Xi'an spectacle: Guokwei

You may never imagine how large a cake can be. Here I will introduce one spectacle in Xi'an: Guokwei. You may never hear of Guokwei. It is a traditional Xi'an wheaten food with large and round size. How large it is? You can get it from the below imagine.


Guokwei is one spectacle of Shaanxi Eight Spectacles. People often say that it likes large and thick pot cover. It is famous for its aridness, crisp, white and spicy.


The most obvious feature is its large shape. The inside of Guokwei is soft and the outside is very crisp.

The popularity of Guokwei can be traced back to Tang dynasty, about more than 1200 years ago. In tang dynasty, a large number of farmers were gathered to build the mausoleum of the emperors. Because the projects were large and there were a large number of farmers, the food issue became a difficult problem. Therefore, the large Guokwei was invented. On the other side, the dry Guokwei is easy to kept and can supply a large number of people.

Nowadays, the Guokwei is still popular in Xi'an areas. In addition, the travelers from other places like to taste this so large Guokwei. You should not miss it next time you come to Xi'an.

Xi'an Oil Crisp Cake with Thousand Layers

Xi'an is well known for its long history and rich culture around the world. You not only can view famous historic sites such as the Terracotta Army in the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor, but also you can enjoy the delicious traditional Chinese foods.

As a Chinese young man who likes to learn English, every time I write about the traditional Chinese food, I find it is especially difficult to give the food a proper English name, which is very frustrating. In addition, I think most of the translators have the same experience and feeling, just like you can't truly understand Shakespeare if you don’t learn English. Like the food below:


What would you like to call it? Translated literally, it can be called as oil crisp cake with thousand layers. In fact, this kind of cake doesn’t have thousand layers. This is one difference. We Chinese people like to use the words thousand and ten thousand to express the meaning of so many. In the name of the Chinese foods, we like to use adjective words, especially some featured side dishes.

In addition, Chinese people like to add the stories on the foods. The oil crisp cake with thousand layers also has its own origin in the Tang dynasty about more than one thousand years ago.

Traditional Chinese Foods in the Ancient City Xi'an

Xi'an is one of the world's Four Civilized Ancient Capitals. In the long history, Xi'an has developed a rich food culture. Xi'an is located in the borders of different nations. Therefore, the foods in Xi'an have different nations' flavors.



One of the most famous foods in Xi'an is the soaking steamed bread with mutton. The high quality mutton or beef is boiled with seasonings such as Chinese red pepper, fennel, Chinese cinnamon and so on. After the meat is cooked, the soup should be prepared for other uses. Then the steamed bread is cut into blocks and put them into the soup. Then add mutton or beef and other seasonings. Now the soaking steamed bread is okay. You should not miss this soaking bread next time you go to Xi'an.



In Xi'an there is a kind of wine that is beneficial to all ages called Huanggui dense wine. This kind of wine can be tracked to Tang Dynasty about more than 1100 years ago. In addition, Huanggui dense wine has many health caring functions such as quenching thirst, invigorating blood circulation, strengthening the spleen, stimulating the appetite and moisturizing the lung. All the people in different ages can drink this wine at any time.

I am Sure You Would Like Those Foods

If you have the chance to travel in Changchun, China, you should never miss the soooooo delicious traditional Chinese foods and they would not let you down.

Bean paste with snow cover

As a Chinese who likes to learn English, I must admit that the name of Chinese dishes is very poetic. Even the most common dish can own the most poetic name. Just like this dish, translated literally, it is just white sweet and bean paste. Its Chinese name is poetic. However, after translated into English, its poetic meaning loses. No matter what names it has, just enjoy it now.

Eastern large flat cake with smoked meat

Changchun is featured with its smoked meat, which is made from the high quality fresh pork. First, the pork is boiled with dozens of medicinal herbs and then the pork will be smoked. Without you trying it by yourself, you will never imagine the taste of this smoked meat. In addition, the large flat cake is made by specific ways. Even you don’t visit sight spots in Changchun, you should not miss this food.

The precious feast of Mt. Long White

Changchun is close to the Mt. Long White, where there are countless natural treasures such as ginseng, antler velvet, bear paw, mushrooms and so on. The precious feast of Mt. Long White can't be seen as a single dish, it can be divided into six big dishes. All of those dishes are made from the wild animals or plants in Mt. Long White.