Halal Travel Guide: Urumqi Dawan — Hui Muslim Streets and Halal Food
Reposted from the web
Summary: Urumqi Dawan — Hui Muslim Streets and Halal Food is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: June 2018 was my fifth trip to Urumqi for sightseeing and eating. Nanguan used to be the traditional neighborhood in Urumqi that attracted me the most; it was lively and full of energy. The account keeps its focus on Urumqi Dawan, Xinjiang Travel, Hui Muslims while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source.
June 2018 was my fifth trip to Urumqi for sightseeing and eating. Nanguan used to be the traditional neighborhood in Urumqi that attracted me the most; it was lively and full of energy. In 2017, a friend (dosti) told me that demolition and renovation had started in Nanguan, which made me very anxious. Later on, the small alleys deep inside Nanguan were completely torn down.
I came to Urumqi again in 2018, and the area deep inside the old Nanguan had become a construction site. However, I will not dwell on the past in this article. Instead, I want to share my experience of sightseeing and eating in Urumqi this time. Besides the consistently wonderful Lingguan Lane and Shengli Road, I also visited Dawan, another food hub in Urumqi. As a side note, I certainly did not expect when writing this that my wedding would be held in Dawan two years later.
Table of Contents
1. Yining Yixiang Butter Milk Tea House
2. Lingguan Lane
1. Original Meat Naan (rounang)
2. Arman Supermarket
3. Gülba xikar Dessert Shop
4. Other shops in Lingguan Lane
3. Shengli Road
1. Babahan Food World
2. Marhaba Tatar Pastries
4. Dawan
1. Ailuo Family Coffee
2. Pairhan Imported Goods Store
3. Aile Imported Goods Store
4. Maidana
1. Yining Yixiang Butter Milk Tea House
Next to the Urumqi People's Theater is Yining Yixiang Butter Milk Tea House, a famous Kazakh milk tea spot. I ate milk skin (naipizi), fried dough fritters (baorsak), and honey-based drink (kawasi) here, but unfortunately, mare's milk is only available after July.
Milk skin (naipizi)
Fried dough fritters (baorsak) and honey-based drink (kawasi)
The People's Theater was built in 1956 and is a landmark building of old Urumqi.
2. Lingguan Lane
Consulate Lane (Lingguan Xiang) is south of Erdaoqiao. Except for a new residential complex in the middle section, most shops in the lane look the same. It is a small comfort after the deep Nanguan area was leveled.
1. Original Meat Naan (rounang)
As soon as you enter the west end of Consulate Lane, you can smell the aroma of meat-topped flatbread (rounang). This original meat flatbread (rounang) shop opened in 2000. It is a very popular spot on Lingguan Lane with long lines, and the meat flatbread is truly fragrant.
2. Arman Supermarket
Arman Supermarket at the east end of Lingguan Lane is the largest in the chain. It has many great items, and I shop here every time I visit Urumqi. This time, I bought mint tea, butter milk tea (suyou naicha), and almond nut cake (qiegao).
Various pastries at Arman Supermarket.
3. Gülba xikar Dessert Shop
There is a dessert shop called Gülba xikar inside Arman Supermarket. I had almond and walnut ice cream there, plus a walnut pie. Everything was delicious and very cheap.
4. Other shops in Lingguan Lane
There are many other good places to eat on Lingguan Lane. I passed by the local-style hand-rubbed noodles (cuomian) shop this time, and the Yizihaier ice cream and Yili milk tea shop I visited years ago are still the same.
3. Shengli Road
Shengli Road is south of Erdaoqiao, at the east end of Lingguan Lane, and it also has plenty of good food.
1. Babahan Food World
The breakfast at Babahan Food World on Shengli Road and Lingguan Lane is excellent. This time, I had barley porridge (yarma) and milk-topped flatbread (naizi nang) soaked in milk tea.
Barley porridge (yarma).
Milk tea.
Milk-topped flatbread (naizi nang).
2. Marhaba Tatar Pastries
Marhaba Tatar Pastry Shop opened in 1998. The original shop was on Heba Third Lane, south of Lingguan Lane, and they later opened a new location at 454 Shengli Road. The founder of the shop is Saweige Musabayufu, born in 1949. The shop is named after her mother, Marhaba, who taught Saweige how to make Tatar pastries.
The girl with the red collar in the picture is Saweige's daughter, Fikelati.
Tatar cream cake made with six layers of sweet cake and six layers of cream.
Delete
Walnut dried fruit pie.
Black Forest chocolate cake made with ghee.
Black-eyed apricot jam cake.
4. Dawan
Dawan is in the southeast of Urumqi's old city. I mainly walked around the Oujing Mingyuan residential area. It has a nice environment and good food, which is a sharp contrast to the heavily demolished and renovated Erdaoqiao and Nanguan areas. It is truly a hidden paradise in the city.
Street view of Oujing Mingyuan in Dawan.
1. Ailuo Family Coffee
It was not yet dinner time when I arrived in Dawan, so I first had some Turkish black tea at Ayrosa Coffee. Downstairs, many young people were celebrating a birthday.
2. Pairhan Imported Goods Store
Pairhan is a main imported goods supermarket in Oujing Mingyuan. They have a lot of items, and I bought some chocolate from Kazakhstan there.
3. Aile Imported Goods Store
Aile is another import shop that has some good finds inside.
4. Maidana
Merdana at Oujing Mingyuan was the biggest surprise of my food tour in Urumqi. The atmosphere is great, and the food is fantastic. The liver wrapped in fat (youbaogan) was so delicious I actually shouted out loud. It was intoxicatingly good, and it only costs 5 yuan a skewer. The grilled pork tenderloin (kao liji) was a long-awaited treat, and the homemade mixed noodles (banmian) tasted perfectly authentic. Even by Urumqi standards, it is incredibly delicious.
The pinyin for barbecue is the local Xinjiang dialect: SAO KAO.
Summary: Urumqi Dawan — Hui Muslim Streets and Halal Food is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: June 2018 was my fifth trip to Urumqi for sightseeing and eating. Nanguan used to be the traditional neighborhood in Urumqi that attracted me the most; it was lively and full of energy. The account keeps its focus on Urumqi Dawan, Xinjiang Travel, Hui Muslims while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source.
June 2018 was my fifth trip to Urumqi for sightseeing and eating. Nanguan used to be the traditional neighborhood in Urumqi that attracted me the most; it was lively and full of energy. In 2017, a friend (dosti) told me that demolition and renovation had started in Nanguan, which made me very anxious. Later on, the small alleys deep inside Nanguan were completely torn down.
I came to Urumqi again in 2018, and the area deep inside the old Nanguan had become a construction site. However, I will not dwell on the past in this article. Instead, I want to share my experience of sightseeing and eating in Urumqi this time. Besides the consistently wonderful Lingguan Lane and Shengli Road, I also visited Dawan, another food hub in Urumqi. As a side note, I certainly did not expect when writing this that my wedding would be held in Dawan two years later.
Table of Contents
1. Yining Yixiang Butter Milk Tea House
2. Lingguan Lane
1. Original Meat Naan (rounang)
2. Arman Supermarket
3. Gülba xikar Dessert Shop
4. Other shops in Lingguan Lane
3. Shengli Road
1. Babahan Food World
2. Marhaba Tatar Pastries
4. Dawan
1. Ailuo Family Coffee
2. Pairhan Imported Goods Store
3. Aile Imported Goods Store
4. Maidana
1. Yining Yixiang Butter Milk Tea House
Next to the Urumqi People's Theater is Yining Yixiang Butter Milk Tea House, a famous Kazakh milk tea spot. I ate milk skin (naipizi), fried dough fritters (baorsak), and honey-based drink (kawasi) here, but unfortunately, mare's milk is only available after July.
Milk skin (naipizi)
Fried dough fritters (baorsak) and honey-based drink (kawasi)
The People's Theater was built in 1956 and is a landmark building of old Urumqi.
2. Lingguan Lane
Consulate Lane (Lingguan Xiang) is south of Erdaoqiao. Except for a new residential complex in the middle section, most shops in the lane look the same. It is a small comfort after the deep Nanguan area was leveled.
1. Original Meat Naan (rounang)
As soon as you enter the west end of Consulate Lane, you can smell the aroma of meat-topped flatbread (rounang). This original meat flatbread (rounang) shop opened in 2000. It is a very popular spot on Lingguan Lane with long lines, and the meat flatbread is truly fragrant.
2. Arman Supermarket
Arman Supermarket at the east end of Lingguan Lane is the largest in the chain. It has many great items, and I shop here every time I visit Urumqi. This time, I bought mint tea, butter milk tea (suyou naicha), and almond nut cake (qiegao).
Various pastries at Arman Supermarket.
3. Gülba xikar Dessert Shop
There is a dessert shop called Gülba xikar inside Arman Supermarket. I had almond and walnut ice cream there, plus a walnut pie. Everything was delicious and very cheap.
4. Other shops in Lingguan Lane
There are many other good places to eat on Lingguan Lane. I passed by the local-style hand-rubbed noodles (cuomian) shop this time, and the Yizihaier ice cream and Yili milk tea shop I visited years ago are still the same.
3. Shengli Road
Shengli Road is south of Erdaoqiao, at the east end of Lingguan Lane, and it also has plenty of good food.
1. Babahan Food World
The breakfast at Babahan Food World on Shengli Road and Lingguan Lane is excellent. This time, I had barley porridge (yarma) and milk-topped flatbread (naizi nang) soaked in milk tea.
Barley porridge (yarma).
Milk tea.
Milk-topped flatbread (naizi nang).
2. Marhaba Tatar Pastries
Marhaba Tatar Pastry Shop opened in 1998. The original shop was on Heba Third Lane, south of Lingguan Lane, and they later opened a new location at 454 Shengli Road. The founder of the shop is Saweige Musabayufu, born in 1949. The shop is named after her mother, Marhaba, who taught Saweige how to make Tatar pastries.
The girl with the red collar in the picture is Saweige's daughter, Fikelati.
Tatar cream cake made with six layers of sweet cake and six layers of cream.
Delete
Walnut dried fruit pie.
Black Forest chocolate cake made with ghee.
Black-eyed apricot jam cake.
4. Dawan
Dawan is in the southeast of Urumqi's old city. I mainly walked around the Oujing Mingyuan residential area. It has a nice environment and good food, which is a sharp contrast to the heavily demolished and renovated Erdaoqiao and Nanguan areas. It is truly a hidden paradise in the city.
Street view of Oujing Mingyuan in Dawan.
1. Ailuo Family Coffee
It was not yet dinner time when I arrived in Dawan, so I first had some Turkish black tea at Ayrosa Coffee. Downstairs, many young people were celebrating a birthday.
2. Pairhan Imported Goods Store
Pairhan is a main imported goods supermarket in Oujing Mingyuan. They have a lot of items, and I bought some chocolate from Kazakhstan there.
3. Aile Imported Goods Store
Aile is another import shop that has some good finds inside.
4. Maidana
Merdana at Oujing Mingyuan was the biggest surprise of my food tour in Urumqi. The atmosphere is great, and the food is fantastic. The liver wrapped in fat (youbaogan) was so delicious I actually shouted out loud. It was intoxicatingly good, and it only costs 5 yuan a skewer. The grilled pork tenderloin (kao liji) was a long-awaited treat, and the homemade mixed noodles (banmian) tasted perfectly authentic. Even by Urumqi standards, it is incredibly delicious.
The pinyin for barbecue is the local Xinjiang dialect: SAO KAO.
