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Traditional Beijing snacks are expected to be included on the city's intangible cultural heritage list as part of its bid to better protect and promote the disappearing ancient delicacies.

Snacks such as ludagun (Rolling Donkey), a sticky sweet dough stuffed with bean paste or brown sugar, and wandouhuang (Pea Flour Cake), made from a mixture of white peas and sugar, date back to Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and are already listed as intangible cultural heritage in several districts in Beijing, including Xicheng and Xuanwu.

The Beijing Traditional Brands Association and the Beijing Snack Food Development Association nominated the traditional snacks for the city list and the municipal commission of commerce is backing their inclusion.

"We hope the application for the city's intangible cultural heritage list will promote the overall brand value of traditional Beijing snacks and help pass on the craftsmanship," Li Weiwei,deputy director of the municipal commission of commerce, said at a conference on Wednesday. Research will be carried out, as part of the bidding campaign, to assess the current situation of the traditional Beijing snacks.

According to statistics by the Beijing Snack Food Development Association released last year, traditional Beijing snacks have declined sharply from 600 varieties at their peak to about 100 today, and the average age of authentic inheritors of their craft are over 70 years old.

That traditional Beijing snacks are disappearing is confirmed by many traditional snack store owners, including Zhang Zi'an, the fourth-generation owner of Baodu Zhang, a quickly boiled tripe store that dates back more than 120 years.

According to Zhang, all the snacks in his store are made by his 74-year-old mother. He said the craft is likely to die out as its financial prospects are diminishing.

Zhang said it takes time to make a ludagun, which are then sold for just 2 yuan (31 cents) apiece.

However, the most severe challenge to Beijing's culinary classics, according to Zhang, is the increasing number of non-traditional stores, which pose a threat to the reputation of traditional Beijing snacks.

"Some of the vendors or stores who claim they are time-honored Beijing snack maker just copy the ingredients and don't know the right way to make the snacks," Zhang said.

Questions:

1 What is happening to traditional Beijing snacks?

2 What are some snacks?

3 How old are they?

Answers:

1. They are expected to be included on the city's intangible cultural heritage list

2. Ludagun (Rolling Donkey), a sticky sweet dough stuffed with bean paste or brown sugar, and wandouhuang (Pea Flour Cake), made from a mixture of white peas and sugar

3. Some date back to the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644)

（中国日报网英语点津 Helen 编辑）

About the broadcaster:

Nelly Min is an editor at China Daily with more than 10 years of experience as a newspaper editor and photographer. She has worked at major newspapers in the U.S., including the Los Angeles Times and the Detroit Free Press. She is also fluent in Korean.