10 Bizarre Foods to Eat in China

Chinese people LOVE to eat. If eating were an Olympic sport, no other country would come close.

I’ve never seen a nation show so much dedication to consuming anything that walks, crawls, flies, swims, slithers or grows in my whole life until I travelled to China.

Bizarre foods? Yes, please.

10 Bizarre Foods to Eat in China

Chinese people LOVE to eat. If eating were an Olympic sport, no other country would come close.

I’ve never seen a nation show so much dedication to consuming anything that walks, crawls, flies, swims, slithers or grows in my whole life until I travelled to China.

Bizarre foods? Yes, please.

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We’ve visited every country in the world and want to help you get the most out of your travels!

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I’m a food lover, therefore, most of my time spent travelling the world is wandering through food markets in search of tasting anything that is recommended to that country or indulging in food that locals love to eat. 

I thought that I was quite an adventurous eater until China seriously tested all of my culinary barriers.

Many foods from China will take you by surprise for sure!

Ten Most Bizarre Foods to Eat in China

Would you dare to eat any of these foods of China?

1) Sheep Penis

Yes, you heard that correctly. Threaded on a stick, grilled and served hot. This is one of those foods from China that only few people would dare to try.

10 Bizarre Foods to Eat in China - sheep penis
10 Bizarre Foods to Eat in China – Sheep Penis. Foods From China make good use of the entire animal, including reproductive organs.

2) Tuna Eyeball

I’m told this tastes similar to squid and comes with severed muscles and fish fat around the eyeball. The eyeball is boiled, seasoned and served.

Bon Appetit.

3) Birds Nest Soup

A Chinese delicacy made using the nests of a small Chinese bird, the swiftlet. The bird makes its nest from its own saliva, which hardens when exposed to air.

Chicken broth is added to the saliva to make this soup. Like many foods in China, it’s famed for its health benefits. This is common for many other China foods you may learn about.

4) Chicken Testicles

Chicken testicles seem to show up on many menus in Hong Kong. The testicles themselves look much like large white beans which are boiled or fried whole with a soft squishy inside.

They’re served in a broth with your choice of rice or noodles. Nothing like a bowl of testicles for dinner!

Definitely at the top of the strangest and bizarre foods in China and the world.

10 Bizarre Foods to Eat in China - Chicken Testicles
10 Bizarre Foods to Eat in China – Chicken Testicles. Foods of China eaten by the bowlful.

5) Balut

A balut is a developing duck embryo that is boiled and eaten in the shell. Locals absolutely love them. They tell me the best part is when you tip the egg up and sip on the liquid inside.

Balut is a much-loved food of China, however, balut is a common food in other countries such as the Philippines, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam

For most Westerners, it’s just another one of the bizarre foods you only find on your travels. Keep reading for more China foods that may surprise you.

RELATED POST – 10 Most Popular Foods in the Philippines – Would you eat number 10 on our list?

6) Scorpions

Bizarre foods from China commonly served deep-fried on a stick. Choose to have yours seasoned with salt, chilli salt or whatever else the vendor is offering. If you close your eyes and forget about what you are snacking on, you might be able to stomach it.

Not only are scorpions and insects some foods from China eaten on the regular, you’ll find them in Thailand and other Sth East Asian countries too.

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7) Thousand Year Old Eggs

Duck eggs coated with lime, ashes and mud, soaked in brine for 100 days until the yolk turns green and the whites become gelatinous and dark brown.

The eggs have a creamy cheese flavour with a strong smell. Sound inviting? Only 3 left to complete this list of bizarre foods to eat in China.

10 Bizarre Foods to Eat in China - thousand year old egg
10 Bizarre Foods to Eat in China – Thousand-year-old egg. This looks like the most bizarre food that China has invented yet.
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8) Snake Soup

More commonly eaten in Hong Kong, especially during the winter to warm up, this soup is considered somewhat of a gourmet dish.

The soup is served with snake shredded inside. Many say it tastes like chicken.

9) Stinky Tofu

It’s the name that turns most people off, even before they wonder what it might taste like. It’s fermented tofu that has a very potent smell. You definitely smell it half a block before you see it.

It’s been described to me as the blue cheese of tofu. I love blue cheese, so I ordered and ate a whole plate, served alongside pickled cabbage.

I’d do it again for sure. It’s probably one of the weird and bizarre foods in China I liked.

10) Roasted Street Bird or Whole Pigeons

Yes, only because I love the food served on a stick, this had to make it to my list. I found this one quite impressive because it is an entire street bird threaded on a stick, dipped in a marinade for all that flavour and roasted.

I didn’t eat one because I was too full from consuming all those foods I mentioned at the top of my list.

Perhaps next time I visit I’ll taste more weird China foods to extend this list.

10 Bizarre Foods to Eat in China - Whole pigeons
10 Bizarre Foods to Eat in China – Whole roasted pigeons. Bizarre foods China style!

If you’re not so interested in trying these bizarre foods, these 10 most popular foods from China will be sure to satisfy you.

Before you arrive in China, make sure you’re prepared and read our post – How to avoid common tourist scams in China.

Find out all our best travel tips after visiting every country in the world!

What is the most bizarre food you have eaten on your travels? Would you add anything to this list? 

If you’re travelling further in China, you may enjoy reading about where to eat in Pingyao, China.

Check out these 9 weird drinks in the world that will surprise you.

There are so many incredible things to do in China, from tours to visit the Great Wall of China, exploring the Forbidden City, or being amazed at laying eyes on the Terracotta Warriors in Xi’an.

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35 Comments. Leave new

  • Hahaha oh man, some of these are off the charts..unique! I’m down for a food adventure like this, great post!

    Reply
  • That chicken dish didn’t sound to inviting ????????????

    Reply
  • Not very PC but my boss always used to joke about what it must be like to go to a real Chinese restaurant in China vs. the more western catering ones here in the US…he’d be like….hmmm…was planning to get some deep fried pig testicle stuffed sheep intestines…my favorite…but I noticed you got a special on that there unborn deer fetus…gotta try lol

    Reply
  • Terrigal Restaurants
    October 30, 2017 12:34 am

    I tried the Pigeons and the century egg.. but the rest of it no.. lol you have great blog… but i cant just eat or try all of them lol

    Reply
    • LOL..Yes, we get it! Trying all this food isn’t for everyone. Good on you for trying pigeon and century egg 🙂

      Reply
  • Just not for me not one cookng animals are they testicles but I would like to try that street bird

    Reply
    • Lacey Cheung
      March 6, 2020 8:19 pm

      The food they eat is DISGUSTING how are they alive!? No wonder there is such thing as ‘coronavirus’

      Reply
      • coronavirus came from wukong..and they ate it alive.. not cooked or boiled or anything.. just raw… i ain’t trying to start an argument but you don’t even know what the corona virus is caused from and yet, you are using the word. worst of all, i am 100% sure that other places eat disgusting things too like hamsters etc. so don’t be only judging china. in fact, shouldn’t even be blaming it on wukong.. not everyone there ate like this.

        Reply
      • I hope you realized that Chinese ppl used to eat these “disgusting” foods due to POVERTY and many are still in poverty today. They have no choice. Very rude comment.

        Reply
  • Random hongkonger
    December 6, 2017 10:51 am

    The pigeons aren’t considered weird, at least not in Hong Kong. They’re actually relatively common in old local restaurants. Neither is Birds Nest Soup, although it would probably be in the “extremely expensive” category instead of weird. Things to replace them with would probably be intestines of any kind and actual goose tongue, not the vegetable. Add in chicken feet as a bonus, but again that isn’t seen as weird, more of a common thing that you throw into soup to give it flavour.

    Reply
  • Roasted Street Bird make me hungry. Ahh looking so yummy…

    Reply
  • Ewwww Sheep *****

    Reply
  • My daughter is doing Chinese project for year 6 and we thought to look up bizarre food, reading some of these out to my 2 kids I was on verge of gagging, yak. But fab write up thank you.

    Reply
  • Phillip Arbugtt
    March 16, 2019 6:56 am

    I think I rather die first

    Reply
  • Dawa Choden
    June 7, 2019 1:44 am

    Phillip Arbugtt, let me tell you something. Every culture eats different things. My culture eats cow tongue. Being judgefull to what these innocent people eat, is called racism!

    Reply
    • The only innocent ones here are the animals that are tortured, abused, and slaughtered to satisfy the tastes of barbaric, cruel, and criminal human beings. Judging what other people eat is not racist at all. There are cultures that eat their own. Are you alright with cannibalism?.

      Reply
      • Couldn’t have said it better myself….. I wonder what health benefits people think they are gonna get from eating penis from animals….. Wishful thinking maybe.

        Reply
    • Dawa Choden: although you have a point, he was expressing his opinion, and he wasn’t actually talking about anyone in particular, so its not really racism

      Reply
  • eye balls sound wierd

    Reply
  • And that’s how Covid-19 was born!

    Reply
  • I am a food lover too and had a trip to Beijing and GuangZhou in 2018 & 19 respectively. I tried many foods including snail (which is though for someone with an orthodox background) but had not tried these. Even if I had ghe chance, I don’t think I will. Great article & thanks!

    Reply
  • Asian food is fresh and very packed with flavor. I love trying out the different dishes that they have to offer! This is a pretty cool.
    Regards:
    Asian Foods Near Me

    Reply
  • It’s interesting to know that the Chinese were able to come up with a shredded snake dish and make it taste like chicken. I’m really curious about Asian food and the meals you included in this article made me more interested. I hope I’ll be able to find a nearby Chinese restaurant where I can try these dishes.

    Reply
  • Isn’t balut from the Philippines I dont think China even has balut. I’m pretty sure its from the Philippines (balut)…
    #Philippines

    Reply
    • It’s also recognised as a national food of the Philippines, however, some argue that it originated from China. From our travel experience, we’ve seen both nations love to eat balut.

      Reply
  • Ew!

    Reply
  • Not for being racist but i hope all people should be careful now on what they put in their mouth… After the corona virus we should all think twice, keep safe everyone!

    Reply
  • It’s smells that I can’t handle. I couldn’t eat the thousand year old eggs or the stinky tofu. I’d struggle to eat almost everything on the list, but I know I wouldn’t be able to eat those two.

    Reply
  • who eats sheep penis?

    Reply
  • first time to hear about tuna eyeball… my gosh so weird! anyway thank you for this!

    Reply
  • STOP EATING ANIMALS

    Reply

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