McDonald's has been a staple of American culture since its inception in 1940 by the eponymous McDonald brothers. Since the late Sixties, the McDonald's arches have been a symbol recognizable to nearly everyone in the States, and their current jingle "I'm lovin' it" is likely permanently burned into memories around the country.
However, McDonald's international operations tell a different story. The first McDonald's did not appear in China until 1990, and it didn't even debut in the Chinese capital Beijing. Instead, McDonald's opened their first Chinese branch in the smaller city of Shenzhen, expanding north as the chain grew more extensive within the country.
Though McDonald's China retains many American favorites on the menu, regional options are available that cater more to local culture. Read on to discover 12 exciting choices you can order at a Chinese McDonald's restaurant!
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More Awesome McDonald's Food You Can Only Get In China
A big reason why McDonald's enjoys worldwide popularity is that no two countries truly have the same menu. The fast food giant is renowned for adapting its burger-filled menu to suit the tastes and local culinary traditions of each region which means while Americans enjoy lobster rolls, shamrock shakes, and steak and egg burritos, the Chinese McDonald's menu offers spicy wings, taro pies, congee, and red bean boba teas. This list was updated to include more McDonald's food that is not available anywhere except in China
If you've ever stopped at an American McDonald's with a hankering for sweets, then you've no doubt had one of the standard apple pies, or more recently, a strawberry creme flavored treat.
McDonald's China has an array of desserts, but travel bloggers have singled out their pie offerings. The pineapple pie is stuffed full of gooey and fruity filling, and unlike its American counterpart, has a fried crust that makes the dessert both crispy and flaky!
The pineapple pies on the Chinese McDonald's menu are similar to the apple turnovers offered in America except they are fried instead of baked.
Even more unique, the taro pie is composed of a purple and white filling in the same golden-brown crust as the last pie. Unlike the pineapple pie that offers guests tiny chunks of fruit, the taro pie is more generous in its veggie ratio to filling.
Taro is a starchy vegetable used in some countries as a flavor for boba milk tea, and many report that the taste is similar to sweet potato with a slight note of vanilla. That may be why it works so well in desserts!
The taro pie was first introduced in China but since its success, McDonald's has launched it on limited edition menus in Thailand, Malaysia, and Hawaii.
This is a menu item that will please diehard fans of Rick and Morty! If you're looking for a McDonald's menu item that makes good use of Szechuan sauce, this delectable chicken sandwich will be your best bud.
Consisting of chicken patties, lettuce, and Szechuan sauce on two fluffy brioche buns, the Sichuan Double Chicken Burger is great. McDonald's China has definitely cooked up a worthwhile idea in this sandwich, that's for sure!
Congee, known in some regions of China by various names, is a dish composed of disintegrated rice that has been boiled with lots of water to create a porridge-style mixture. It can be eaten with several different add-ons, such as eggs, meat, or plant-based proteins like tofu.
The congee at McDonald's, typical of most congees, is available as a side dish. A customer can order congee of three different varieties, including chicken with salted egg yolk, preserved egg, and pickled cabbage with bamboo shoot. However, the congee side is only available in the morning, so the early bird gets the worm.
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Though the menu in a Chinese McDonald's is not ripe with sugary lattes and smoothies, it does contain other beverages more akin to Chinese culture. Boba milk tea can be served both cold and warm, and it seems that McDonald's prefers the latter in this case.
Though not overly sweet, the McDonald's boba is a sugary drink that balances milk and tea, along with cooked tapioca boba and red beans at the bottom of the cup. The portion is also relatively large, so it's possible to enjoy your boba for a good while after your order it!
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Chicken is king in China, and the McDonald's menu is no exception. Though the McWings may not have been popular here in America, they have been a menu standard for a while in China.
McWings are crispy, buffalo-style chicken wings, and they come in two, four, and six-piece offerings. McDonald's China has both nuggets and wings, along with a variety of other chicken products, including the chicken mentioned above "burgers."
If you're native to the U.S., you might think of Chick-Fil-A when you desire hot, salty waffle fries. Well, the McDonald's menu in China has got you covered on that front!
In addition to the chain's famous regular cut fries, McDonald's China offers small boxes of waffle fries, known as Crisscut fries, for around $1.89. While it's not usually the norm in terms of fries, right now, the online ordering system in China is offering a buy one get free deal on fries, so hungry customers can load up on potatoey goodness for cheap if they so wish!
In America, value meals are pretty standard, and they usually include a main entree, one side, and a drink. In McDonald's China, the combinations of items you can purchase at once from the McDonald's menu borders on the extreme! For starters, the chain offers a five-person combo for around $29 that looks to include five sandwiches, five drinks, a couple of sides, and of course, pies for dessert.
The names are honestly what makes these combos so outrageous. The Afternoon Tea McFlurry combo contains chicken nuggets, McWings, and two McFlurries. The Sweet Tooth combo comes with two pies, apple slices, and orange juice. And, to top them all, the Land Air Sea Warfare Combo has a burger, a fish sandwich, a chicken sandwich, and a serving of nuggets, McWings, and a chicken cutlet with three drinks!
The Japanese Beef Bowl is strangely available in China, and it is definitely one of the most unique offerings you'll find at a McDonald's there.
Containing a combination of savory beef pieces, mixed veggies, and noodles, the Japanese beef bowl option is also available as a combo that you can purchase with a serving of fries and a drink. Fries and a Japanese-style entree is definitely very...un-Japanese, but we suppose McDonald's can have a pass since its fries are so delicious.
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Oh boy. Can anything top this weird concoction of a sandwich?
The German Sausage Double Beef Burger is a monstrous sandwich featuring precisely what you would picture--two signature McDonald's beef patties under two large German-style sausages drenched in ringlets of mustard. If you're looking for veggies on this burger, they aren't here, unfortunately.
This item has been available on the menu as far back as 2013 and still appears to be a staple today, according to the McDonald's Chinese online ordering website, McDelivery. Reviews from American travelers abroad range from mixed to absolutely disgusted, so we advise you to try this burger at your own risk.
McDonald's introduced their own Iced Lemon Red Tea to the market to cater to their Chinese customers. The drink has a bit sweeter flavor, and McDonald's is serving it in a significant tall kind of cup. This is because Chinese consumers place great importance on the volume aspect of food and drinks when they're paying for them.
Spam in a burger...with Oreos? There are so many things that may seem wrong about a slice of dry Spam sandwiched between two bread buns with Oreo cookies in between but the odd McDonald's creation turned out to be quite the hit in China. The Spam and Oreo burger was a collision of contradictory flavors and textures with tender and juicy meat that left a sweet and crunchy aftertaste.
China McDonald's launched the Spam and Oreo burger on December 21, 2020, for a limited period of time and per fast food officials, several Chinese McDonald's branches were sold out of these burgers by noon on the very same day.
In the U.S., it is usually Burger King's Whopper that reigns the black-dyed burger domain, particularly around the time of Halloween. As it turns out though, McDonald's too has black-colored burgers but they're reserved only for its Asian outlets. McDonald's released a spicy Korean burger dyed with charcoal which was a top seller in Malaysia and South Korea but it is the black and white burger duo on the Chinese McDonald's menu that is even more unique. The black burger features a beef patty, chopped onions, and a black pepper sauce between two white sesame seed-topped black burger buns. The white burger, on the other hand, comes with a chicken patty, a sweet and spicy sauce, and two black sesame seed-topped white burger buns.
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Anyone who has ever visited China will know that cola chicken is a hugely popular dish in the country. Sticking to their motto of adapting their menu to local delicacies, McDonald's China collaborated with Coca-Cola to expand their fizzy drink beyond the beverage menu and into their iconic chicken wing offerings. The cola chicken featured chicken soaked in a soy sauce and Coca-Cola marinade which was then deep fried into sweet and spicy McDonald's-style wings.
According to a popular legend, cola chicken originated in the city of Jinan when a cook accidentally dropped a can of Coca-Cola in a pot of simmering chicken, only to realize that he had chanced upon a brilliant new dish.