Jianbing is China’s most popular breakfast street food. You’d think it’s easy to find in Shanghai, but the recent clean-up of street vendors proves it difficult! Here’s where you can eat jianbing in Shanghai.

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What is Jianbing?

Jianbing 煎饼 is a savory Chinese breakfast food. It’s essentially a Chinese crepe, the batter made with millet flour and soybean meal.

First, the batter is spread on a circular grill. Toppings are an amalgam of ingredients, including egg (or double egg), youtiao 油条 (fried crullers), cuibing 脆饼 or baocui 薄脆 (translates to crispy pancake or crispy fritter) made from wheat flour, cilantro, lettuce, green onions, pickled mustard tubers, chili paste, fermented bean paste, and sometimes meat.

It’s found in every city in China, but its origins can be traced to Shandong and Tianjin.

This is at Xiangyang Nan Lu. The husband and wife team have lived in Shanghai for 20 years, and have been running this hole-in-the-wall for the past three years. Jianbing with youtiao here is ¥6.50.

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How to order

• Yi ge jian bing 一个煎饼 one jianbing
• Yao ji dan 鸡蛋 with an egg
• Bu la 不辣 for not spicy
• Wei la 微辣 for a little spicy
• Zhong la 中辣 for medium spicy
• La 辣 if you have strong stomach lining

Find it:

Xiangyang Lu Jianbing Stall
Address: 189 Xiangyang Nan Lu, near Fuxing Zhong Lu 襄阳南路189号, 近复兴中路
Hours: Mon-Fri 6:30am-1pm, 4-7pm; Sat-Sun 6:30am-12pm

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Did you know? There’s a World Jianbing Day!

World Jianbing Day falls on April 30. It didn’t exist before UnTour Food Tours decided to take charge (this year) and dedicate a day to China’s most loved breakfast food.

They’re running a slick campaign, too, with the incentive of one year’s supply of jianbing to one lucky winner. Details on their website.

All you have to do is upload your favorite jianbing vendor’s picture and address to social media, namely Instagram, use the hashtag #jianbingmap or tag @untourfoodtours. Deadline is before April 30.

You’ll be contributing to a greater cause! All info will be compiled and added to UnTour’s crowd-sourced Jianbing Map.

If anything, you can access their site and find more jianbing stalls in Shanghai.