Delicious Food in Baiyangdian Lake – Local Specialties

Whether for friend gatherings, festival feasts or wedding banquets in Baiyangdian, cold shredded lotus root salad is an indispensable cold dish. The lotus roots grown here have long earned a great reputation for their clean white appearance, fine texture, crisp sweet taste and residue-free mouthfeel. When sliced, each root piece features one large central hole surrounded by six smaller holes, and the slices will not turn dark even after a full day of storage. When broken apart, long tender filaments stretch between the segments, perfectly embodying the Chinese idiom "lotus root broken yet filaments still connected". Rich in starch, Baiyangdian lotus roots can be processed into lotus root starch or mixed with other ingredients to make cold side dishes, making them an ideal accompaniment to wine.

Its elegant name stirs people’s boundless imagination: across the vast Baiyangdian Lake float clusters of silvery white blossoms, with short milky white stalks beneath the flowers and long emerald green stems extending downwards. This aquatic plant is unique to Baiyangdian. It sprouts in the lake every mid-spring and is prized for its tender texture. Blanching it in hot water and serving cold brings out an extraordinary delicate flavor.

Smoked fish is a distinctive aquatic delicacy brimming with water-town charm. Its one-of-a-kind flavor comes from elaborate traditional processing steps and age-old seasonings. There are various types categorized by fish size. Large smoked fish includes smoked silver crucian carp and silver bighead carp. Common carp are also smoked, but they must be split in half to ensure full penetration of smoky flavor. Small smoked fish mainly refer to smoked hazel gizzard shad. Tasty and easy to carry, smoked fish are hugely popular among tourists.

Crisp and aromatic lotus seeds are boiled into nourishing soups after sun-drying. In ancient times, they were exclusively served as nutritious food for the imperial court.

The soft-shelled turtle is a famous specialty of Baiyangdian. The lake’s nutrient-rich water, long sunshine hours and abundant aquatic algae create ideal conditions for their breeding and growth. Baiyangdian soft-shelled turtles boast plump tender meat, delicious flavor and high nutritional value. There is a wide range of turtle dishes, such as steamed soft-shelled turtle, stir-fried turtle meat, turtle soup and braised turtle in brown sauce, all well-loved by tourists from home and abroad.

Baiyangdian river crabs are renowned for their large size, thick meat, exquisite taste and rich nutrition. They spawn in seawater but grow in freshwater. Eggs hatch in March and April, and young crabs migrate into freshwater from June to July. They reach their plumpest state in August and September, hence the tradition of enjoying crabs while admiring the mid-autumn moon. Nowadays, most river crabs here are artificially farmed to meet tourist demand.

The ducks used are domesticated breeds derived from wild duck species. Simmered slowly with a secret traditional recipe at high temperature, the finished duck features tender, moist meat without greasiness. Fed on small fish, shrimp and aquatic weeds, the ducks contain abundant trace elements including calcium, phosphorus and iron. Regular consumption nourishes the eyes, clears internal heat, eliminates toxins and strengthens the body’s immunity.