What Are the Top Ten Local Snacks of Chifeng?

This delicacy is braised with beef tendons and green Chinese onions. Meticulously prepared, it boasts translucent pale white tendons with clear, glossy broth. The tender, aromatic tendons are highly nutritious and regularly served at banquets to welcome distinguished guests.

Xu Guimin and Xu Guishen from Xiquan Village, Heilihe Town once ran an inn for long-distance wagon drivers, serving homemade pancakes to passing travellers. After years of refinement, they developed a traditional craft for making pancakes.

Only premium small white millet or yellow millet and high-quality soybeans are blended in fixed proportions as raw materials. The production process involves soaking grains and beans, then grinding them into fine, even batter with a stone mill. Up to 100 kilograms of pancakes can be made daily. Golden in hue, the pancakes release a rich aroma of millet and beans. They deliver an excellent texture: soft and chewy when eaten hot. Wrapped with green onions and chives, they carry a sweet, fresh fragrance. They can also be reheated in a pan to restore softness, or pan-fried lightly for a crisp, aromatic treat loved by all ages. Ideal for travel picnics, this well-known local specialty is famous across Ningcheng County.

A wide variety of wild edible plants thrive within Heilihe Nature Reserve. Grown in completely unpolluted natural surroundings, they can be cooked into fresh, refreshing dishes.

Thanks to fertile soil and humid climate, over thirty types of wild vegetables grow here—their flowers, leaves and roots all edible. Standout varieties include daylily, bracken, ostrich fern, ostrich feather fern, young poplar shoots, willow buds, wild mustard, wild Chinese cabbage, bitter herbs, dandelion, wild garland chrysanthemum, wild pear blossoms, pagoda tree flowers, hazel mushrooms, white wild mushrooms and red mushrooms. After picking, they undergo pickling, disinfection and desalination before vacuum packaging for storage. They can be served cold as salads or stir-fried hot.

These all-natural green foods are rich in multiple vitamins, calcium and iron. Beyond their fresh, delicious flavour and high nutritional value, they clear heat and detoxify, soothe nerves, harmonise the stomach, nourish skin and boost wellness.

Renowned far and wide, the Dahushi Whole Fish Feast has become a signature delicacy of Ningcheng.

It features fresh fish raised in Dahushi Reservoir, including common carp, silver carp, grass carp, whitebait, soft-shelled turtle and barbel chub. Using braising, stewing, stir-frying and deep-frying techniques, chefs craft dozens of distinct fish dishes: plain stewed fish, silver carp head stew, fried fish chunks, sweet-sour braised fish, red-braised fish and more. The signature plain stewed fish head uses pure natural mineral spring water from the reservoir and simmers slowly over gentle heat, served immediately after cooking—unmatched in tenderness and delicate fresh flavour.

The fish live in unpolluted reservoir water, feeding solely on natural aquatic nutrients without artificial feed, making them pure, healthy delicacies.

Originating as a palace snack in the Qing Dynasty, it was introduced to local Mongolian noble families in the reign of Emperor Kangxi when Princess Duanjing of Heshuo married the Prince of Harqin, becoming a popular cold treat to beat summer heat before spreading among common folk.

Buckwheat serves as the core ingredient. Grains are ground and sifted, mixed with clean water into batter, then boiled until thick. The thick paste is poured onto boards to cool and set. To serve, a thin iron scraper cuts thin translucent jelly strips, which quiver gently in bowls. Seasonings including soy sauce, vinegar, sesame paste, shredded green onions, mustard and a dash of sesame oil are poured over top. It tastes fresh, bright in colour, cool and refreshing.

Also known as lever flatbread, it has a history of over 200 years in Chifeng, shaped like two small round boxes joined together. Its unique production method: salt and alum are mixed into flour, blended with butter and white sugar, kneaded repeatedly and pressed firmly with a heavy wooden lever. The dough is moulded and baked in ovens.

Durable against squeezing, freezing and sunlight, it resists mould and spoilage, easy to carry on carts, horseback or in cloth saddle bags. Locals in old times always packed sacks of this flatbread for long journeys—convenient and affordable for filling hunger or gifting to relatives and friends.