Jilin is a province in northeast China bordering North Korea and Russia, known for Changbai Mountain and its Heaven Lake crater, Changchun's Manchukuo-era palace and film heritage, Jilin City's winter rime ice, and the Korean-Chinese culture of Yanbian. The Tumen and Yalu rivers form its southern frontier, and Goguryeo tombs at Ji'an are UNESCO World Heritage sites. Winters are long and cold, with excellent skiing.
Jilin Province cooks Dongbei food shaped by cold winters, Manchu and Korean traditions and a landlocked, grain-rich interior. Changchun serves guobaorou, pickled-cabbage stews and sauce-braised bones; Jilin City is known for Wula Manchu hotpot, blood sausage and century-old pastry and dumpling houses; Yanbian's capital Yanji is the centre of Korean-Chinese cooking with cold noodles, bibimbap, kimchi stew and skewers; Hunchun, beside the Russian and North Korean borders, adds king crab and Arctic shellfish; and the Changbai Mountain North Slope serves ginseng chicken soup and iron-pot stews.
Must-try dishes
Iconic dishes that define Jilin.
Guobaorou (锅包肉)
Crisp sweet-and-sour battered pork slices, the signature Dongbei dish
Where to try: Zhen Bu Tong and Chun Fa He, Changchun; Dongbei restaurants across Jilin City
Price: CNY 40-70 (USD 6-10)
Yanbian Cold Noodles (延边冷面)
Chewy buckwheat noodles in iced sweet-and-sour broth with pickles and egg
Where to try: Jindalai and Shunji cold noodle houses, Yanji
Price: CNY 20-35 (USD 3-5)
Wula Hotpot (乌拉火锅)
Manchu pickled-cabbage pot with pork belly, blood sausage and hand-cut meats
Where to try: Fengjiyuan, Wula Street, and Qianyilai, Jilin City
Price: CNY 60-100 (USD 9-15)
Stone-pot Bibimbap (石锅拌饭)
Rice, vegetables and egg in a sizzling stone bowl with chilli paste
Where to try: Quanzhou Bibimbap, Yanji and Hunchun
Price: CNY 20-45 (USD 3-7)
Hunchun King Crab (帝王蟹)
Steamed or stir-fried crab sold by weight at Hunchun's seafood restaurants
Where to try: Haijiangcheng Aquatic and Geyunduan, Hunchun
Price: CNY 150-300 (USD 22-45)
Ginseng Chicken Soup (参鸡汤)
Whole young chicken simmered with ginseng, jujube and glutinous rice
Where to try: Dongsheng, Chibei District, Changbai Mountain
Price: CNY 60-120 (USD 9-18)
Sauce-braised Pork Bones (酱骨头)
Slow-braised pork bones eaten by hand
Where to try: Wang Ji Jiang Gutou Guan, Changchun
Price: CNY 40-80 (USD 6-12)
Yanbian Skewers (延边烤串)
Lamb and beef skewers grilled over charcoal or on automatic rotating grills
Where to try: Fengmao and Jinli, Yanji
Price: CNY 50-90 (USD 7-13)
Top restaurants
Handpicked picks for the best dining experiences.
Restaurants by cuisine
Browse picks grouped by cuisine type.
Korean
Manchu
Seafood
Food tours & tastings in Jilin
Eat your way through Jilin with a guide.
Browse food experiences in JilinWe may earn a commission from bookings made through these links.
Street food
Local flavours at affordable prices.
Kao Lengmian (烤冷面)
Grilled cold-noodle sheet with egg and sauce, a Dongbei street staple
Find it at: Night streets and school districts, Changchun and Yanji
Tofu skewers (豆腐串)
Grilled dried tofu skewers brushed with sauce and chilli
Find it at: Changchun street stalls
Rice cakes and kimchi pancakes
Korean-style tteok, kimchi jeon and sausage sold at markets
Find it at: Yanji markets and Korean-quarter streets
Tanghulu (糖葫芦)
Candied hawthorn berries on sticks sold in winter
Find it at: Pedestrian streets, Changchun and Jilin City
Blood sausage (血肠)
Pork blood sausage boiled with white pork
Find it at: Henan Street and Jilin Street, Jilin City
Food markets
Where locals shop and graze.
Yanji Xishichang (西市场)
Yanji's central market with kimchi, dried fish, rice cakes and Korean groceries
Hours: Daily roughly 7AM-6PM
Hunchun Border Seafood Shops
Seafood shops in Hunchun selling imported king crab and shellfish that restaurants will cook for a fee
Hours: Daily roughly 8AM-8PM
Changchun Sima Road Area Markets
Markets and snack stalls near People's Square and Yongchun Commercial City
Hours: Daily roughly 8AM-6PM
Dining etiquette & tips
Navigate the local food scene confidently.
Payment is mostly by Alipay or WeChat Pay; foreign cards are linked through the apps (Alipay Tour Pass) or use cash CNY, as many small places reject cards
Dianping (大众点评) and Meituan show Chinese-language menus, hours and reservations; Amap (高德地图) or Baidu Maps navigate to Chinese-character addresses
Show the Chinese name of the restaurant or dish to taxi drivers and servers; menus in Yanbian are often bilingual Chinese and Korean but rarely English
Seafood in Hunchun is priced by weight (jin, 500 g); confirm the unit price before cooking
Lunch is roughly 11:30AM-1:30PM and dinner 5:30-8:30PM; many small restaurants close by 9PM
Winter (December-February) is very cold; hotpot and stews are best then, while the Changbai Mountain North Slope has limited dining in the off-season
Tipping is not customary in China
- Vegetarian
- Limited; say 'wo chi su' (我吃素) and note that broths and fillings often contain pork. Bibimbap without meat, egg-tomato stir-fry and potato slivers are usually available
- Halal
- Hui (Muslim) restaurants marked 清真 serve halal lamb and noodles in Changchun and Yanji; lamb skewers at Muslim stalls are widely available
- Gluten free
- Very hard: soy sauce, noodles and dumplings dominate; plain steamed rice, grilled meats and steamed seafood are the safest options
Food budget guide
What to expect at different price points.
| Level | Price | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Budget | CNY 20-50 per meal (USD 3-7) | Cold noodles, bibimbap, dumplings, skewers and street snacks |
| Mid-range | CNY 80-200 per person (USD 12-30) | Dongbei restaurants, hotpot and Korean barbecue |
| Upscale | CNY 300+ per person (USD 45+) | Hunchun king crab dinners priced by weight |