Calligraphy Brush Pastry (毛笔酥)

Half dish, half parlour trick: 毛笔酥 (máobǐsū) is a flaky pastry sculpted to look like a Chinese calligraphy brush, served as a "Four Treasures of the Study" plate with a dish of dark sour-plum sauce (酸梅酱) standing in for ink. You "write" by dipping the brush-tip, then bite it — crisp pastry, sweet-sour fruit. It is the signature piece of Xi'an's Tang-themed dining wave, created by pastry master Jing Yanping (a 2012 national gold medal) and popularised by the Chang'an Da Pai Dang chain.

Be honest about what it is: the appeal is partly the visual gag — a brush you can eat, perfect for the phone — and partly a genuinely decent sweet-sour pastry. Order it once, for the story and the photo, alongside a real Shaanxi centerpiece like gourd chicken. It is not the dish you'd cross town for on flavour alone.