Things you must eat at Harbin Zhongyang Street, 哈尔滨中央大街必吃!

Zhongyang Street 中央大街 is one of the most prosperous commercial hub in Harbin 哈尔滨 and known to be the longest pedestrian street in Asia. The whole stretch is about 1.4km filled with plenty of western architectures, including Russian, Baroque, Renaissance and many more.

It was first established back in 1898 but with a complete different name back then and was only renamed in 1928. With constructions work in between, it was officially opened to public in 1997.



Here’s what you most definitely cannot missed out when you visit Zhongyang Street.

#1 Modern Ice Lolly 马迭尔冰棍 

The french brought this over in the 1907. It’s known for “甜而不腻，冰中带香” loosely translated as “delicately sweet, fragrance within the ice”. It’s reputation is basically, if you haven’t had one of this when you’re at Zhongyang Street, you’ve not been to Zhongyang Street.

There’s no additional additives to maintain the Ice Lolly’s purity. I swear it’s crazy that people eat this when the temperature outside is subzero. According to the local guide, the reason locals have cold stuff during winter is because the temperature difference is way too cray. We’re talking about approximately 30 degrees Celsius difference here. Because it’s so warm indoors, all the heat within your body bottles up and having some cold treat helps bring down that “heat”. It's a Chinese/Asian thing.

FYI if you can't stand the thought having an ice lolly out on the street in the cold, have them in the airport. That's what I did!

 #2 Red Sausage 红肠

Having a grilled red sausage in the cold, definitely feels warmer than having an ice lolly. It’s sprinkled with finely grounded peanuts (I think...) and chilli powder, giving it a good kick.

It reminded me of Taiwan Sausage 台湾香肠 but 100 times juicier.



The whole stretch was basically selling the same kind of sausage but the vendors mattered! The first stall we bought it from made sure the sausage was pipping hot but the second stall… well you can see that it has slightly charred but the inside was not even that hot.

 #3 Tanghulu 冰糖葫芦

Candied fruits on bamboo skewers dipped in sugar syrup. It’s not a Harbin thing in particular but you’ll find plenty of this being sold at Zhongyang street. Texture is slightly different from some of the ones I’ve tried. It’s extremely sticky 超级粘牙! And the fruits were basically frozen. Almost like bitting through an ice-cream.

 #4 Russian meal 俄罗斯大餐

Because of Harbin’s proximity to Russia, it’s pretty common to find Russian cuisine. Zhongyang Street is where you’ll be able to find plenty of restaurants serving it.

We stumbled upon Russia Holiday Garden 露西亚节日花园西餐厅 and damn the interior of the restaurant was mind-blowing. Wooden carving with classical music playing in the background. Felt unreal. This blog here did a great job in describing its interior, link here.

Pan fried meat cake 

Russian vegetable soup

Meat stuffed cabbage roll

We had the Russian vegetable soup, meet stuffed cabbage roll, pan fried meat cake and beef stew (which I forgot to snap a photo of). So good! To be honest, we were a bit skeptical initially but was obviously proven wrong.

 #5 Fried Pork in Scoop 锅包肉

This is one of the local delicacies in Northeast of China and it uses pork as the main ingredient. Upon slicing it, the pork is marinated and coated well with batter. Deep fried until its golden brown. Scoop it up and cook it once more to coat it with sauce comprising mainly sugar and vinegar. Similar to sweet and sour pork but instead of orangey/red, it’s golden!

I will be honest, the ones we had in Zhongyang Street weren't the best. Way too much batter to the extent that it was a bit mushy, like the batter weren't even cooked.

 #6 Grilled sweet potato 烤地瓜 

This was not my thing. Will give it some credit by briefly mentioning this for the warmth it has brought to our palm as we were holding it.

 Once more, HAPPY EATING.