Sun Quan's Fried Gluten Puffs: The Snack Worth a Half-Day Trip from Hangzhou
Last updated: Jul 19, 2026
On July 19, 2026, China Daily profiled a century-old snack from the Hangzhou countryside: Sun Quan's fried gluten puffs (孙权家油面筋). The snack alone wouldn't justify the trip — but it comes from Longmen Ancient Town, a remarkably unpreserved-by-tourists Ming-Qing village where 90% of residents are descended from the Three Kingdoms warlord Sun Quan. Snack plus village makes this one of the easiest, cheapest half-day escapes from Hangzhou.
The Snack Itself
The puffs start as wheat dough that is washed in water until only the springy gluten remains — that's the chewy, golden skin. The filling is fresh pork mixed with bamboo shoots, hand-rolled into balls and deep-fried slowly until crisp outside and bursting with savory juice inside. Stalls around the Sun family ancestral hall and along the old lanes fry them to order; expect to pay CNY 3–10 depending on the stall and portion. Eat them hot, straight from the fryer — this is not a snack that travels well. Some old workshops still pound the gluten by hand and let you watch.
The Town Behind the Snack
Longmen Ancient Town (龙门古镇) is not a reconstructed tourist street — it's a living village of Ming and Qing dynasty halls, over 40 of them, threaded by 78 cobblestone alleys that form a natural maze. Things worth your time between bites:
- Inkstone Pool (砚池) — the village center; white walls and horse-head gables reflected in still water, best in early morning mist or at dusk.
- Yimen Archway (义门牌坊) — a filming location for Chinese period dramas, commemorating the Sun clan's charitable tradition.
- Sun Family Ancestral Hall — wood and stone carvings telling the Three Kingdoms Sun family story.
- Longmen Creek — runs through the village; in summer locals wade and wash vegetables here. Kids splash, you can too.
Wandering the lanes, the old bridge and the creek is free. The interior of the historic halls requires a combo ticket that travelers report at roughly CNY 30–55 depending on where you buy (online vs. at the gate) — check current prices on arrival or on Trip.com. If you get lost in the maze alleys, the local rule of thumb: follow the water to leave the village, go against the water to head deeper in.
What Else to Eat
- Fermented rice buns (酒酿馒头) — soft, faintly sweet with rice-wine aroma, CNY 1–2 each; locals stuff a gluten puff inside one for the full carb-on-carb experience.
- Longmen rice wine — sweet and low-alcohol, sold by the cup or bottle.
- Wheat cakes (麦饼) — pickled-vegetable-filled flatbread, the local breakfast staple.
- Farmhouse meals — old-house courtyards serve bamboo-shoot and creek-fish dishes at roughly CNY 60 per person.
Getting There from Hangzhou
1. Metro Line 6 to Guihua West Road (桂花西路)
The end of the line in Fuyang District, about 45–60 minutes from central Hangzhou.
2. Bus or taxi for the last stretch
Bus 2358 runs from near the station toward the town (about 1.5 hours total journey); a taxi or Didi from the metro or from Fuyang railway station takes ~20–30 minutes and costs around CNY 30.
3. Or taxi the whole way
From downtown Hangzhou about an hour, roughly CNY 150 — reasonable split between two or three people.
Use 
Practical Tips
- Half a day is enough. Arrive 8:00–9:00 or after 15:00, snack your way through the lanes, and you're back in Hangzhou for dinner.
- Wear non-slip shoes. Everything is cobblestone, slick after rain.
- Weekdays are dramatically quieter than weekends and holidays.
- Summer: bring mosquito repellent for the creekside, and water — the shaded lanes help, but July in Fuyang is hot.
- Don't confuse it with the Longmen Grottoes (the famous Buddhist caves are in Luoyang, hundreds of kilometers away). This is 龙门古镇 in Fuyang, Hangzhou.