Best Halal Food Nanjing 2025: Maxingxing, Qifangge, Duck Shops, Potstickers and Islamic Heritage
Reposted from the web
Summary: This 2025 Nanjing halal food map covers old halal brands and local stops such as Maxingxing, Qifangge, Lvliuju, duck shops, beef potstickers, crispy flatbread, the Tomb of Liu Zhi, the Tomb of the King of Boni, and Nanjing's Islamic heritage.
I wrote a map of halal food in Nanjing in 2017. Eight years later, the halal food scene in Nanjing has grown even more. During my trip to Nanjing for an annual meeting this year, I visited a few new spots and updated the information from my old post. I noticed that the sugar lotus root porridge shop (tangzhou ou) mentioned in my old post, Lan Laoda, no longer displays a halal sign. Since they also sell duck blood vermicelli soup (yaxue fensi tang), there is no need to visit it.
The list of halal restaurants featured in this post is as follows:
1. Maxingxing
2. Qifangge
3. Lvliuju
4. Anleyuan
5. Jiangyouji
6. Halal Yiguangge
7. Liji Halal Restaurant
8. Jinhongxing
9. Taoyuancun
10. Hanfuxing
11. Xiong's Braised Duck Shop
12. Old Ma's Duck Shop
13. Northwest Dongxianglou
14. Caoqiao Halal Beef Potsticker and Dumpling Shop
15. Little Wang's Crispy Flatbread (shaobing)
1. Maxingxing
Maxingxing Restaurant is the oldest halal restaurant in Nanjing. It has been around for over 160 years, dating back to the Daoguang era of the Qing Dynasty in 1845. It is one of the four famous old halal brands in Nanjing. Its four signature dishes are beauty liver (meiren gan), phoenix tail shrimp (fengwei xia), egg steamed dumplings (dan shaomai), and squirrel fish (songshu yu). Today, Maxingxing is listed as a piece of intangible cultural heritage in Jiangsu Province and was among the first group of time-honored Chinese brands recognized by the Ministry of Commerce. Most visitors to Nanjing want to try the local snacks. The potstickers (guotie) and soup dumplings (xiaolongbao) at Maxingxing are delicious treats you should not miss.
2. Qifangge
Qifangge is one of the four famous old halal brands in Nanjing. It was founded in 1917 by socialites and business leaders including Li Yangchao, Zhu Shouren, Liu Hairu, and Yu Zikuan. They pooled their money to open the Qifangge Halal Tea House near Chengsi Mosque on what was then Qiwang Street (now Jiankang Road), focusing on halal snacks. The century-old snack set offered by Qifangge serves small portions of many items, allowing you to try all the famous Qinhuai River snacks at once.
3. Green Willow House (Lvliuju)
Green Willow House started in 1912. It is a Jiangsu Province Intangible Cultural Heritage site famous for its vegetarian and halal dishes. Records show that Bai Chongxi, Sun Yat-sen, and the Soong sisters were all regular customers at Green Willow House. The first floor is a supermarket for their homemade food, with hundreds of finished or semi-finished products. The second floor serves snacks, the third floor serves stir-fried dishes, and the floors above that have private dining rooms.
4. Anleyuan
Anleyuan is the largest halal restaurant in Nanjing. It is known as the number one halal restaurant in the Jiangnan region. The building in the picture is only for stir-fried dishes. Next to it, there is another building for snacks and one for hot pot. You can eat famous Nanjing dishes here like salt-water duck (yanshui ya) and squirrel-shaped mandarin fish (songshu guiyu).
5. Jiang Youji
Jiang Youji is another century-old halal brand in Nanjing. Its most famous dish is beef potstickers (niurou guotie), which are known as one of the Eight Wonders of Qinhuai. A few years ago, there was a lawsuit over the brand name. That does not matter to diners, though. We do not care if the successor is the official one; if the food does not taste good, it is useless no matter how official they are.
6. Yiguangge
Yiguangge is a long-standing shop in Nanjing. The owner owns the building, so they do not pay rent and the prices are cheap. I came here to eat crayfish. Crayfish is a common home-cooked dish in the Jiangnan region, and you naturally have to eat authentic halal crayfish when you come to Nanjing.
7. Liji Halal Restaurant
Liji Halal Restaurant only has this one location in Nanjing with no other branches. It is a long-established shop that sells various Nanjing snacks. There are too many varieties, and each snack comes in different flavors. When eating Nanjing soup dumplings (xiaolongbao), the skin is thin and there is a hole on top. You can suck the soup out from the top before eating the dumpling, but be careful not to burn your mouth.
8. Taoyuancun
Taoyuancun pastries originated on Niujie Street in Beijing over 150 years ago. Later, they moved to Shanghai and opened a factory near the Xiaotaoyuan Mosque, which is why they were named Taoyuancun. During the Republic of China era, Taoyuancun was invited by the government to enter the Nanjing Central Shopping Mall and officially became a local Nanjing halal pastry brand.
9. Jinhongxing Duck Shop
Jinhongxing's duck is as popular as the deli food at Jubaoyuan, with people lining up all day long. You must try authentic Nanjing roast duck when in Nanjing. It is very different from the Beijing style. Nanjing roast duck can be sliced and eaten by dipping it directly into the sauce. This shop is for takeout, and you can have the owner vacuum-pack it on the spot to take away.
10. Hanfuxing
Founded during the Tongzhi reign of the Qing Dynasty, Hanfuxing Salted Duck Shop is the largest halal food company in Nanjing. It is a time-honored Chinese brand that specializes in products like salted duck (banya). Hanfuxing Duck Shop now has many branches in Nanjing, and the Han family's sweet-scented osmanthus duck (guihuaya) is their signature dish.
11. Xiongji Braised Duck Shop
Xiongji is a duck shop that locals love. The duck has a slightly sweet taste. There are a few other shops in Nanjing that display halal duck signs, but People say they do not guarantee they are truly halal.
12. Malaosan Duck Shop
Malaosan's duck is salty and savory. They also sell braised duck wings and duck necks, and they can vacuum-pack them for nationwide delivery.
13. Xibei Dongxianglou
If you are invited to an iftar meal during Ramadan, choose this place. It is a Dongxiang hand-grabbed mutton (shouzhu) restaurant with three floors and plenty of space. They do not sell alcohol, and there is a parking lot at the entrance.
14. Caoqiao Halal Beef Potsticker and Dumpling Shop
Dumplings are called bianshi in Nanjing. The potstickers (guotie) at this shop are also quite delicious, and the Caoqiao Mosque is nearby.
15. Xiaowang Crispy Flatbread
This is a halal flatbread (shaobing) shop right at the main entrance of the Caoqiao Mosque. They bake their crispy flatbreads in traditional coal ovens, which is rare and very tasty.
For friends who enjoy halal travel, the tomb of Liu Zhi is a must-visit spot in Nanjing. Liu Zhi, also known as Liu Jielian Baba, was a Nanjing local and the pioneer of the theory of Sinicization of Islam.
There is also the Tomb of the King of Boni. Boni is Brunei, and the King of Brunei once visited Nanjing. The area around this tomb was originally planned to be a Brunei cultural park, but it has since been abandoned.
Summary: This 2025 Nanjing halal food map covers old halal brands and local stops such as Maxingxing, Qifangge, Lvliuju, duck shops, beef potstickers, crispy flatbread, the Tomb of Liu Zhi, the Tomb of the King of Boni, and Nanjing's Islamic heritage.
I wrote a map of halal food in Nanjing in 2017. Eight years later, the halal food scene in Nanjing has grown even more. During my trip to Nanjing for an annual meeting this year, I visited a few new spots and updated the information from my old post. I noticed that the sugar lotus root porridge shop (tangzhou ou) mentioned in my old post, Lan Laoda, no longer displays a halal sign. Since they also sell duck blood vermicelli soup (yaxue fensi tang), there is no need to visit it.
The list of halal restaurants featured in this post is as follows:
1. Maxingxing
2. Qifangge
3. Lvliuju
4. Anleyuan
5. Jiangyouji
6. Halal Yiguangge
7. Liji Halal Restaurant
8. Jinhongxing
9. Taoyuancun
10. Hanfuxing
11. Xiong's Braised Duck Shop
12. Old Ma's Duck Shop
13. Northwest Dongxianglou
14. Caoqiao Halal Beef Potsticker and Dumpling Shop
15. Little Wang's Crispy Flatbread (shaobing)
1. Maxingxing
Maxingxing Restaurant is the oldest halal restaurant in Nanjing. It has been around for over 160 years, dating back to the Daoguang era of the Qing Dynasty in 1845. It is one of the four famous old halal brands in Nanjing. Its four signature dishes are beauty liver (meiren gan), phoenix tail shrimp (fengwei xia), egg steamed dumplings (dan shaomai), and squirrel fish (songshu yu). Today, Maxingxing is listed as a piece of intangible cultural heritage in Jiangsu Province and was among the first group of time-honored Chinese brands recognized by the Ministry of Commerce. Most visitors to Nanjing want to try the local snacks. The potstickers (guotie) and soup dumplings (xiaolongbao) at Maxingxing are delicious treats you should not miss.
2. Qifangge
Qifangge is one of the four famous old halal brands in Nanjing. It was founded in 1917 by socialites and business leaders including Li Yangchao, Zhu Shouren, Liu Hairu, and Yu Zikuan. They pooled their money to open the Qifangge Halal Tea House near Chengsi Mosque on what was then Qiwang Street (now Jiankang Road), focusing on halal snacks. The century-old snack set offered by Qifangge serves small portions of many items, allowing you to try all the famous Qinhuai River snacks at once.
3. Green Willow House (Lvliuju)
Green Willow House started in 1912. It is a Jiangsu Province Intangible Cultural Heritage site famous for its vegetarian and halal dishes. Records show that Bai Chongxi, Sun Yat-sen, and the Soong sisters were all regular customers at Green Willow House. The first floor is a supermarket for their homemade food, with hundreds of finished or semi-finished products. The second floor serves snacks, the third floor serves stir-fried dishes, and the floors above that have private dining rooms.
4. Anleyuan
Anleyuan is the largest halal restaurant in Nanjing. It is known as the number one halal restaurant in the Jiangnan region. The building in the picture is only for stir-fried dishes. Next to it, there is another building for snacks and one for hot pot. You can eat famous Nanjing dishes here like salt-water duck (yanshui ya) and squirrel-shaped mandarin fish (songshu guiyu).
5. Jiang Youji
Jiang Youji is another century-old halal brand in Nanjing. Its most famous dish is beef potstickers (niurou guotie), which are known as one of the Eight Wonders of Qinhuai. A few years ago, there was a lawsuit over the brand name. That does not matter to diners, though. We do not care if the successor is the official one; if the food does not taste good, it is useless no matter how official they are.
6. Yiguangge
Yiguangge is a long-standing shop in Nanjing. The owner owns the building, so they do not pay rent and the prices are cheap. I came here to eat crayfish. Crayfish is a common home-cooked dish in the Jiangnan region, and you naturally have to eat authentic halal crayfish when you come to Nanjing.
7. Liji Halal Restaurant
Liji Halal Restaurant only has this one location in Nanjing with no other branches. It is a long-established shop that sells various Nanjing snacks. There are too many varieties, and each snack comes in different flavors. When eating Nanjing soup dumplings (xiaolongbao), the skin is thin and there is a hole on top. You can suck the soup out from the top before eating the dumpling, but be careful not to burn your mouth.
8. Taoyuancun
Taoyuancun pastries originated on Niujie Street in Beijing over 150 years ago. Later, they moved to Shanghai and opened a factory near the Xiaotaoyuan Mosque, which is why they were named Taoyuancun. During the Republic of China era, Taoyuancun was invited by the government to enter the Nanjing Central Shopping Mall and officially became a local Nanjing halal pastry brand.
9. Jinhongxing Duck Shop
Jinhongxing's duck is as popular as the deli food at Jubaoyuan, with people lining up all day long. You must try authentic Nanjing roast duck when in Nanjing. It is very different from the Beijing style. Nanjing roast duck can be sliced and eaten by dipping it directly into the sauce. This shop is for takeout, and you can have the owner vacuum-pack it on the spot to take away.
10. Hanfuxing
Founded during the Tongzhi reign of the Qing Dynasty, Hanfuxing Salted Duck Shop is the largest halal food company in Nanjing. It is a time-honored Chinese brand that specializes in products like salted duck (banya). Hanfuxing Duck Shop now has many branches in Nanjing, and the Han family's sweet-scented osmanthus duck (guihuaya) is their signature dish.
11. Xiongji Braised Duck Shop
Xiongji is a duck shop that locals love. The duck has a slightly sweet taste. There are a few other shops in Nanjing that display halal duck signs, but People say they do not guarantee they are truly halal.
12. Malaosan Duck Shop
Malaosan's duck is salty and savory. They also sell braised duck wings and duck necks, and they can vacuum-pack them for nationwide delivery.
13. Xibei Dongxianglou
If you are invited to an iftar meal during Ramadan, choose this place. It is a Dongxiang hand-grabbed mutton (shouzhu) restaurant with three floors and plenty of space. They do not sell alcohol, and there is a parking lot at the entrance.
14. Caoqiao Halal Beef Potsticker and Dumpling Shop
Dumplings are called bianshi in Nanjing. The potstickers (guotie) at this shop are also quite delicious, and the Caoqiao Mosque is nearby.
15. Xiaowang Crispy Flatbread
This is a halal flatbread (shaobing) shop right at the main entrance of the Caoqiao Mosque. They bake their crispy flatbreads in traditional coal ovens, which is rare and very tasty.
For friends who enjoy halal travel, the tomb of Liu Zhi is a must-visit spot in Nanjing. Liu Zhi, also known as Liu Jielian Baba, was a Nanjing local and the pioneer of the theory of Sinicization of Islam.
There is also the Tomb of the King of Boni. Boni is Brunei, and the King of Brunei once visited Nanjing. The area around this tomb was originally planned to be a Brunei cultural park, but it has since been abandoned.
