BEIJING · GUIJIE ROUTE

Guijie Route

A stretch of Dongzhimennei Street, known as Guijie, is a food street that comes into its own after dark. Under red lanterns, shops of mala crayfish, hotpot, grilled fish and lamb spine follow one another, their steam and smoke unbroken until late. Unlike the daytime old Beijing, heat and nighttime bustle are the colour of this route.

🚇 Subway Line 5 Beixinqiao or Line 2 Dongzhimen, then walk🚶 ~110 min on foot🍽 6 dishes

The night of mala crayfish

What stands for Guijie from summer into autumn is mala crayfish. Purged crayfish are stir-braised in red oil charged with Sichuan pepper, chili and spices and heaped from a large wok. With gloves, you crack the shell and draw the meat, and behind the numbing heat the crayfish's sweetness rises. Beyond mala there are thirteen-spice and garlic versions, each shop with its own blend. Paired with beer, an evening passes as the shells pile up. Prices run close to market rate with weight and size, higher at the height of the season. It opens late, but the menu shifts with the season, so check before you go.

Hotpot, grilled fish and bone pots

Around the crayfish stand dishes eaten over the flame. Hotpot dips tripe and duck intestine for seconds in a red broth of tallow and pepper; grilled fish is charred then simmered in chili broth; lamb spine is long-cooked from the bone. All keep their heat at the table and suit settling in with several people. If heat is hard, order the split pot with clear broth and finish with noodles and tofu to soak the soup. Some, like grilled oysters and mala xiangguo, can be added a plate at a time. Prices are a guide per person or per fish and climb with added dishes. Most let you choose the level of heat, so start from one you can manage.

How to walk this route

Start at Beixinqiao on Line 5 or Dongzhimen on Line 2. Guijie is the stretch of Dongzhimennei Street linking the two, so you can walk it from either end. Daytime is still quiet; the real hours begin at dusk. Arrive in the evening, settle in first with crayfish or hotpot, then move into the night with grilled fish and oysters in between. As the heat piles up, plain rice or a cold drink like sour-plum juice lets the stomach rest. Weekends and peak season bring waits, so go early or choose a weekday. Most shops open late, some until the small hours. Prices and heat are a guide, so check at the door before sitting to eat with ease.

Route map

Beixinqiao Station → Guijie → Dongzhimen　·　numbers match the dishes below

The dishes on this route (6)

Tap through to each shop and dish

魚1SeafoodGuijie Crayfish Restaurant×Mala CrayfishRiver crayfish, purged of grit, are stir-braised in red oil charged with Sichuan pepper, chili and spices. Wearing gloves, you crack the shell and draw out the meat. Behind the numbing heat come the crayfish's sweetness and the depth of the spices. The table fills with oil and shells, and the later the hour, the busier it gets. Beer goes well with it.Nearest Beixinqiao / DongzhimenPrice 80–160 CNY 食2soupGuijie Hotpot Restaurant×Tripe HotpotA red broth floating with beef tallow, Sichuan pepper and chili bubbles in the pot at the table. Tripe and duck intestine are dipped for only a few seconds, then eaten from a saucer of sesame or garlic oil. Held too long they toughen, so count with the chopsticks as you lift. If heat is a problem, ask for the split pot with clear broth. You gather around it, sweating.Nearest Beixinqiao / DongzhimenPrice 80–150 CNY pp 魚3SeafoodGuijie Grilled Fish×Grilled Fish in Chili BrothA butterflied river fish is first grilled over charcoal, then moved to a shallow pot lined with spices and vegetables and simmered further in chili broth at the table. The char of the grill meets the heat of the braise, and the flesh flakes at a touch of the chopsticks. Tofu, potato and greens are added later to soak up the broth. It suits several sharing one fish.Nearest Beixinqiao / DongzhimenPrice 70–130 CNY 魚4SeafoodGuijie Grilled Oysters×Grilled Oysters with GarlicOysters set on the grill in their shells are heaped with fried garlic, scallion, chili and oil and cooked over charcoal. The juices boil in the shell and the garlic scorches and smells. Sipped straight from the shell, the brine's sweetness mixes with the toasted garlic. Ordered by the piece and counted out, they carry an evening along with skewers.Nearest Beixinqiao / DongzhimenPrice 8–15 CNY each 肉5MeatGuijie Mala Xiangguo×Mala Xiangguo (Dry Spicy Pot)You pick your ingredients from a rack, and once weighed they are stir-fried dry in oil charged with Sichuan pepper and chili. Meat, intestine, lotus root, potato, greens and tofu can all go in. Without broth, the spices cling to everything and read strong. The heat can be chosen, and it goes well with plain rice. Usually a large plate is shared among several.Nearest Beixinqiao / DongzhimenPrice 50–100 CNY 肉6MeatGuijie Lamb Spine Hotpot×Lamb Spine HotpotLamb spine is long-simmered with spices and eaten kept warm in the pot at the table. Its bones, likened to a scorpion, give the name. Held with gloves, the meat is worked from the joints with teeth and fingers, and the marrow is drawn out. The broth runs deep, and cabbage, tofu and noodles are added at the end to finish. A dish suited to warming the body on a winter night.Nearest Beixinqiao / DongzhimenPrice 80–140 CNY

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