Donglaishun Restaurant

The founder of this restaurant is a man from Cangzhou, Hebei province named Ding Deshan, who styled himself Ziqing. In the early time, he was a labor carrying the building material to the downtown area. Before liberation, there were no facility supplying heating from gas, and the heating and cooking depended on the material briquette. And briquette can’t be made without the adhesive----loess. Ding Deshan was doing the work of carrying the loess to the coal yards. He passed by the old Dong’an Market every day when he carried the loess from the places outside the city to the downtown.

Dong’an Market was once a stud-farm in the imperial palace. During the Qing Dynasty, all the officials would enter the palace through the Meridian Gate when they went to court, but they couldn’t ride a horse or sit in the sedan. Near the Donghua Gate was a horse stone with writing on it that read “civil officials should get down from the sedan, while the military officials should get down from the horse.” The old Dong’an Gate was place for the military officials to store their horses. Later it became a trading market, gradually, with people hurrying to and from. It was extraordinarily bustling.

Ding Deshan fancied the land of treasure at his first sight, so he invested all his savings through his labor work to the northern gate of Dong’an market and built a shed. He hung the sign of “Donglaishun porridge stand” and began his business of selling the pancake of cornmeal and millet congee specifically. His main target customers were those common people such as cart driver and attendants. His business was rather flourishing, so he expanded the shop and employed a cook who made noodles by drawing out the dough by hand to attract more customers.

Wei Yan, a eunuch, was in charge of the stud-farm in Dong’an Market was fond of the hand-pulled noodles at the porridge stand and often went there. Ding Deshan was very smart, so he served and flattered Wei Yan very considerately every time when the eunuch went there, thus he obtained the appreciation of the old eunuch. Wei Yan discovered that Ding Deshan was shrewd and lively, in the long run, he regarded Ding as an adopted son. In 1912, Dong’an Market caught on fire, and the porridge stand was badly damaged. Wei Yan stepped up and provided Ding Deshan with some money to rebuild three tile-roofed houses and named the house “Donglaishun mutton house.” In the beginning, the house mainly made some mutton soup and haggis; later, the “instant-boiled mutton” was introduced.

Donglaishun Restaurant (the headquarter in Beijing APM)

Tell: 0086-1065280932

Address: the 5th floor in Beijing APM, No. 138, Wangsujing Street, Dongcheng District

Business hours: 10:00-22:00

Donglaishun Restaurant (Wangfujing Dept Store)

Tell: 0086-1065139661

Address: No.198, Wangfujing Street, Dongcheng District

Business hours: 11:00-21:00

Donglaishun Restaurant (Haitu Dept Store in Zhongguancun)

Tell: 0086-1082611636

Address: 2nd floor in Huahai Building, No.34, Haidian Street, Haidian District

Business hours: 11:00-21:00

Donglaishun Restaurant (Shaungjing Dept Store)

Tell: 0086-1058538999

Address: 3rd floor in East International Plaza, No.18, Middle Road of East Third Ring, Chaoyang District

Business hours: 10:30-22:00