ome traditional Chinese snacks are long standing recipes and famous both at home and abroad. The following five are some renowned snacks, which you may be interested in.

Steamed Bread (Mantou)

A story goes that during the period of the Three Kingdoms (220-280), the Shu Kingdom was often attacked by the enemy from south, who were commanded by Menghuo, head of Nanman people. So Zhu Geliang, prime minister of the Shu Kindom, dispatched his troops to fight against the enemy. There were few people around the tribe of Menghuo, which was located by the Lushui River and was filled with malaria. In addition, the river's water was poisonous. A soldier suggested killing some captive Nanman people and bringing their heads to sacrifice to the god of the river. Instead of accepting the suggestion, Zhu Geliang thought of an idea to boost the morale. Using flour, they made a kind of bread called Mantou, which looked like men's heads and represented the heads of Nanman people, to sacrifice to the god of the river. This kind of bread was passed on and quickly became popular in the north of China. But its name Mantou scared people so much that they took another character, which is pronounced Man too. As time went on, it became the staple food in the north of China.

Rock Candy

There is another story which goes like this: During the reign of Emperor Kangxi in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), there was a girl named Fusang who was a maid of Zhang Yaxian, a businessman producing and selling candy in Sichuan Province. Once, she was preparing to drink a bowl of syrup when Zhang Yaxian came in. Upon seeing him, she quickly poured it in a can filled with lard and hid the can in the firewood. She also covered it with some bran so it would not be discovered by the host. Several days later, when Fusang took the can out, she was surprised to find  many blocks of candy like crystals in the can. She broke one of them and put it in her mouth. It was hard, crisp and sweet and was tastier than white sugar. The thing became renowned soon and many people duplicated it in the way that Fusang had done. It was called "rock candy" because of its shape and honey flavor.

Queen Mother Pastry

According to historical records, grandmother of Emperor Wendi of the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-24 AD) built a manor in Huaide County (in today's Shaanxi Province) and lived there. Emperor Wendi's mother often went to see her and the chef who followed her taught the local people how to cook a kind of cake which could only be found in the royal court. Thus the local people called this "Queen Mother Pastry." It has been passed on from generation to generation for more than 2,000 years and remained popular among ordinary people.

 Layer Crispy Pancake

It is said that layer crispy pancake is closely tied to Xuanzang, a famous Buddhist in the Tang Dynasty (618-907). Emperor Gaozong admired Buddhism very much and when Xuanzang translated as many as 1,000 volumes of sutra, the emperor bestowed crispy pancake with many layers cooked by the chefs in the royal court to him to honor his achievements. When Xuanzang died of an illness, on the day of his funeral, over one million people from Chang'an, the then capital city of China, took all kinds of food symbolizing 1,000 volumes of sutra with them to his funeral. Afterwards, the chefs in the royal court improved the technique and layer crispy pancake has remained very popular among people ever since.

 Persimmon and Flour Cake

A legend has it that Li Zicheng led his troops to march to Beijing after becoming the emperor in Northwest China's Chang'an in 1644. Because of the shortage of corn, the local people in Lintong County gave the soldiers some cakes which were cooked with persimmon and flour and let them eat it on the way. The soldiers liked it very much because it helped them with digestion in the long march. Soon the troops captured Beijing with the help of the local people. From then on, every family in Lintong cooks persimmon and flour cake when persimmons are ripe every year in memory of Li Zicheng and his troops.