[Video provided to goshanxi.com.cn]

Incredible sites one after another, flat roads, and great food along the way? World cyclist from America explores the dream cycling + food tour in Shanxi province during the Spring Festival holiday.

See if you can recognize the traditional cuisine he found along the way.

Daoxiaomian

Shanxi daoxiaomian, or knife-cut noodles, is one of the most beloved street foods in China. First made during the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368), it's a testament to the region's rich culinary heritage and its generations of skilled noodle masters.

In 2008, the technique behind the dish was added to the national list of intangible cultural heritage.

Youmian

Youmian is made with oats and is a specialty of Xiyan town in Yuxian county. It not only keeps you full and warm longer, but is believed to aid the liver, kidneys, immune system, brain, eyes, and even one's beauty.

Kaolaolao

Kaolaolao, one of the top flour-based dishes in Shanxi's capital of Taiyuan, is a home-cooked delicacy in the north-central part of the province.  

It is made out of oat flour and gets its name from its round basket shape. The "kaolao" is the term for a bucket used by farmers to fetch water. 

The oat flour is molded into thin tubes, several inches long and light yellow, which are then placed side by side in a steamer. It's often dipped in mutton or mushroom soup, or in sour-spicy sauce.

It is now proving to be very popular in restaurants, as a grain-based snack in the region.

Chaocuocai

Chaocuocai is a local snack in Shanxi province. Its preparation method is similar to fried noodles with shredded meat and vegetables. It tastes oily but not greasy, and has a unique flavor. 

Guoyourou

Shanxi guoyourou, or fried boiled pork, one of the most famous offerings in traditional Shanxi cuisine, originated during the Southern and Northern dynasties (420-581) among the aristocrats in the southern Shanxi city of Linfen.

It then spread to Taiyuan, eventually becoming an icon of Shanxi during the Song Dynasty (960-1279).

The dish's inclusion of garlic stalks and black fungus, give it a salty yet sour taste.

All restaurants and hotels cooking Shanxi cuisine offer the typical Shanxi dish.

Minjian

Minjian is a must for foodies in Shanxi and is made from coarse grains in Yulin. It is popular in both Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces. The dough used for kneading is a mixture of peas and wheat. The kneaded dough is placed on a specially designed kneading bed with dense sieve holes, pressed down with the palm of the hand, and twisted into small bars about an inch long. 

The soup contains tofu, potatoes, and diced beans, accompanied by chives, sesame seeds, spicy sauce, and cilantro. The taste is light and delicious, with a hint of bean aroma.

Shaomai 

Shaomai is a traditional snack in Taiyuan. Originally, it was a dish at celebratory feasts of rich people in Shanxi's rural areas. Beijing later adopted it from Shanxi.

The technique of making shaomai is complex, and a special wood stick is required to craft its flower-shaped brim.

A good shaomai wrapper is as thin as paper, as round as a plate and looks like a flower when steamed. It's made by kneading the dough, rolling it in pieces, making the brim, mixing the fillings, and steaming it.

Wantuo

Wantuo is a traditional local snack in Pingyao county, with strong local characteristics. The dish was conceived by Dong Xuan, a famous chef from Pingyao county towards the end of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). In 1900, Empress Dowager Cixi (1835-1908) and her delegation fled trouble in Xi'an. While passing through Pingyao, they ate Dong Xuan's bowl of noodles, praised them endlessly, and gave him a big reward. Later, it gradually spread to the people and became a common flavor snack in food stalls.