The cluster of Korean barbecue restaurants along the main commercial street in Xinmin District constitutes one of the best concentrations of Korean-influenced food in Jilin Province. This is not the adapted Korean-Chinese cuisine of Han-run restaurants — these are restaurants run by and for the Korean-Chinese (Joseonjok) community, and the food reflects the actual cooking traditions of that community rather than a tourist version of it.
Grilled meat over charcoal, cold buckwheat noodles (naengmyeon), fermented vegetable preparations, the thick rice wine known as makgeolli — the staples are here in their proper forms. The restaurants are unpretentious, busy, and cheap. An evening dinner here is one of the more culturally specific eating experiences available in Changchun.