Food and Restaurants

Luoyang's famous "Water Banquet" is a must-try when visiting the city. The banquet gets its name because most of its dishes are soups; the dishes are also served continuously one after another like running water. The water banquet began as feast for commoners, but it caught the eye (perhaps nose) of Tang dynasty Empress Wu Zetian who made it a royal delicacy. The banquet consists of 24 dishes, it starts with eight cold appetizers, four have meat and four are vegetarian. Next comes 16 hot dishes that are presented in groups of four and each group based on a central flavor. Each dish usually costs around RMB 15 to 30. Noodles cooked in green soybean milk, toped with vegetable and hot pepper oil is a yummy snack. If you're craving dumplings then try xin’anxian tangmianjiao, these pork dumplings are delicious with some vinegar. Mutton soup is a great way to fill up, it's reputedly better than mom's chicken soup if you have a cold.