Taiyuan is the best place to eat Shanxi cuisine. The noodle tradition here is the most developed in the province — dozens of noodle forms, shapes, and textures that exist nowhere else — and the city has enough restaurants and street food to sample the full range without effort. The focus should be on noodles, vinegar-based dishes, and the lamb that is standard throughout northern Shanxi. Pricier restaurants in the commercial districts serve northern Chinese cuisine more broadly; the cheapest and often best food is in the noodle shops near the train station and around the older residential neighbourhoods.