Snacks are a popular food style originating from ordinary people, Beijing snacks combines varied flavors from different nationalities mainly the Han, Hui, Meng, Man and court snacks from the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). Walking along the Bell Drum street, widen your eyes with the traditional Beijing snacks.

Some people regard snacks of Beijing as "living fossils." There are some tipical Beijing snacks: Douzhi (mung bean milk), Jiaoquan (crisply fried ring of dough), Aiwowo (steamed cone-shaped cake made of glutinous rice or millet with sweet filling), Chatang (paste or custard made of millet or sorghum flour), Ludagun (pastry made of steamed glutinous millet flour or soy bean flour mixed with sugar), Quick-Fried Tripe (Bao Du), Boiled Sheep's Head (Bai Shui Yang Tou), Flour-Pastry desserts, like Pancakes with Meat-Fillings (Rou Mo Shao Bing), sweet baked cakes, pea flour cakes, walnut cakes, small corn buns, eight-treasure rice, fried cakes made of glutinous rice flour, Spring rolls, small steamed dumpling, Chinese hot dog, crystal steamed dumpling, cabbage roll, fried bean curds pocket, stick dumpling, steamed hedgehog bun, cock cake, steamed apple bun etc.

There are some famous snack restaurants around Bell Drum area, Huatian snack restaurant, Huntunhou, Jiumen, Yaoji, Wenyu cheese, and also a store which sell some chestnuts, where always dozens of couples of people waiting in a long queue to buy the sweet chestnuts.