Food & Beer Culture

What do you eat with beer in Harbin? The cuisine of the northeast, called Dongbei, is hearty and bears Russian influences. This includes Harbin Red Sausage in the Russian style, the large round bread called Dalieba, and the stew Suan cai, in which pickled Chinese cabbage is cooked with pork and glass noodles. The sour cabbage and the rich meat go very well with a light, cold lager.

Another dish is Guobaorou, pork deep-fried in batter with a sweet-and-sour sauce. The sweetness, the acidity and the crispy coating find a calm counterpart in the mild beer, which refreshes the mouth. The principle is familiar: carbonation and coolness cut through fat, a bitter hop wouldn't be needed here.

In summer, people sit outside in front of barbecue stalls where skewers grill over charcoal. In China, this is accompanied by a cold bottled beer, drunk in small sips and often shared. The eateries are loud and simple, not a cellar, not a brewhouse, but a casual dining spot.

In winter, the city is defined by ice. The Ice and Snow World traditionally opens in early January and runs for about a month, with palaces, bridges and pagodas built from blocks of the Songhua.

Beer culture in Harbin, then, is not one of grand rituals and tankards. It is everyday, sociable, and closely tied to food, much like in many cities across China. Anyone wanting to understand how beer tastes here should drink it with what the city eats, and amid the cold that defines it.