Near Huoshenmiao in central Chengde is Mashi Street, a fairly narrow road lined with shops and busy with pedestrians. Tucked into this lively part of the old town is a small restaurant I often visit: Laofangzi Tavern, whose name means “Old House.”
It is a modest place with an unassuming frontage: gray brick walls, a red sign and a few lanterns by the entrance. The decor is simple, but everything is clean and tidy. Unless you know the neighborhood, you might walk past without giving it much thought.
Yet this little restaurant has been here for more than twenty years.
The food is the first reason I like it.
People in Chengde are familiar with traditional liu dishes, cooked and finished in a thickened sauce. Dishes such as liu roupian and liu sanyang depend on careful heat control, the right sauce consistency and flavor. Laofangzi’s versions have a distinctive local character: rich, satisfying with rice and equally good alongside a drink.
Chicken stewed with mushrooms is another homestyle dish we often order. There are also some interesting choices, including green chilies stir-fried with preserved eggs, braised small pomfret and various clay-pot dishes, all worth trying.
The Sichuan dishes have left an impression on me too.
The laziji, chicken cooked with dried chilies, is especially authentic. Finding good Sichuan cooking in a little restaurant focused mainly on northern Chinese homestyle food was a pleasant surprise.
The owner is another reason I keep coming back.
He is friendly, welcoming and easygoing about the small things. Rounding down a bill, letting guests bring their own drinks, helping prepare ingredients they have brought, or keeping an unfinished bottle for their next visit—he takes it all in stride. When friends get caught up in conversation and leave a little late, I have never heard him complain.
None of these things is remarkable on its own, but together they make you feel at ease. A restaurant has a business to run, yet it is often these small gestures that make spending time there so comfortable.
Over the years, this has often been the place I think of when meeting friends.
Three or five of us can order a few dishes, have a drink and catch up, or simply enjoy an ordinary meal. The prices are moderate, the atmosphere relaxed, and there is no need to make an occasion of it.
When friends visiting Chengde ask where to find local cooking, I sometimes suggest Laofangzi. I have brought several groups here, and they have all spoken well of the food.
Of course, Chengde has plenty of good restaurants, each with its own specialties. Laofangzi may not be the best known, and it is hardly fine dining. But it has qualities of its own: honest cooking, consistent flavors, an easygoing owner and a comfortable place to eat.
I have always felt that getting to know a city means looking beyond its famous sights to the little restaurants tucked into its streets and lanes.
A city’s flavor is often found somewhere less conspicuous.
Chengde has changed a great deal over the years. New shopping centers and restaurants keep opening, and the old town is being renewed too. Yet a place like Laofangzi, serving customers for more than twenty years, still has a place of its own.
It cannot represent all of Chengde’s food, but it is one of the tastes of Chengde that I know well.
When time allows, I would like to write about more of the small Chengde businesses I regularly visit. No rankings or elaborate restaurant tours: just places where I have eaten or spent time, and which I feel are worth remembering.
After all, a city is worth remembering for more than its landscapes and historic sites. There are also the meals in its backstreets, and the familiar faces that make you want to return.