Biang biang noodles

Biáng biáng'' noodles are a type of noodle popular in China's Shaanxi province. The noodle is called ''biáng biáng miàn'' in . The noodles, touted as one of the "ten strange wonders of Shaanxi" , are described as being like a belt, due to their thickness and length. The "Noodle King" chain in Beijing serves ''biáng biáng'' noodles.

About the noodle

The Chinese character ''biáng''

Phonetic substitution

Made up of 57 strokes, the Chinese character "biáng" is one of the most s in contemporary usage, although the character is not found in modern dictionaries or even in the Kangxi dictionary. Because the Chinese character for "biáng" cannot be entered into computers, phonetic substitutes like 棒棒麵 ''bàng bàng miàn'' or 梆梆麵 ''bāng bāng miàn'' are often used.

Mnemonics for how the character is written

There are a number of ditties familiar to Shaanxi residents used as mnemonics to aid recall of how the character is written.

One version runs as follows:

:

In simplified characters:
:一点上了天，黄河两道弯，八字大张口，言字往进走，你一扭我一扭，你一长我一长，当中加个马大王，心字底月字旁，留个钓搭挂麻糖，坐着车车逛咸阳。

Pinyin pronunciation:
:Yìdiǎn shàng le tiān，Huáng Hé liǎng dào wān，"bā" zì dà zhāngkǒu，"yán" zì wǎng jìn zǒu，nǐ yī niǔ wǒ yī niǔ，nǐ yī zhǎng wǒ yī zhǎng，dāngzhōng jiā ge mǎ dàwáng，"xīn" zì dǐ "yuè" zìpáng，liú ge diào dā guà mátáng，zuò zhe chē chē guàng Xiányáng.

Origin of the character

The origins of the biang biang noodles and the character ''biáng'' are unclear. In one version of the story, the character ''biáng'' was invented by the Qin Dynasty Premier Li Si. However, since the character is not found in the Kangxi Dictionary, it may have been created much later than the time of Li Si.

In the 2007 season of the TVB show ''The Web'' , the show's producers tried to find the origin of the character by contacting university professors, but they could not verify the Li Si story or the origin of the character. It was concluded that the character was invented by the noodle store.