A favorite breakfast item in China sold by numerous street food vendors early in the morning, jianbing or fried pancake is a thin and savory crêpe-like pancake that is made by spreading batter over a hot, cast-iron slab with a wooden paddle.

The batter can be made with a variety of different flour, with the most common types being mung bean flour, black bean flour, and wheat flour. Always freshly prepared and warm, this fried pancake is usually topped with eggs, then flavored with various sauces such as chili sauce, hoisin sauce, or tianmianjiang (savory bean paste) sauce, and filled with ingredients such as spring onions, mustard pickles, radishes, scallions, cilantro, or even a protein such as Chinese sausage or chicken. 

Originating from Cantonese cuisine, zhaliang refers to traditional Chinese deep-fried crullers wrapped in silky and almost translucent rice sheets. Similar to the plain cruller, zhaliang is commonly served for breakfast, but it is often a part of traditional Cantonese dim sum meals.

It is accompanied by a unique, slightly sweetened soy-based sauce, which can be incorporated into the dish or served on the side. Zhaliang should always be freshly prepared, so the crullers do not lose their crunchy and soft texture. For easier consumption, they are served cut into bite-sized pieces and garnished with sesame seeds and sliced scallions. 

Oyster omelette originated in the city of Chaozhou (Teochew) and the region of Fujian in China. It is a signature dish of the Hokkien people - Chinese diaspora in Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, and the Philippines. The dish consists of small oysters added to a mixture of potato starch and egg batter.

Depending on the region, cooks will sometimes add a dash of spicy chili sauce mixed with lime juice to intensify the taste of the whole dish. The city of Tainan in Taiwan is even unofficially called the snack city, especially because it offers one of the best oyster omelettes in the region - unsurprisingly so, because its coastal location ensures that it is never in lack of fresh oysters. 

Big pao is a variety of baozi, the famous Chinese steamed buns. Consisting of a soft delicate bun and a delicious savory filling, they are similar to other steamed bun types, but are usually larger in size. The pastry is made with yeasted dough, which develops a tender, springy texture when steamed.

The filling is usually a delicious mixture of minced meat, mainly pork or chicken, shiitake mushrooms, and green onions, all doused in a fragrant sauce infused with soy sauce, oyster sauce, and sesame oil. Some versions might include Chinese sausage, while quarters of hard-boiled eggs are a welcome addition, usually positioned inside or on top of the meat filling. 

Pineapple buns are golden, crispy-crusted, sweet pastries originating from Hong Kong. Despite their name, they don't contain pineapple, but are named after the chequerboard pattern of the crust that visually resembles the skin of a pineapple. An important part of Hong Kong's cultural heritage, they are made with only four ingredients - flour, lard, sugar, and eggs.

Crispy and sugary on the exterior and soft on the inside, it is a favorite food of many locals due to its inexpensive price. The buns are usually eaten for breakfast or in the afternoon with tea. One popular variation known as boh loh yaau is commonly consumed with milk tea and served with butter inside the bun. 

Turnip cake is a savory Chinese snack that is frequently served as a part of traditional dim sum meals. Even though it is referred to as turnip cake in English, the main ingredient in the dish is traditional Chinese radish, a white colored plant with a sharp and pungent taste.

Grated radish is cooked and mixed with rice flour and water to create white, soft, firm, and sticky dough. Other crucial elements of every traditional turnip cake include fried sausage, diced Chinese bacon, mushrooms, and occasionally shrimps. They are usually fried and incorporated into the dough, or simply sprinkled over rectangular slices of this tender cake. 

The smooth, velvety zhi ma hu or black sesame soup is a variety of Chinese tong sui (lit. sugar water), a dessert soup commonly enjoyed for breakfast, after meals, or served for teatime accompanied by dim sum, the traditional Cantonese bite-sized tea snacks.

Particularly popular in southern China and Hong Kong, this dessert boasts numerous health benefits, thanks to the extremely nutrient black sesame seeds which are rich in vitamin B, magnesium, calcium, manganese, and iron. Zhi ma hu is known to improve digestion, kidney function, prevent gallstones, and reduce blood fat. 

Doushabao is a soft and sweet Chinese steamed bun filled with smooth red bean paste. Falling in the category of baozi, they were created in China but due to the popularity of traditional Chinese cuisine, they can be found in numerous countries around the world nowadays.

The flavorful combination of white steamed dough and the sweet red bean filling make doushabao an excellent everyday snack, a nutritious breakfast, or a filling dessert.

Youtiao is one of the most popular breakfast foods in China, consisting of Chinese breadsticks that are fried in pairs and connected in the middle. The result is a puffy snack that is crispy on the exterior and tender on the interior. Youtiao dates back to the Song Dynasty when the leader Qin Gui, under the influence of his wife, executed a general named Yue Fei, who was loved by the people.

As a sign of protest, a cook made a pair of breadsticks that were shaped to resemble human beings (the leader and his wife), and symbolically deep-fried them in hot oil. That is how youtiao got its nickname - you zha gui, literally translated to deep fried ghosts.