Some people hold a view that traditional Beijing snacks are a bit too "local". However, people, especially those gray people, have an irresistible emotion for reminiscence.

A famous Hong Kong director once wrote in his book that those who could not taste or did not know how to taste Douzhi (bean curd juice) were not even qualified to study the books of the famous writer, Laoshe.

Taiwan writer Liang Shiqiu, who was born in Beijing, had written numerous prose, with one collection focusing nothing but the snacks in Beijing. So it might prove a saying, which goes that a thing that is more ethnical or local is more likely to gain recognition by others, writer Shuyi once said.

In November 1992, some native Beijing people, who longed for and concerned about the future development of Beijing native snacks, gathered in the Nanweishun restaurant, a restaurant famous for making Muslim-flavored local snacks.

While tasting all those familiar, indigenous dim sums, the memories of all those good old days conjured up. It might be exaggerating to boast, “there are ninety-nine ways to make Beijing snacks and none of them will disappoint you”, but how could one resist the charm of these snacks and the environment for tasting these snacks. Or it might be that the saying is not exaggerating at all.

Writer Shuyi once said that Beijing snacks were small in size, however, it was an integrate part of the Chinese culture.

(Chinanews.cn September 9, 2005)