photos by Wang Huiming

If you're tired of wimpy Dongbei cooking or sick of other oily Chinese cuisines, Beijing's Uygurs have the answer. These Turkic immigrants from distant Xinjiang Province serve up simple fare, but if you're a lamb-lover and fancy something a bit spicy, it's just what the doctor ordered. A trip to Xinjiangcun in the west of the city is also a must if you want to catch at least a glimpse of the vast diversity of China whilst in the capital. This street of cheap Uygur restaurants has been cleaned up somewhat of late, but it still has a Central Asian ambiance quite distinct from the rest of the city. If you're feeling like an outsider in Beijing, you'll probably feel right at home in a Uygur restaurant, where the chances are the waiters speak as little Chinese as you do.

For the main meat event, order either kao yang rou -roast (actually, it's usually stir-fried) lamb coated in cumin and hot pepper -or a load of yang rou chuanr -barbecued lamb skewers that tend to be moister and tastier than the kao rou. Tell them to fang la if you want it spicy, or bu fang la if you can't take the heat.

A Xinjiang shala might cool you down, but the salad often comes with hot chilies mixed in with the tomato, onion and cucumber, so watch out. For carbohydrates, choose either long noodles (lamian) or the short version (chaopiar), both of which come in a tomato-based sauce including lamb, hot peppers and onions. Add some nan bread and wash it all down with lots of cold beer.

The upmarket Xinjiang option is Afanti, just off Chaoyangmennei Dajie. This is enormously popular with Beijing's expats and bookings are essential at weekends. Belly dancing and live Xinjiang music from the men with the snakeskin drum and long-necked guitar-like thing are on almost every night. It's also traditional for drunken diners to shake their thang on the tables once they've finished eating. Prices are relatively high, but the cooking is excellent.

To get away from the tourists, try the strip of Uygur joints on Huixin Dongjie just south of the University of Business and Economics (Jingmao Daxue) in the city's northeast. Expect strong competition for your custom from the army of greeters ("shouters" might be a better description) on the pavement, but fight your way through to the Xinjiang Alibaba Yakexi near the south end of the long row of restaurants. Long-time boss Eric the Uygur has gone home to Kashgar, but his brother is keeping up the high standards.

Xinjiangcun: Baiwanzhuang Xilu, Ganjiakou. A similar area can be found near the Central University for Nationalities (Minzu Daxue), just south of Weigongcun and west of Baishiqiao Lu.