Almost every account of Chinese food in English mentions lamb skewers once, in a list, between the jianbing and the stinky tofu. Ours does it in three separate places. None of them explains what the thing actually is, which is a shame, because 烧烤 (shāo kǎo) is arguably the most sociable meal in the country and the easiest for a visitor to walk into.
It is not a dish. It is an evening.
The format#
A 烧烤 place is a low-rent room that spills onto the pavement: folding tables, plastic stools, a charcoal grill at the front worked by one person who does nothing else, and crates of beer. Nothing is refined and nothing is meant to be.
Everything is priced by the stick, and you order by ticking quantities on a paper sheet rather than by talking — which makes this one of the few restaurant formats in China where speaking no Chinese costs you nothing at all. Hand the sheet over. Food arrives in waves, ten or twenty skewers at a time, for as long as you keep ticking.
It also runs late. An industry report published in July 2024 found that more than half of skewer customers were eating after 22:00, and that the category had grown to roughly 330,000 outlets nationwide. The verb the language grew for it is 撸串 (lū chuàn), literally to strip skewers — an evening of it, not a course.
The regional styles#
| Where | What makes it different |
|---|---|
| Xinjiang | Cumin and chilli on fat-marbled lamb; the tradition the rest of the country borrowed from |
| The Northeast, and Jinzhou above all | The widest range of things on sticks — meat, offal, seafood, tofu skin, whole garlic, vegetables |
| Zibo, Shandong | You finish the cooking yourself at a grill on your own table |
| Guangdong | Seafood-led: oysters with garlic, whole fish, squid |
The Xinjiang line is the ancestor and remains the benchmark for lamb specifically — Kashgar and the wider region is where to eat it at source, and the regional cooking around it is unlike anything Han Chinese cuisine does.
The Northeastern tradition is where the format was pushed furthest. Jinzhou in Liaoning is the name most associated with it, and the operating principle there is that anything can go on a stick, which in practice means the vegetables and the tofu skin are as good as the meat.
What happened at Zibo#
In the spring of 2023 a small industrial city in Shandong became, briefly, the most talked-about place in China because of its barbecue.
The Zibo format is specific, and the phrase that carried it across Chinese social media was 小饼烤炉加蘸料 (xiǎo bǐng kǎo lú jiā zhàn liào) — a small flatbread, a grill on your table, and a dipping powder. Skewers arrive part-cooked, you finish them over your own burner, then strip the meat into the flatbread with a spring onion and roll it. The assembly is the point; it is a barbecue you build rather than one you are served.
The scale of what followed is documented rather than anecdotal. Zibo's municipal statistical communiqué for 2023, published on 29 March 2024, records 61.1 million domestic visitors, up 67.6% on the previous year, and domestic tourism revenue of ¥63 billion, up 68.4%.
Finding it, which is the part visitors get wrong#
The instinct is to go to a night market. That is the wrong instinct, for the same reason our street food guide gives: night markets in China are increasingly built for visitors, and the food follows the audience.
Real barbecue is unglamorous and residential. Look for charcoal smoke and plastic stools on an ordinary commercial street after dark, ideally one nobody has written up. The signals are reliable: a grill working continuously, tables occupied by groups rather than couples, and crates of beer stacked against a wall.
Two practical notes. Order in rounds rather than all at once, because you will over-order otherwise and because the point is to sit for two hours. And expect smoke — you will smell of it, your clothes will smell of it, and that is a good sign about where you chose to eat.
Frequently asked questions#
What is shaokao?#
烧烤 (shāo kǎo) is Chinese charcoal barbecue: skewers of meat, seafood, tofu and vegetables grilled to order, priced by the stick and eaten with beer at outdoor tables. It is a late-evening social meal rather than a dish, and it is found in every Chinese city.
How do you order Chinese barbecue without speaking Chinese?#
You tick quantities on a paper order sheet and hand it over, which makes barbecue one of the easiest formats in China for a visitor with no Mandarin. Order in small rounds rather than all at once — food arrives in batches and it is easy to over-order.
Where is the best barbecue in China?#
Xinjiang for lamb, which is the tradition the rest of the country draws on; the Northeast, and Jinzhou in particular, for the widest range of things grilled on sticks; Zibo in Shandong for the build-it-yourself format; and Guangdong for seafood. The honest answer for a traveller is whichever neighbourhood street near you has charcoal smoke coming off it.
Is Zibo barbecue still worth visiting?#
As a local style, yes if you are already in Shandong; as a destination, the moment has passed. Zibo's boom was a 2023 phenomenon that took the city to 61.1 million domestic visitors that year, up 67.6%, and the crowds have since moved elsewhere.
What time do Chinese people eat barbecue?#
Late. An industry report published in July 2024 found more than half of skewer customers eating after 22:00, and places commonly stay busy well past midnight. Turning up at 19:00 will work but you will have the street to yourself.
Is Chinese barbecue safe to eat?#
It is cooked to order over high heat in front of you, which puts it in the safest category of Chinese street eating rather than the riskiest — the same test our street food page applies. Choose a grill that is working continuously and busy, and the usual precautions cover the rest.