Tasty treats for Chinese New Year

String of candied haws is a traditional winter snack in Beijing. Nine Gates Snack Restaurant holds a Snack and Traditional Custom Festival from Jan 25 to Feb 15, in which 22 traditional Beijing snack shops participate. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Seafood lovers can try the restaurant's flavorful "Buddha jumps over the wall" soup, which contains an array of seafood in chicken broth.

Also recommended are roast lamb ribs with crispy chilies, and Hua's family-style sweet-and-sour fried cabbage. Finish with traditional Beijing dim sum such as hawthorn, yellow pea and white bean cakes and "donkey roll over" yellow-rice cake.

The restaurant's private rooms have TV sets to watch CCTV's Spring Festival Eve gala show.

Speaking of duck, nobody is more professional than Quanjude Peking Roast Duck Restaurant, with 150 years of history. Its Wangfujing branch provides some rather reasonably priced set meals for the coming festival.

Meals for a table of 10 people are priced from 1,580 yuan ($261), to 1,880 yuan, 2,180 yuan or 3,000 yuan.

Moreover, the offer is valid not just on Spring Festival Eve but also before and during the holiday.

The set meal menu includes Quanjude's most traditional mustard with duck paw, brined duck liver, Peking roast duck, as well as kungpao prawn and quick-fried lamb slices with shallots.

Each set meal has six cold dishes, six hot dishes, two Peking roast ducks and a fruit platter.

For customers who visit on Spring Festival Eve, the restaurant offers jiaozi (dumplings) for free. There will also be a lucky draw. As a festival gift option, the eatery provides Peking roast duck gift hampers priced from 128-258 yuan.