Eating

Tucked behind Dongzhimen Gate, Guijie Street stretches from Dongzhimen Overpass in the east to East Jiaodaokou Street in the west. More than 150 storefronts are scattered along this street, 90% of which are restaurants. Ghost street never closes, making it one of Beijing’s most buzzing streets, and it’s especially fun on Friday and Saturday nights. Most styles of Chinese cuisine are represented on Ghost Street, but it’s best known for its hotpot and spicy seafood restaurants. The giant Xiǎo Yú Shān is always jammed with people cracking open crayfish and shrimp. For classic Beijing-style hotpot, try Supreme Hotpot.

As to the name origin of this street, there is an interesting anecdote. In the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), vendors selling groceries, vegetables, and fruits around Dongzhimen Gate often started trading at midnight and ended by early dawn. The dim light emitted by their oil lamps looked very ghostly in the darkness. Therefore, this place was called “Ghost Street (鬼街, guǐ jiē)” by locals. In the late 1980s, lots of food shops opened here, gradually turning the street from a trading market to a food street. Later on, with the purpose of weakening the mysterious ghost overtones and enhancing food culture of the street, the Commerce Commission decided to change the name to Guijie Street (簋街, which is pronounced the same as Ghost Street in Chinese). Instead of the character Gui (鬼), which refers to ghost or evil spirits, the character Gui (簋) means a bronze vessel with a round mouth and two or four handles, mostly used to contain food in ancient times. Therefore, the modified name is more related to food.