Winter Warmers: Roasted Chestnuts

With the weather starting to cool, more and more small stands are switching from summer snacks to the aromatic winter treats of roasted chestnuts and roasted sweet potato. Roasted chestnuts are one of the city's most popular winter snacks and are made by rolling the nuts around in either a wok-like pot or huge ovens with rough grit (basically little black stones) and maltose. Chestnuts are a rich source of vitamin C but locals say it’s best not to eat any chestnuts with cracks in them. Cupping your hands around a warm bag of roasted chestnuts (tangchao lizi) is one of the best things about a Beijing winter, but you’ll probably have to queue up in the cold for the pleasure.

Beijing’s most popular tangchao lizi store can be found at the Di’anmen intersection, just east of Lotus Lane righ on the eastern border of Xicheng District. Queues at Qiu Li Xiang (秋栗香) can extend for hundreds of meters as tourists and locals line up in the cold to buy the famous chestnuts at RMB 10 per 500g paper bag.

Qiu Li Xiang
2 Di’anmen Xijie (next major intersection south of Gulou), Xicheng District (6401 6838)
秋栗香, 西城区地安门西大街2号(地安门十字路口)

Links and Sources
lh4.ggpht.com: Image of tangchao lizi being made
eat.cncn.com: Image of chestnuts for sale
Picassa: 北京的Pattern
BBC: Day in Pictures