Yang Mazi (杨麻子大饼)

Yang Mazi is a heritage flatbread and meat-pie maker at 84 Renmin Street in Changchun's Nanguan District, in Jilin Province, northeastern China. Founded in 1896, it is among the oldest food brands in the city and is classed with Jilin's time-honoured eateries. Its name, which roughly translates as 'Pockmarked Yang', refers to its founder, and the shop is associated with the large griddled pastries that became a feature of Changchun street and breakfast food. The menu centres on dabing, large flatbreads baked or griddled until the surface is golden and the interior is soft, and xianbing, stuffed meat pies with a thin crisp skin. Signature items include the zhaopai dabing, the house's signature flatbread, the sanxian xianbing, a pie filled with three types of filling combined with minced meat and vegetables, and huoshao, a baked sesame flatbread that can be eaten plain or split and filled. Typical spend is about ¥40 (roughly $6) per person, which makes it inexpensive even by Changchun standards. The setting is a plain, quick-service shop where customers order at a counter, eat standing or at simple tables and leave quickly; dress is casual and the atmosphere is bustling, particularly at breakfast and lunch. Beverages are generally tea, soy milk and soft drinks, and there is no wine programme. Reservations are not applicable to a counter-service pastry shop, but queues can form at peak hours, so visiting mid-morning or mid-afternoon avoids them. Because the pastries are freshest straight from the griddle, visitors are advised to eat them immediately rather than take them away for later. Its location on Renmin Street puts it in the central part of the city, convenient for visitors walking between the main civic sights, and it makes a quick, authentic stop for those curious about the pastry side of Dongbei eating.