Mixiangfang Tuanzi Shop

Mixiangfang Tuanzi Shop (米香坊团子店) is a traditional snack shop at No. 78 Jiefang Middle Road in Dingshu Town, Yixing, Jiangsu province, China. It specialises in tuanzi, the rice dumplings that are a classic food of the Jiangnan region and a seasonal tradition around the Qingming festival in spring. Tuanzi are made from glutinous rice flour, sometimes coloured green with mugwort or other herbs, and filled with sweet or savoury centres before being steamed. The shop's signature dishes are glutinous rice dumplings (团子) and sweet bean-paste dumplings. The bean-paste version has a soft, chewy skin and a smooth, lightly sweet filling made from red beans, and is the most approachable choice for first-time visitors. The dumplings are sold individually or in small boxes, and a typical spend is CNY 10-25 per person, so they work as an inexpensive snack or an edible souvenir to carry back to a hotel. The shop operates roughly 06:30-17:00, closing earlier than most restaurants, so it is a daytime stop rather than an evening one. The setting is a modest counter with a steamer, brisk takeaway service and little seating; no dress code applies and drinks are limited to tea and soft drinks. Reservations are not taken. Glutinous rice is dense, so a small number of dumplings is usually filling, and visitors with sensitive digestion may wish to eat slowly. Jiefang Middle Road is a central street in Dingshu, so the shop is easy to combine with visits to nearby pottery shops and the town's old streets. Dumplings are best eaten the same day, as glutinous rice hardens when cold, and warm ones straight from the steamer are noticeably better.