The structure of Guijie Street is like a dumbbell - bigger both ends and smaller in the middle. Restaurants at the ends are flourishing businesses, but the center area is rather dull. The reasons for this may be that it's inconvenient to transport goods to the middle of the street, and there are not so many stores in the middle.

 Ten reasons for loving it

What Guijie presents is beyond the normal dining experience. It has become the microcosm of the nightlife and food culture in the capital of Beijing. Beijingers are obsessed with Guijie for ten reasons:

The charm of the character gui. Three or five years ago, the character gui wasn't understood by many educated people because it was rarely used in daily life. However, nowadays many people not only known how to read it but also know what it means. The pronunciation of gui in Chinese is the same as the word for ghost, adding a touch of suspense and mystery to the street's atmosphere.

The temptation of "spicy little thing". Guijie's speciality dish 'spicy little thing' is what first comes to many people's mind when they think of Ghost Street. "Spicy little things", short for "spicy peppery little lobster", is a dish of lobsters fried with a lot peppers and chilies. The lobster is called "bug-thorn cricket" or "pincers shrimp", is not liked much by southerners, but greatly enjoyed by Beijingers.

Many dishes deeply loved by local people originated in Guijie Street. Besides "spicy little things", spicy crabs, scorpions and stewed red mutton are all specialties first invented and popularized in Guijie Street.

Nice waiters. Besides "spicy little things", the name Guijie Street conjures up images of great service by well trained handsome waiters and waitresses in floral clothes. Stepping out of your car, you will immediately be warmly welcomed and led to a restaurant by several boys, and as soon as you enter several sweet-voiced girls will ask what they can do for you.

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