Peking Duck (Beijing Duck) is Beijing's most famous food. I was told there are only restraunts which serve it. One is located just outside of Da Zha Lan street and costs 68RMB for a small plate. You'll notice it because inside the entrance are pictures of presidents and other famous people who have eaten there.

The Peking Duck isn't amazing or anything but it does taste good.

For 4 of us to eat at a local chinese food restraunt it cost 133RMB. For a party of 8 of us it cost around 320RMB in a private room. Your table will be covered in dishes and there will always be extra food going into the garbage. You'll eat things like duck blood, jelly fish heads, pig knuckles, big clams, sheep eyes, fish skin, giant shrimp (with heads, eyes, and legs attached), goat, and other neat items. Vinegar is common in the food. I believe its to hide the sour taste of food gone sour.

If you enter a restraunt and it smells dirty and unclean then don't eat there. Not all restraunts wash their dishes nor keep clean kitchens/food. Some just give a quick wipe to everything. We've had to re-wash our dishes in the provided hand sinks.

Icecubes from poor restraunts and side vendors are going to be made from local tap water. Those little shacks which sell the shaved ice with fruit toppings don't use clean water either.

Breakfast on the street consists of a couple of dough sticks rolled up in an egg-dough omelette. If you bring your own eggs it'll only cost 1RMB. If not then maybe 2RMB.

You can find roasted duck restraunts all around the city. Duck is very greasy so if you are watching your fat content don't bother eating it. They roast duck restraunts will throw the uncooked ducks into a fire oven then cut it up afterwards. You can watch them do it in most restraunts.

There are KFCs, McDonalds, Starbucks, Subway, Baskin Robins, and Pizza Huts here. KFC and McDonalds are priced decent.

Starbucks costs 12RMB for a basic cup of coffee.

At KFC I order large fries, large popcorn chicken, 2 mexican wraps, 1 chicken breast, large Pepsi, and medium hot orange juice for 58RMB.

At McDonalds its 5RMB for a double cheese burger. 7RMB for large fries. The have big macs for 10RMB and chicken nugget packs of 6 for 10RMB.

PizzaHut's pizza isn't cheap. Its about the same price as the west. I believe it was 135RMB for a medium-large sized pizza. They have a salad bar too.

Hotpots are fun to eat and the restraunts are located all over the city. In a hotpot restraunt all the tables have circular cutouts in the middle where the pot sits atop a burner.

A hotpot costs around 10RMB for the pot filled with 2 broths (hot and not hot); a divider seperates the two. Meat plates (chicken/pork/beef..) cost around 5RMB each and vegitable plates (potato/lettuce/greens/melon..) 2RMB. They put the plates down on your table and you throw your food into the boiling broth as you see fit. Its quite fun and tastes good.