--- title: "Chinese Breakfast: What People Eat, From Soy Milk and Youtiao to Jianbing and Dim Sum, With Pinyin" description: "What people in China eat for breakfast, city by city: soy milk and fried dough sticks 油条, the jianbing crepe, congee, buns, Wuhan’s hot dry noodles and Cantonese morning tea, sweet or salty, how to order, and 43 words with pinyin and sound." canonical: "https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-breakfast" author: "Mandarin The Wild" --- Free · 43 words # Chinese breakfast [Print as flashcards](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-flashcards?level=mine&words=%E6%97%A9%E9%A5%AD%20%E6%97%A9%E9%A4%90%20%E6%97%A9%E7%82%B9%20%E6%97%A9%E8%8C%B6%20%E9%A5%AE%E8%8C%B6%20%E7%82%B9%E5%BF%83%20%E8%B1%86%E6%B5%86%20%E8%B1%86%E6%B1%81%20%E7%89%9B%E5%A5%B6%20%E7%B2%A5%20%E7%A8%80%E9%A5%AD%20%E7%99%BD%E7%B2%A5%20%E7%9A%AE%E8%9B%8B%E7%98%A6%E8%82%89%E7%B2%A5%20%E8%B1%86%E8%85%90%E8%84%91%20%E8%B1%86%E8%8A%B1%20%E6%B2%B9%E6%9D%A1%20%E5%8C%85%E5%AD%90%20%E9%A6%92%E5%A4%B4%20%E8%8A%B1%E5%8D%B7%20%E7%83%A7%E9%A5%BC%20%E5%B0%8F%E7%AC%BC%E5%8C%85%20%E9%94%85%E8%B4%B4%20%E8%91%B1%E6%B2%B9%E9%A5%BC%20%E7%85%8E%E9%A5%BC%20%E9%B8%A1%E8%9B%8B%E7%81%8C%E9%A5%BC%20%E6%89%8B%E6%8A%93%E9%A5%BC%20%E8%9B%8B%E9%A5%BC%20%E9%A5%AD%E5%9B%A2%20%E8%82%89%E5%A4%B9%E9%A6%8D%20%E7%83%AD%E5%B9%B2%E9%9D%A2%20%E7%89%9B%E8%82%89%E9%9D%A2%20%E7%B1%B3%E7%B2%89%20%E7%B1%B3%E7%BA%BF%20%E9%A6%84%E9%A5%A8%20%E4%BA%91%E5%90%9E%20%E8%83%A1%E8%BE%A3%E6%B1%A4%20%E8%82%A0%E7%B2%89%20%E7%83%A7%E5%8D%96%20%E5%8F%89%E7%83%A7%E5%8C%85%20%E8%8C%B6%E5%8F%B6%E8%9B%8B%20%E9%B8%A1%E8%9B%8B%20%E5%92%B8%E8%8F%9C%20%E6%A6%A8%E8%8F%9C) Speed ## Breakfast across China | | In Chinese | What it is | | --- | --- | --- | | Everywhere | 豆浆 油条 dòujiāng yóutiáo | Soy milk, sweet or salty, with a long fried dough stick to dip in it | | Tianjin and Beijing | 煎饼果子 jiānbing guǒzi | A crepe with egg, scallion and sauce round a crisp cracker or dough stick, made at a street cart | | Beijing | 豆汁 焦圈 dòuzhī jiāoquān | A sour fermented mung bean drink with crisp fried rings: loved by old Beijingers, a test for everyone else | | Shanghai | 粢饭团 cífàntuán | Sticky rice rolled round a dough stick; with flatbread, dough sticks and soy milk, one of the city’s “four heavenly kings” | | Guangzhou and Hong Kong | 早茶 zǎochá | Morning tea: dim sum like 虾饺, 烧卖, 肠粉 and 叉烧包, “one pot of tea, two dishes” | | Wuhan | 热干面 règānmiàn | Hot dry noodles in sesame paste; in Wuhan, having breakfast is 过早 (guòzǎo) | | Xi’an | 肉夹馍 ròujiāmó | Flatbread stuffed with chopped stewed pork | | Henan | 胡辣汤 húlàtāng | A thick, peppery soup, with fried buns or flatbread | | Taiwan | 蛋饼 dànbǐng | An egg crepe, with rice rolls 饭团 and soy milk, from a breakfast shop, 早餐店 | ## Breakfast words zǎo早fàn饭 breakfast zǎo早cān餐 breakfast zǎo早diǎn点 breakfast zǎo早chá茶 morning tea; dim sum breakfast yǐn饮chá茶 (Cantonese) to have dim sum; yum cha diǎn点xin心 dim sum ## Drinks and porridge dòu豆jiāng浆 soy milk dòu豆zhī汁 fermented mung bean drink (Beijing specialty) niú牛nǎi奶 milk; cow's milk zhōu粥 congee; rice porridge xī稀fàn饭 rice porridge; congee bái白zhōu粥 plain rice congee pí皮dàn蛋shòu瘦ròu肉zhōu粥 congee with preserved egg and lean pork dòu豆fu腐nǎo脑 tofu pudding; soft beancurd dòu豆huā花 tofu pudding; douhua ## Fried, baked and steamed yóu油tiáo条 deep-fried dough stick bāo包zi子 steamed bun (with filling) mán馒tou头 steamed bun huā花juǎn卷 steamed twisted roll shāo烧bǐng饼 baked sesame flatbread xiǎo小lóng笼bāo包 xiaolongbao (steamed soup dumpling) guō锅tiē贴 potsticker; pan-fried dumpling cōng葱yóu油bǐng饼 scallion pancake ## Pancakes, rolls and wraps jiān煎bing饼 thin pancake; jianbing (savory crepe) jī鸡dàn蛋guàn灌bǐng饼 egg-filled pancake (street breakfast) shǒu手zhuā抓bǐng饼 flaky scallion pancake (street food) dàn蛋bǐng饼 egg pancake; omelette crepe fàn饭tuán团 rice ball (onigiri) ròu肉jiā夹mó馍 roujiamo (Shaanxi flatbread stuffed with stewed meat) ## Noodles, soups and dim sum rè热gān干miàn面 hot dry noodles (Wuhan specialty) niú牛ròu肉miàn面 beef noodles; beef noodle soup mǐ米fěn粉 rice noodles mǐ米xiàn线 rice noodles hún馄tun饨 wonton; dumpling soup yún云tūn吞 wonton hú胡là辣tāng汤 hot and peppery soup (Henan specialty) cháng肠fěn粉 rice noodle roll (Cantonese dim sum) shāo烧mài卖 shumai (steamed dumpling) chā叉shāo烧bāo包 barbecued pork bun ## On the side chá茶yè叶dàn蛋 tea egg (egg boiled in tea and spices) jī鸡dàn蛋 egg; hen's egg xián咸cài菜 salted vegetables; pickles zhà榨cài菜 pickled mustard tuber (Sichuan pickle) ## Now read them in a real story [**中国人早饭吃什么？**What do Chinese people eat for breakfast?HSK 3 · 1 minRead it free](https://mandarinthewild.com/library/read/what-do-chinese-people-eat-for-breakfast) ## What do Chinese people eat for breakfast? It depends on the region, and most people buy it from a stall on the way to work or school. In the north it is often soy milk, 豆浆 (dòujiāng), with fried dough sticks, 油条 (yóutiáo), steamed buns, 包子 (bāozi), or a jianbing crepe, 煎饼 (jiānbing). Rice porridge, 粥 (zhōu) or 稀饭 (xīfàn), with pickles, 咸菜 (xiáncài), is eaten everywhere. In the south people have noodles or rice noodles, 米粉 (mǐfěn), and in Guangdong dim sum, 点心 (diǎnxin). Tea eggs, 茶叶蛋 (cháyèdàn), and milk, 牛奶 (niúnǎi), are common too. ## What is breakfast called in Chinese? 早饭 (zǎofàn) in everyday speech, 早餐 (zǎocān) on menus and signs, and 早点 (zǎodiǎn) for the food sold at breakfast stalls. In Guangdong and Hong Kong, a breakfast of dim sum is 早茶 (zǎochá), morning tea, or 饮茶 (yǐnchá), drinking tea. In Wuhan, to have breakfast is 过早 (guòzǎo). ## What is the Chinese fried dough stick? 油条 (yóutiáo), oil stick: two strips of dough pressed together and deep-fried until they puff up, eaten dipped in soy milk or congee, or rolled inside a crepe or sticky rice. A legend says they began in the Song dynasty, when people in Hangzhou fried two strips of dough as the traitor Qin Hui and his wife, who had the hero Yue Fei put to death; in Cantonese they are still called 油炸鬼 (yàuh jaahk gwái), fried devils. ## Is soy milk sweet or salty in China? Both. In the north it is usually drunk sweet or plain. In Shanghai and Taiwan many people have salty soy milk, 咸豆浆 (xián dòujiāng), with vinegar that makes it curdle, soy sauce, chopped pickles, dried shrimp and pieces of dough stick. Tofu pudding, 豆腐脑 (dòufunǎo) or 豆花 (dòuhuā), starts a friendly argument online: northerners eat it salty with gravy, many southerners sweet with syrup. ## How do you order breakfast in Chinese? At a stall, say 老板，来一个煎饼，加个蛋 (lǎobǎn, lái yí gè jiānbing, jiā gè dàn): boss, one jianbing with an extra egg. Dough sticks are counted with 根 (gēn): 两根油条 (liǎng gēn yóutiáo), two dough sticks; soy milk by the cup, 一杯豆浆 (yì bēi dòujiāng), or bowl, 一碗 (yì wǎn). Add 不要辣 (bú yào là), not spicy, and 打包 (dǎbāo), to take away. ## What is Cantonese morning tea? 早茶 (zǎochá): a pot of tea and small plates of dim sum, 点心 (diǎnxin), with friends or family, often for hours on a weekend morning. The classics are shrimp dumplings, 虾饺 (xiājiǎo), pork shumai, 烧卖 (shāomài), rice noodle rolls, 肠粉 (chángfěn), and barbecued pork buns, 叉烧包 (chāshāobāo). The old phrase is 一盅两件 (yì zhōng liǎng jiàn), one pot of tea and two dishes. ## Can’t hear it? Play uses your device’s Mandarin voice. Edge, Chrome and Safari have one; a browser with none plays each character in our recorded voice instead. ## More Chinese food - [Chinese food and dish names](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-food-names) - [Chinese restaurant phrases](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-phrases/restaurant) - [Chinese tea names](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-tea-names) - [Chinese numbers](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-numbers) Words, pinyin and meanings from our own dictionary; the dishes and customs from Wikipedia’s Chinese breakfast, Youtiao, Jianbing and Yum cha, and they differ by city and family.