Gao Tang Old Tofu is a specialty snack from Gaotang County, Liaocheng City, Shandong Province. Also known as tofu pudding, Gao Tang Old Tofu has a smooth and tender texture with a uniquely delicious flavor that combines the aroma of beans, seasonings, and broth. It is a renowned local delicacy. The dish is made from carefully selected high-quality soybeans. The beans are peeled, crushed, and soaked in water that has been stored and exposed to prolonged sunlight (purified Yellow River water is best)...
Gaotang Arhat Cakes are a specialty of Gaotang County, Liaocheng City, Shandong Province. Resembling mooncakes but without filling, these cakes feature layered textures that resemble the stacked forms of arhats (Buddhist monks), characterized by their soft, flaky texture, distinct layers, and a taste that is crispy, sweet, oily yet not greasy. The ingredients are carefully selected and the craftsmanship is complex and refined, giving them a strong traditional flavor. As a local specialty, Gaotang Arhat Cakes belong to the category of pastries…
Trichosanthes is a specialty of Gaotang. It belongs to the Cucurbitaceae family, Trichosanthes genus, and is a perennial dioecious climbing herb. A valuable traditional Chinese medicine, it often grows in white sandy soil. It can be cultivated in courtyards, riverbanks, gullies, roadside areas, and field edges. It blooms white flowers in summer and autumn, and its fruit turns from greenish to yellowish-brown, growing as large as a goose egg. With a relatively high sugar content, it is called "lugrains" and can be used medicinally, having…
Eight-piece fried dough twists, a traditional snack from Liaocheng. These are small fried snacks made by dividing the dough into eight connected strips, forming an oval shape—hence the name “Eight-piece” (八批). During preparation, the dough is mixed with alum, baking soda, and salt, and a large amount of oil is used for frying. Once cooked in hot oil, each strip...
Xiaotun Sugar Lotus Root has a history of several hundred years, with a strictly controlled production process that results in exquisite, delicious, crispy, fragrant, and sweet products renowned far and wide. An old custom in Gaotang dictates that every household buys sugar lotus root on the 23rd day of the 12th lunar month when the Kitchen God ascends to heaven, symbolically sticking his mouth shut so he will only speak of good deeds in the human world and nothing bad. There are many places in Gaotang County that make sugar lotus root, but only the ones made in Xiaotun, Qingping Town, are considered top-quality. With a history of several hundred years, they are widely praised across western Shandong for their strict production process and delicious taste. Xiaotun Sugar Lotus Root is crispy, crunchy, fragrant, and sweet, highly nutritious and easy to digest, making it a favorite food among children. It is also an excellent gift for family and friends. The main ingredients used to make sugar lotus root are yellow millet (with broomcorn millet being the best), sesame, and malted wheat. Typically, 40 kilograms of yellow millet, 8 kilograms of malted wheat from 8 kilograms of wheat, and 7.5 kilograms of sesame can produce 40 kilograms of sugar lotus root. The production process involves steaming the millet, i.e., cooking the yellow millet until done. The steamed millet is then mixed with malt paste, stirred evenly, and placed in a vat for fermentation. After that, the syrup is drained, boiled in a pot to form a sugar paste, and then spread on plant ash to cool. Once cooled to the right temperature, it is repeatedly stretched and pulled in steam until it turns bright white with strings of bubbles. It is then pulled into long strips about the width of a palm and as thick as a flattened finger, then inflated into shape to resemble a hollow lotus root. After undergoing processes such as boiling the sugar, cooling the sugar, resting the sugar, pulling the sugar, and aerating, the surface is coated with roasted, peeled sesame seeds, and it is dried to completion. Nowadays, numerous sugar workshops have been established in Qingping Town, producing 50,000 kilograms annually. In addition to meeting local demand, the product is also sold to other regions.
【Linqing Hada】 Hada is a type of silk fabric in varying widths, patterns, and lengths. It is an item used by Tibetans and some Mongolian ethnic groups to express respect and congratulations during ceremonies such as welcoming or seeing off guests, giving gifts, paying homage to deities, and in everyday social interactions. The color of hada is predominantly white, along with other colors such as red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, …
【Lingtao】 A specialty of Linqing Baita Kiln, commonly known as “flat peach.” This fruit has a slightly indented top and is flat-round in shape, weighing 200–250 grams per piece. When ripe, the flat peach turns white with a red tint. By pricking a small hole, one can suck out all the juice with their mouth. There are three varieties of this peach: “May Fresh,” “Thin-Skinned,” and “Autumn Festival.” The “May…
Linqing Garlic is a specialty of Linqing City, Liaocheng, Shandong Province. It is known for its large cloves, fresh and rich juice, pure spiciness, crisp and delicious taste, firm cloves that do not separate easily, resistance to mold and rot, and excellent storage qualities. Linqing Garlic has been awarded a National Geographical Indication Certification trademark. Linqing City in Shandong Province is known as the "Hometown of Garlic," with a garlic-growing history spanning over a hundred years...
Linqing Jingjing Fermented Tofu is a traditional product of Linqing Jimi Sauce Garden, boasting a history of over 200 years. In the early years of the Republic of China, Jimi Sauce Garden was as renowned as Beijing’s “Liubiju,” Baoding’s “Huaimao,” and Jining’s “Yutang,” collectively hailed as the Four Great Sauce Gardens north of the Yangtze River. The Jingjing Fermented Tofu is made from high-quality soybeans of the year, undergoing processes such as soaking, filtering...
The Linqing Eight-Treasure Cloth-Bag Chicken originated during the Tongzhi reign of the Qing Dynasty and has a history of over 100 years. Served on a plate, it looks just like a whole, crimson-hued chicken lying down. When eaten, the meat is tender, fragrant, and crispy, boasting the unique aroma of chicken as well as the rich flavors of delicacies from land and sea, making it a fine dish for banquets. The Linqing Eight-Treasure Cloth-Bag Chicken, along with the Dao Kou Chicken from Huaxian in Henan and the Braised Chicken from Dezhou, belongs to the category of cooked chickens found along the Grand Canal.
Shaomai is a traditional delicacy from Linqing, Liaocheng. It is a stuffed flour-based food that falls somewhere between buns and dumplings, steamed using a special method. The best-known shaomai in Linqing comes from Wang Family Shaomai, which has a history of over 100 years. It is one of the four famous local flour-based snacks in Linqing (alongside Dou Family Steamed Buns, Xu Family Pan-Fried Buns, Wang Family Shaomai, and Wudekui Meat Pies…
Dingma Softshell Turtle, also known as "Huangyun Softshell Turtle," is a specialty of Weiwan Town, Linqing City, Shandong Province, and a China National Geographic Indication product. It gets its name from Majia Lake in Dingma Village, where it originated. The area has a long history of softshell turtle farming, and the Dingma Softshell Turtles produced here are large with plump skirts, tender meat, and delicious flavor. They were the first aquatic product in China to be certified as a Green Food, and they hold considerable...
Jimei was the name of a well-established sauce shop in Linqing, a place with a long history and great reputation, deeply trusted by the locals. Back then, no one around us had ever heard of Beijing’s “Liubiju,” and we would never have believed that Wang Zhihe’s stinky tofu could compare to Jimei’s, let alone the “Huaimao” from Baoding or the “...” from Jining.
What kind of tofu is tray tofu? Tray tofu, also known as water tofu, is made from premium soybeans that are first hulled and soaked, then ground into a slurry. The soy milk is filtered through cloth and boiled in a pot, with bittern added to coagulate it carefully. It’s called tray tofu because it is served and eaten on a rectangular wooden tray. What are the characteristics of tray tofu? It is white, tender…
The fur industry in Linqing originated in the Yuan Dynasty and flourished in the Qing Dynasty. Its main products include lamb fur, beach fur, and thousand-layer fur. The most famous of these is lamb fur, also known as pearl fur, which is made from the pelts of lambs under one year old. As early as the Zhou Dynasty, this type of lamb fur had already become part of the attire worn by nobles, or...
The Large-Tailed Han Sheep is a dual-purpose breed—suitable for both meat and wool/leather production—and is a local variety of sheep. It migrated along the old course of the Yellow River into the region and is now mainly concentrated in Linqing and Guan County, though it is also raised in other counties and cities. Breed characteristics include a gentle temperament, strong adaptability, rapid growth and development, high fertility, white fleece, a prominent nasal bridge, large drooping ears, sturdy limbs, …
The Linqing Lion Cat is a rare breed developed in the late Qing Dynasty by the Hui community in Linqing through crossbreeding Persian cats with local cats. Its appearance resembles that of a small lion, hence the name "Lion Cat." Based on coat color, Lion Cats can be classified into four types: White Lion Cat, Black Lion Cat, Whip-Ball Lion Cat, and Calico Lion Cat. The White Lion Cat has a pure white coat without any markings and is further distinguished by its eye color, which includes the rare "odd-eye" variety…
His Excellency Yin’s Divine Pork What is “Divine Pork”? It’s actually a clever and delicious way of preparing and eating pig offal. In Linqing, which place is famous for it? For four generations, Li Tingsao’s family on the south bank of the Linqing section of the Grand Canal has been making Divine Pork using ancestral recipes. Thanks to its unique flavor and great value, people flock to buy it, and eventually everyone started calling it what it truly is — “flavorful accompaniment pork.” This “flavorful accompaniment pork”...
What is Xu's Bean Mash? Also known as Sweet Mash, it is made by grinding soaked millet on a water millstone, and many places make it. What’s special about Xu's Bean Mash from Linqing? Xu's Bean Mash uses millet as the main ingredient, crafted with care and substance — for every 15 jin of millet, 4 liang of white pepper, 4 liang of Sichuan peppercorn, and 3 liang of fennel are added. It can be described as...
Linqing Braised Pancake, often described as a clever culinary creation. It involves slicing double-layered flatbread into thin strips, returning them to the pan with oil, stir-frying with seasonings and a small amount of vegetables, then covering the strips with the stir-fried mixture and letting them simmer. Once simmered, scrambled eggs are added and flipped a few times before serving. The result is soft and smooth in texture, earning it a reputation as a premium noodle-like dish at banquets. Braised pancake emphasizes precise control of heat and technique — in Linqing, there’s even a saying: “The perfect braised pancake is clean and shiny,” and the craft still has living masters today.