Muslim Quarter

Not one street but the Hui neighbourhood behind the Drum Tower: Beiyuanmen, Beiguangji Street, Xiyangshi, Dapiyuan, Huajue Lane, Sajinqiao and the lanes between, with around ten mosques and the Great Mosque at its heart, where a Muslim community has lived and cooked for centuries. Beiyuanmen, the 545-metre main street from the Drum Tower arch, is the tourist face: skewers, persimmon cakes, pomegranate-juice presses and the queues. The food is halal by default (lamb, beef, no pork), which is the single most useful thing to know about it: for travellers who avoid pork it is the easiest eating in China; for everyone else, note that the classic pork roujiamo lives outside the quarter.