Fengjiyuan (凤吉园)

Fengjiyuan (凤吉园) is a Wula Manchu hotpot restaurant in Wula Street Town, Longtan District, north of Jilin City in Jilin province, China. The restaurant traces its origin to 1875 and serves wulahuoguo (乌拉火锅), a hotpot style tied to the Manchu history of Wula Street, once a seat of the Wula tribe and later a stop on the Qing-era routes of the region. The pot is built on pickled cabbage (酸菜) and pork belly simmered in a rich broth, typically with blood sausage (血肠) and other traditional ingredients added as the meal progresses. Unlike the spicy Sichuan style, the flavour is savoury, sour and meaty, and is meant for cold weather. The cooking is traditionally done at the table in a copper or metal pot heated over coals or gas. The dining room is communal and warm, with large tables suited to groups and families, a lively noise level and no dress code. Beverages are mainly tea, local beer and baijiu, with no formal wine programme. A meal costs roughly CNY 60-90 (USD 9-13) per person, placing it at the mid-range for the area. Because it is in Wula Street Town, about a half-hour drive north of central Jilin City, the visit is normally combined with sightseeing around the town's Manchu heritage sites such as the Wula Street Manchu cultural area. Reservations are advisable for groups at weekends. Hours are listed as roughly 10:00AM-8:00PM daily, and visitors should check Dianping for current hours, especially outside the main season. The restaurant is best reached by car, taxi or the local bus from Jilin City, and the pot is generally ordered for the whole table.