stations)

Wángfǔjǐng, located in Dongcheng District, Beijing, and is one of the Chinese capital's most famous shopping streets.

the majority of the main shopping area is pedestrianized, aside from the tour trolley. Now traffic detours to the east of the street

It starts from Wangfujing Nankou ("south entrance"), where the Oriental Plaza and the Beijing Hotel are located and the Wangfujing Subway Station north exits.

D. Wade endorses Chinese shoe brand Li-Ning

 The street then heads north, passing the Wangfujing Xinhua Bookstore, the Beijing Department Store as well as the Beijing Foreign Languages Bookstore before ending at the Xin Dong An Plaza and Wangfujing Catholic Church.

some of these bugs are actually still alive. after making your selection, it's deep fried in oil then rolled in crushed red pepper

aside from these uncommon munchies...

 If you're looking for exotic fare, the place you want to head on out to is the Wangfujing Snack Street.

soups, stuffed boiled eggs, noodles, congees (tasty porridge) and many other Chinese food are sold on the streets

Located in hutongs just west of the main street, is densely packed with restaurants and street food stalls.

crabs at 50 RMB a piece

fried bananas, curry shark, soft shell crabs, fried jack fruit and spring rolls

 The food stalls serves a wide variety of common and exotic street food.

meat kebabs alongside silk worms :P

More common fare such as Chuanr (meat kebabs, commonly made of lamb) and desserts, such as Tang hu lu or candied fruits on a stick, are among the most popular.

don't knock it til you've tried it. The candied coating isn't as thick as I thought and the fruits, surprisingly firm and fresh, only for 2 RMB

Further north and perpendicular to Wangfujing is Donghuamen Street, which has a night food market of its own.

less exotic food at Donghuamen Street

The side street has candy stores, shoe stores, something similar to a dollar store, toy kiosks and a lot more on top of the food stalls.

food and cheap goods, but really crowded specially with westerners  who were food stall hopping

the creepy crawlies are quite pricey compared to the "normal food" at around 25 RMB a piece. Beers and other drinks are often sold in these stalls too

I personally didn't try any of the bugs, starfishes and what have you but opted to eat this spicy and tender grilled squid and deep fried soft shell crabs.

real good grilled squid

When in Beijing, stop by Wangfujing. This all night, festive street is just the place to go to for good food, meeting new friends and some shopping.

From TMW, may all your wanderings be better than ours!