Qibao Old Town Water-Village Route

What Qibao is

Qibao is a Jiangnan water town in Minhang district, about thirty minutes from central Shanghai on Metro Line 9. The town's name is said to come from Qibao Temple, moved here in the Northern Song. Along a narrow canal (the Puhuitang), stone-paved streets — South Street and North Street — run between low Ming-and-Qing-style houses leaning shoulder to shoulder. It has none of Yuyuan's showy bustle, and for that very reason the life of the water's edge and the food locals actually eat are kept as they were. Cross a stone bridge, watch the water, graze the snacks one at a time — a step away from the city's noise, it is another of Shanghai's edge-of-town food walks.

Water-town snacks, and Qibao's own

Qibao's eating rests on three pillars: sweet steamed cakes, fried things, and mutton. Qibao fanggao, which bears the town's name, is a plain sweet of rice flour steamed into squares around red-bean or jujube paste. Haitanggao baked in flower-shaped moulds, and meat-filled tangyuan that are savoury rather than sweet, are also particular to here. The surprise is the mutton: Qibao has long been known for baiqie yangrou, thin slices of poached mutton, warming fare in winter. And along the canal drift the smells of griddle-pressed then deep-fried scallion pancakes and pungent stinky tofu from the stalls.

How to walk this route

Start at Qibao station on Metro Line 9. The old town is about ten minutes on foot; enter South Street and the snack shops run one after another on both sides. Open with the sweet cakes — Qibao fanggao, haitanggao, meat tangyuan — then break the sweetness with fried scallion pancake and stinky tofu. For the poached mutton, order a plate at a sit-down shop, and rest by a canal-side stone bridge (around Kangle Bridge) watching the water for a proper water-town pause. Finish at the Qibao Old Restaurant, sitting down over the deboned fish-head stew. Reckon about a hundred minutes on foot, mixing stall snacks with dishes eaten sitting.

What to look for

The axis of the route is the town's namesake, Qibao fanggao. Fresh from the steamer the corners are soft and the bean paste only lightly sweet, so you keep reaching for another. The other to remember is the meat tangyuan — where the city's tangyuan usually hold sweet black-sesame paste, Qibao's are filled with meat and run with juice when you bite: the savoury tangyuan. The poached mutton has no gaminess; you taste the layers of fat and lean through the dipping sauce, and it is Qibao's signature. Among the fried things, the scallion pancake that flakes in layers is best for walking. And the closing deboned fish-head stew — a big river-fish head taken off the bone and simmered in a thickened broth — is a dish only a water town makes: the cheeks and gelatinous parts are silky, and you will want the broth over rice.

Before you go

On weekends and long holidays the old town's narrow lanes fill with people; for an unhurried meal, a weekday or the early morning is more comfortable. Some stalls still take only cash, though most accept electronic payment. The canal-side stone paving is slippery in the rain, so watch your step. Stall hours vary by day and season, and some close by evening; for the sit-down fish-head shop, allow plenty of time.