It is middle of the night and minus 5 degrees Celsius in Jinan, a city in eastern China, but people are still queuing up at an old and famous open street food joint to grab a bite or two of grilled lamb in the freezing winter.
For tourists coming to the capital of Shandong Province, this may be an extremely surprising sight, but for 40-year-old street vendor Chia Miu, it is business as usual.
"I have been parking my mobile barbecue van here for over 7 years now, irrespective of what weather it is. People, come and ask for grilled chicken or grilled lamb or sausages even at night. I love serving food to both domestic people as well as the tourists," Chia said.
The popularity of street foods in Jinan can be gauged from the fact that even in modern malls, small ready-to-eat food items are being sold on sticks, right next to a fast food restaurant.
So, a burger in one hand and a tang hu lu - a sweet and sour round red-coloured fruit served on stick - in another is not an uncommon site in Shandong.
"Tang hu lu is a traditional Chinese snack food item and is very popular in China, especially among the youth. It consists of a candied fruit, sweet and sour in taste, and served on bamboo skewers. Everyone from Jinan to Beijing recognises this item immediately," Su Wen Qi, a Jinan-based tourist guide, said.
In capital Beijing, outside the Olympic Bird's Nest (National Stadium), a Chinese man on a bicycle is wooing tourists to try the same tang hu lu despite the language barrier, as they take photographs of his bicycle decked up with interesting food items.
To have tasted tang hu lu is popularly considered one of those essential to-do things for tourists visiting China, and people posing for pictures while savouring the candied fruit is a common sight.
James, a 30-year-old volunteer with the All China Youth Federation who recently co-hosted a group of Indian Youth Delegation to China, said: "Street foods in China are very popular the same way they are in India, especially in Delhi's Chandni Chowk."
"I have not been to India but I have heard about this place in Old Delhi called Chandni Chowk, which serves possibly some of the best food items one can get on the streets. As two countries, we may have different languages, but we both have taste for good food," James said.
