Self-ground flour, self-steamed skin noodles. Very sweet, really big pineapples. Cucumbers, ¥1.5 per lb.

Free taste, delicious and cheap. Soft or hard, take your pick. Free shoe shining, thorough cleaning if you want it!

Hello friends, I'm Da Wen. Today I'm at the morning market on Hongzhuan South Road in Xi'an, China.

This is a traditional Xi'an pastry called "Stone Cake." Stone Cake contains various nuts, with a refreshing taste, loved by local elders.

It's now 7:00 in the morning. The vendors at this morning market have all set up their stalls.

Nearby residents are also coming to the market to buy fresh food. Cold skin noodles are one of Xi'an's staple foods.

Vendor: Self-ground flour, self-steamed dough. You want half a portion of cold skin noodles, right?

¥3, thank you! Don't rush, don't rush. It's okay, it's okay.

On-site hand-cutting of cold skin noodles is the most significant feature of each noodles vendor. Every vendor's cutting skills are superb.

This knife has been with me for 12 years. Customer: Then you must have made a lot of money!

Oh, it's hard work! The battle never ends! That's how we farmers are. As long as we make food with care, customers will continue to come.

These are various shapes of smoked tofu. Ahead is a breakfast area, looks lively. How much for a bag?

¥5 for a bag. What kind of bun is this?  A steamed bun made from buckwheat.

Buns are also one of the staple foods of northern China. It's bread made from fermented dough and steamed.

There are no fillings inside the bun. This stall makes sandwiches filled with bacon. On-site minced meat is the biggest feature of this sandwich.

It looks like a hot dog, but its crust is crispy. This breakfast area also has a stall selling cold skin noodles.

Customer: Cut it thinner. Every vendor's cutting skills are superb. They can cut noodles of various widths according to customer requirements.

Each noodle's width can be kept consistent. Although using a machine to cut is more efficient, many vendors still insist on hand-cutting

because the on-site hand-cutting is more attractive to passersby. This way, it's possible to attract more customers.

Vendor: Oil-free, no fishy smell roast duck. There's a long line in front of this stall.

Buyers eye the roast duck in front of them eagerly. Chinese people prefer meat with bones, so poultry meat is cut with bones.

Boneless chicken and duck breast meat are not popular in China. This vendor makes scallion pancakes. Scallion pancakes, ¥8 per lb.

Customer: Do I need to wait? No need to wait, there are ready ones in the stove.

How much for this pancake? ¥8 per lb. Customer: I'll take ¥5 worth. Vendor: ¥4.5 worth, okay? Customer: Sure.

I want a scallion pancake. Vendor: How much do you want? Customer: ¥3 worth.

This elderly couple is making pancakes with leek and fennel stuffing. Customer: Do you have pancakes with fennel stuffing? Vendor: Yes!

¥4. Me: Do you like leek stuffing or fennel stuffing? Customer: I eat fennel stuffing; my stomach isn't good, I dare not eat leek.

Leek stuffing tastes better than fennel stuffing, but leeks have a stronger smell, so office workers usually choose fennel stuffing.

Now it's fennel stuffing. Now it's 7:20 in the morning. There are more people in this morning market now.

This stall sells deep-fried dough sticks. The golden fried dough sticks look very attractive. This workbench is lightweight and efficient.

Fried dough sticks are very popular in both southern and northern China. But in southern China, fried dough sticks are supplied by food factories to stores for sale.

There is no on-site making of fried dough sticks in southern China. This open, on-site food-making practice

increases consumer confidence in the store's food. At 7:50 in the morning, there are long lines in front of each stall.

This stall sells miscellaneous grain pancakes. Customer: How many people left until it's my turn? Vendor: One more person, and it'll be your turn.

Here, every breakfast is made on-site. Pre-made foods are not popular in Xi'an. They would rather wait in long lines for freshly made food

than buy ready-made food in stores, because they pursue freshness and health. Everyone urgently needs breakfast, but everyone consciously follows the order of queuing for meals.

This stall sells tofu pudding. Tofu pudding in northern China is salty, not sweet, but in southern China, tofu pudding is sweet.

Tofu pudding in northern China is served with various side dishes as breakfast, but in southern China, tofu pudding can only be eaten as a snack.

And southern tofu pudding is not added with any sauce or side dishes. Meat-stuffed pancakes are one of the most popular snacks in Xi'an, China.

The Hui people only eat beef-stuffed pancakes, while the Han people mostly eat pork-stuffed pancakes. Because beef production in China is low,

beef-stuffed pancakes are much more expensive than pork-stuffed pancakes. This vendor is using pork elbow meat and green peppers as filling.

Pork elbow meat looks very fatty. In northern China, many people prefer fatty meat over lean meat. This vendor is selling one of the oldest traditional pastries in Xi'an, "Zeng Cake."

This pastry has a history of thousands of years. It is a snack made of layered red beans, glutinous rice, and red dates, then steamed.

It is very high in calories, so it is the preferred breakfast of Xi'an people. Now it's 8:10 in the morning.

There are more and more people in this morning market. People here are enjoying various delicacies in this outdoor breakfast area.

Some busy office workers like to stand and eat breakfast. This stall, making pickled vegetable noodles, comes with a mini dining table.

Eating breakfast at this stall is very convenient. This stall sells cornmeal mush. Cornmeal mush, sprinkled with various condiments, makes a delicious breakfast.

This is also a snack made from corn flour. For people in Northwest China, cornmeal mush is a staple they never tire of eating every day.

But for people in other parts of China, this could be a food that's hard to swallow.

Because its texture is like thick paste. These are the side dishes and sauces for cornmeal mush:

sesame chili sauce, pickled sour cabbage, and chives. What's sold here is Xi'an's specialty breakfast: "oil tea and twist dough."

It's a thick soup made mainly from flour, sesame oil, and black sesame seeds. Some people like to add twist dough to this thick soup.

Some people just want the thick soup alone. Many customers only want the plain thick soup, without twist dough.

These are the twist dough. Customers can choose to add twist dough to the thick soup. In this bustling breakfast area, no food is repeated.

Do you want it extra spicy or mildly spicy? This one is extra spicy. This one is super spicy.

All three are 23 yuan/lb. These are all 17 yuan/lb. This chili powder has the best color, but it's not spicy.

It's very fragrant, but not spicy. The busiest time in the morning market is 8:30 AM.

Even the wide streets become overcrowded. Cucumbers: 1.5 yuan/lb.

Melons are on sale, crunchy and sweet. Delicious and cheap. Come on, limited-time sale!

Short weights are bad. Tired and thirsty? Eat a melon to feel better. On sale!

Try before you buy; it's on sale! Vendors in Xi'an allow buyers to sample food for free before purchasing.

Satisfied with the taste test, then pay for the food. While vendors in Southern China don't offer free samples.

Very sweet! I've been selling fruit for 20 years. Big pineapples, two for only 10 yuan.

Wholesale price, very sweet, two for only 10 yuan. Free shoe shining; all shoes can be cleaned.

Look, I'm shining shoes; no special skills. Even the shoelaces are shined.

This uncle must be a clean person. Everything has to be cleaned. It's now 8:45 AM.

Most vegetable and meat stalls have closed. But breakfast and fruit stalls are still very lively. Move in a bit; there's plenty of space inside.

This stall makes egg pot cakes. Many students, office workers, and residents gather around this small stall.

Stalls with many customers usually have better-tasting food. That's a basic rule of thumb.

Customer: Can I have extra chili? Vendor: Sure. Every dough is precisely weighed. They really calculate everything carefully.

This stall sells boiled peanuts and edamame. They're priced at 7 yuan per pound.

Salted boiled peanuts are a very healthy snack. My iron pot, thin on the sides and thick on the bottom.

When buying a pot, choose one with a thick bottom. A pot with a thick bottom and thin sides is the best.

All my iron pots are top quality. The pots you buy at the supermarket are made of sheet metal, with the same thickness on the sides and bottom.

How do I know your pot has thin sides and a thick bottom? You can judge by the sound of tapping.

If you go to a high-end restaurant, chefs will never use the thin sheet metal pots from the supermarket.

Why can't we get the same results stir-frying beef and mutton at home? Because supermarket sheet metal pots aren't suitable for stir-frying; they're only good for stewing.

This old man's stone cakes don't seem to have sold much, but his products add a splash of color to this market.

Chinese vendors let buyers inspect and select their fruit.  Buyers are all choosing the best-looking ones.

This is a bean product that tastes like grilled meat. It's a specialty from Northeast China. Try it!

This bean product is really delicious. It tastes a lot like grilled chicken. You can choose freely, but don't squeeze the fruit, or it will spoil.

Don't squeeze, otherwise the fruit will spoil. This stall makes "puffed corn sticks," a traditional Chinese snack.

Usually made from corn or rice. Some are made into long, straight sticks. Some are made into these curved rolls.

These freshly made puffed corn sticks are almost extinct in Southern China but are still preserved in Northern China.

Puffed corn sticks are still very popular. This vendor sells pickled century eggs and salted duck eggs.

10 yuan for 7 eggs, 6 yuan for 4 eggs. These are salted duck eggs.

The yolks of salted duck eggs are an important filling for Chinese mooncakes.  These ones wrapped in rice husks are pickled century eggs.

How long are these eggs pickled? These are pickled for 20 days, these for 45 days.

Pickling turns the egg white of century eggs a dark brown color. Century eggs have a unique smell and taste.

At the end of the morning market street, this vegetable sandwich stall is also very popular. Many office workers come here.

The vegetable fillings are self-service. A pure vegetable sandwich is 4.5 yuan each; with an additional egg, it's 6 yuan.

These grilled cakes emit a rich aroma of char.  Various self-service vegetable fillings and sauces are available. Here, fresh locust flowers are 4 yuan a bag.

This vendor travels from a village 20 kilometers away to set up a stall in the city.  Do you need any? Now discounted to 4 yuan a bag.

Customer: How much is this bag? Vendor: It's also 4 yuan. Customer: What's the weight of this bag? Vendor: Over a pound.

Last 3 bags on sale for 4 yuan each—do you still think it's expensive?

This one is made of wheat; this one is made of buckwheat. Do you have an original flavor?

It's now 9:30 in the morning. Sanitation workers are immediately cleaning up the morning market.

The hustle and bustle of the morning market quickly calms down. If you were to arrive here now, you wouldn't even realize

that half an hour ago, this was a paradise of food frenzy.

中國西安都市早市，煙火氣息炸裂，無遮擋全開放露天早餐食堂，巨大的香蔥大餅吃撐，現場製作油條氣勢磅礡，免費擦鞋服務到位，5元玉米棒現場生產傳承歷史，食物免費品嘗，居民瘋狂搶購新鮮食材，平民美食的巔峰！

中國西安都市早市，煙火氣息炸裂，無遮擋全開放露天早餐食堂，巨大的香蔥大餅吃撐，現場製作油條氣勢磅礡，免費擦鞋服務到位，5元玉米棒現場生產傳承歷史，食物免費品嘗，居民瘋狂搶購新鮮食材，平民美食的巔峰！

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