Alleyway Gourmet: Beijing's Oldest Baijiu Bar

Dart west between the new designer stores and tourist shops on Qianmen Avenue and you'll find a very different Beijing. Rundown sex-shops, boarded-up hotels with crumbling facades, and this place: one of Beijing's few remaining guo ying, or state-run bar/restaurants.

Behind this counter, a barkeep in a white lab coat pours baijiu by the glass - RMB 1 for 1 liang (50ml) in chipped porcelain cups. A handful of regulars, hunched over their Beijing wan bao, knock back the firey spirit and munch on little dishes of peanuts.

One middle-aged local told me that, to his mind, it's the only bar within the second ring that still serves baijiu in this way. "I've been coming here since I was a kid, and it's still just the same," he mumbled. At that moment, a man in a suit comes in and looks the place over. "Amazing, it's still here!" he exclaims.

The menu is similarly humble - a throwback to a time where food was nourishment and not a lot more. This has to be the most rustic bowl of dao xiao mian (RMB 5) I've eaten - no garnish beyond hunks of fatty pork, a meaty broth (three types to choose from) and a jug of vinegar on the side.

Next up, a plate of chao bing - stir-fried shreds of bread and cabbage and about as austere as it gets. By 6pm the place fills up with rickshaw drivers and neighborhood traders soaking up the antique ambiance- an exclusively male clientele. If you find yourself in the area, why not go and raise a glass with the locals at Xincheng Noodle House? Just like the old timers who bicycle all the way from Jingshan Park for their daily tipple, it won't be here forever.

Xincheng Noodle House. (Xincheng Xiao Mian Gua). Daily 5.30am-8.30pm. Liangshi Dianr Xie Jie (one alley west of Qianmen Dajie and about halfway down), Tiananmen, Doncheng District.

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Tom, you don't know how surprised I am to find the article, reporting this state owned restaurant I also photographed it too in September 2009.

Here is the menu:

http://www.dianping.com/photos/3456534/memberID=1088392

http://www.dianping.com/photos/3456535/memberID=1088392

I didn't order any food there, and hail to your explorative spirit.

Allow me to clarify that I meant the Mongolian Kou Bei, not the nasty ergotou or other brands.

Atmosphere for sure - whether it's the grumpy locals or strange apothecary of a bartender ... I think perhaps also because it's a state-owned enterprise of which there used to be many more. And the interior is entirely retro. It certainly felt "special" for me when I was there. Could be the booze, though.

Click here and your wildest dreams will come true.

I appreciate that it hearkens back to way back when....but what does this place have that a thousand others don't?

They may serve the baij by the glass....but most people just bring their own to most places, or you can buy a bottle there, or just buy those kou-bei thingies.

Tip: Kou-bei mixed with sprite goes pretty well with the type of food described in this article.

hardcore

The Times They Are a-changin` !