Xiexie Tea: Quirky Name, Even Quirkier Donkey Meat Sandwiches

This ain’t your average donkey meat sandwich. Nope, most of us never would’ve guessed that the cheap snack once ubiquitous in the streets of pre-Great Brickening Beijing would now be sold at a trendy shop in the ritzy Taikooli Mall. But yet, like almost everything else forced out of the alleys, donkey sandwiches have found a new upscale home, this time in Xiexie Tea.

Read more about Beijing's "Great Brickening" gentrification here.

The tart and tender donkey meat RMB 18 sandwich is not the only noteworthy offering here. Aside from following the trend of beautifying once humble street eats (looking at you, Bite By Callus), this snack spot also joins the likes of Chunli Bao and De Refter, which both serve Taiwanese-style bao. We were happy to find that Xiexie Tea’s take on the southern snack holds up well against those competitors and although it comes in a smaller size, it also has a lower price. Its fluffy bread casing, meanwhile, is more in line with Chunli Bao's slender side-sliced rendition than De Refter's burger style.

While the donkey meat version was our favorite, other bao options include gravy pork, plain chicken, barbecue pineapple curry chicken, lobster and pork, and a number of others, so if the idea of donkey meat turns you off, you've still got plenty of alternatives.

Xiexie Tea of course also serves tea, and in a style meant to rival KOL magnet Hey Tea and its swaths of imitators. They have classic bubble teas, no-added-sugar teas, fruit teas, and others all priced around RMB 30.

In terms of atmosphere, Xiexie Tea is by no means somewhere you’d want to meet a client or while away an afternoon. The tangible excitement of patrons lapping up this new venture will either make you want to soak up the buzz or GTFO ASAP, depending on your personality type.

Xiexie Tea has also harnessed a powerful celebrity endorsement in the shape of Ma Dong. The talk show host and media mogul (he founded Mi Wei Media and is the chief content officer at iQiyi) is a household name in China, a fact that surely adds to the tea shop's apparent success. Although most foreigners won’t know or care about that celebrity factor, the tasty and reasonably priced bao make it worth a quick pit stop.

Catch up on all our street eat recommendations here.

Xiexie Tea 
Daily 10am-10pm. B1, Taikooli South, Sanlitun Road, Chaoyang District
朝阳区三里屯路三里屯太古里南区地下一层

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Photos: Kyle Mullin