Xiamen Pastry Pie (Xian Bing)

The Xiamen pastry pie is a century-old Minnan specialty: layers of flaky pastry wrapped around mung-bean paste or sweet-savory meat fillings, crisp and crumbling on the bite, made in both sweet and salty styles.

Descended from traditional Minnan pastries, the pie long served as a festive teahouse treat and a gift for guests, and traveled overseas with the diaspora—now one of Xiamen's most emblematic souvenir sweets.

Mostly eaten as a teahouse snack or carried home as a gift, enjoyed at room temperature with light tea to cut the richness; mung bean is the classic sweet filling, with peppered pork among the savory styles.

Its appeal is in wafer-thin, flaky layers and a fine, silky filling—sweet without cloying, savory and well-balanced—a showcase of Xiamen's pastry craft.