Cailinji

Cailinji opened in 1928 as a modest noodle stall in Hankou. Its hot-dry noodles slowly won a neighborhood following, and over nearly a century the brand has become a household name across the Wuhan region.

Cailinji is practically synonymous with Wuhan hot-dry noodles, ranked alongside Laotongcheng's bean-curd rolls and Sijimei's soup dumplings among the city's classic snacks, and woven into generations of local breakfast memories.

Its hot-dry noodles depend on a precise sequence of par-cooking, blanching, air-drying and oiling, finished with a rich sesame paste; the technique is inscribed on Hubei's provincial intangible-heritage list.

In 2024 Cailinji was named to the third batch of the China Time-Honored Brand registry.