Hu Xingtang

Hu Xingtang is an old baked-cake house on Tunxi Old Street, earning its place over decades with crisp crab-shell-yellow cakes and standing among the emblematic names of Huizhou teatime snacks and gifts.

On Tunxi Old Street, Hu Xingtang's Huangshan cakes are known for their crab-shell shape, shatter-crisp layers and rich dried-vegetable-and-pork filling, a must-try Huizhou taste for every passer-by.

The cakes are made by layering dough with pastry shortening, filling them with Huizhou dried vegetables and diced pork, sprinkling white sesame and baking them against the wall of a charcoal oven, the fire controlled entirely by the baker's instinct, until they emerge golden, flaky and finely layered.