Drinking from Morning? This Might Be the Boldest Breakfast in the Country

This term might sound a bit unfamiliar, but if you search for it on Bilibili or Douyin, you'll find countless videos with hundreds of thousands or even millions of views—this leisurely morning meal featuring a few drinks and a table of dishes has quietly captivated many young people, who even travel to Hubei, Sichuan, or Chongqing specifically to experience it firsthand.

Morning drinks? Isn’t that just alcohol in the morning? What’s the big deal? Well, you’re missing the point. At the morning drink table, the "alcohol" is the least important part. A cheap bottle of everyday liquor is perfect, or even a few cups of loose spirits will do. The real stars of the meal are the accompanying dishes!

Meat is a must. Start with a plate of braised beef to go with your drink, then fire up a small hot pot and pile on hearty portions of brisket, pork trotters, or fatty duck. Carbs are essential too—whether it’s mixed noodles, hand-pulled noodles, or a solid bowl of rice, all paired with stir-fried sides. These are all homely dishes, but served in generous, bold, and deeply satisfying portions.

Mouthwatering meat is always the star of morning drinks.

The breakfast is lavish yet homely, a common sight in many places. It’s no surprise it’s caught the attention of young people—who wouldn’t want to leisurely enjoy a hearty meal at a small eatery, especially when you’re usually rushing to squeeze onto the subway for work?

Today, let’s take a closer look at this most extravagant, unrestrained, and downright indulgent fiery feast.

Jianli, Hubei: A City in Love with Morning Drinks

The habit of "morning drinks" exists in many regions, especially along the Yangtze River—from Sichuan and Chongqing upstream to the bustling hub of Wuhan and even the refined streets of Shanghai. But the small city of Jianli in Jingzhou, Hubei, might just be the place that loves morning drinks the most.

How many morning drink stalls or eateries are there in Jianli? Even locals might struggle to answer. The wildest estimate is 4,000, while the most conservative guess is over 1,000. Either way, for a county-level city with just over a million people, that’s an impressive number.

Jianli’s early mornings are always steeped in the aroma of liquor and meat.

Some stalls specialize in beef-based morning drinks, serving small pots brimming with brisket, tripe, tendons, and bones—either pre-braised or marinated—simmered until tender. Paired with a shot of baijiu, it’s enough to chase away the morning chill.

Others excel in marinated dishes: duck, eggs, pork trotters, tofu skin, even fried fish soaked in brine, combining crispiness with rich flavor—perfect for sipping alongside drinks.

Some stalls focus on offal, serving fresh intestines and blood tofu, best enjoyed with noodles. After heavy, spicy meat dishes, a bowl of noodles settles the stomach and rounds off the meal.

At first glance, Jianli’s morning drink dishes seem ordinary—typical drinking snacks found across Hubei. But one standout is the "earthen hot pot," a star in countless videos.

Called a "hot pot," it’s more accurately a "fire bowl." A shallow dish holds burning alcohol, topped with a large ceramic bowl filled with cilantro, spices, sliced meat, meatballs, fried tofu, or even raw minced meat. As the alcohol burns, the ingredients cook slowly. Skilled diners scoop out the meat, shaping it into crescent-shaped balls. Some stalls now use small iron pots instead, but the simplicity and satisfaction remain unchanged.

The earthen hot pot may be small, but it’s incredibly satisfying!

This style might be the perfect fit for morning drink stalls: rustic yet affordable, fitting a breakfast budget; compact, so you don’t overeat first thing; and slow-cooked, matching the leisurely pace of chatting over drinks.

Countless food bloggers flock to Jianli, and few leave disappointed. The city truly lives up to its reputation, surrounded by morning drink stalls—search "morning drinks" on a map, and you’ll find a slew of aptly named spots. From dawn till dusk, the lively stalls mark the start of a busy day.

In Jianli, morning drinks are everywhere.

Why do Jianli locals love morning drinks so much? The answer might lie in the geography.

If viewed from high above, Jianli appears to lie precisely at a critical "bend" of the Yangtze River: the waters flowing from the northwest turn northeast here, connecting Yichang upstream and Wuhan downstream, while facing the vast Dongting Lake across the river. Yueyang by Dongting Lake is the only place in Hunan adjacent to the Yangtze. This convergence of east-west and north-south routes has made Jianli a small city thriving on water, much as many say—the dockworkers toiling day and night become regulars at the morning liquor stalls.

Jianli sits right at the "bend" where the Yangtze meets Dongting Lake.

Located in the southern Jianghan Plain and bordering the Dongting Lake Plain, Jianli is a true land of fish and rice, abundant in local specialties like Jianli rice, Jingjiang duck, Jianli river crab, and Jianli eel. In other words, with fertile plains and scattered lakes, finding premium ingredients to pair with liquor is effortless for the people of Jianli.

Along the Yangtze, wherever there are docks, workers rise early and toil late, relying on a hearty morning drink for energy. After glimpsing Jianli’s morning liquor culture, follow the mighty river to savor the aromas of food and drink along its banks.

Wuhan | A Morning Liquor Scene "Scalded" to Life

Wuhan locals call breakfast "guozao," and there’s even a saying that mixing hot dry noodles while riding a bike is an innate skill for them—as if the fiery-tempered Wuhanites are always in a hurry to eat. Yet in this city straddling the Yangtze, leisurely morning drinks are also common. Dishes like shredded pork noodles, eel noodles, beef hotpot, and braised duck hotpot mirror Jianli’s morning liquor fare, or simpler options like hot dry noodles and doupi (bean skin) can also accompany drinks. For those unaccustomed to strong liquor in the morning, a local "egg wine" offers a refreshing alternative: eggs stirred into sweet fermented rice wine, both invigorating and warming.

Egg wine might be the most refreshing morning drink.

Wuhan loves rice noodles, and "shengtang" (scalded) noodles are a staple with morning liquor. "Shengtang" involves thinly sliced meat briefly scalded in boiling broth—skillful vendors flip the slices just enough to cook them without toughening. Freshly scalded meat is piled atop steaming noodles, garnished with scallions, chili oil, pepper, and fragrant cilantro, making beef shengtang noodles a top choice at morning stalls.

How extravagant can Wuhan’s morning liquor noodles get?

Sichuan-Chongqing | Douhua Rice for the Perfect Drink Pairing

Upstream along the Yangtze in Sichuan and Chongqing, morning liquor thrives alongside bustling docks. Take Chongqing: its mountainous terrain means goods often require manual hauling to the riverbanks, making the city a hub of land-water transport. Workers exhausted from early-morning deliveries naturally turn to liquor for relief and a bowl of douhua (tofu pudding) rice for sustenance.

Locals are no strangers to douhua rice—a bowl of tender tofu pudding over soybean sprouts, paired with a dipping sauce of fermented bean paste, chili oil, and lard. It’s a drink companion, a rice accompaniment, and a fast food cherished by older generations, especially porters, caravan workers, and boat trackers.

Steamed "grid" dishes also play a key role in morning liquor culture.

Shanghai | Mutton and Aged Wine

Even in Shanghai, often stereotyped as having "the lowest alcohol tolerance nationwide," morning liquor exists. Jiangnan’s damp winters and sweltering summers make a morning drink a choice for warmth or preemptive relief—night-shift workers often sip at dawn. In the novel "Blossoms," laborer Xiao Mao soothes his weary stomach with huangjiu (yellow wine) after grueling work.

Rich mutton paired with liquor is irresistibly tempting!

Old-school Shanghainese favor mutton: northern districts like Jiading, Baoshan, and Chongming prefer braised styles, while southern areas like Songjiang, Fengxian, and Jinshan opt for boiled or sliced versions. Morning liquor, a plate of mutton, and a few friends form a hidden leisure ritual in this global metropolis. Even as young workers age into "uncles," the habit of "drinking aged wine and eating mutton" endures.

The Yangtze, a "golden waterway," links dock towns upstream and downstream, fostering communities laboring through the night or at dawn. A cup of liquor for fatigue and local dishes for hunger become inevitable choices.

Take Wuhan’s famed Han Zheng Street, once a nationally renowned small-goods hub. At daybreak, porters rush to move goods before crowds arrive. As shops open and bustling days begin, the porters unwind at roadside stalls—ordering beef hotpot and a shot of liquor. Dockyards along the river and the "Henan sheds" near the Beijing-Guangzhou railway are worker hubs where morning liquor culture flourishes.

Han Zheng Street, a nationally famous small-goods market, is also a cradle of morning liquor culture.

There is no fixed way, no fixed dishes, and even the drinks are chosen at will—locally brewed "grain liquor," medicinal wines soaked by diners themselves, or the popular huangjiu from the middle and lower reaches. The morning drinking habit flows with the Yangtze River, taking root wherever it goes.

Widespread across the north and south, morning drinking is more common than you think.

Some say the night-shift workforce is the foundation of morning drinking, meaning it would only emerge in cities. This makes sense but isn’t entirely accurate, as many morning drinking customs persist far from the port cities along the Yangtze. There, we might glimpse the earlier origins of the "morning drink" habit.

Red rice wine with congee, Shunde’s unique breakfast.

In Foshan, the culinary capital of Lingnan, the saying "red rice wine with congee" has long been popular. Red rice wine is a type of chi-flavor baijiu made from red and white rice. Though Cantonese aren’t known for heavy drinking, in Shunde—the "spiritual home" of Cantonese cuisine—red rice wine is a favorite among locals.

Compared to stronger baijiu, red rice wine has a lower alcohol content and rich chi aroma. Paired with Cantonese dim sum staples like steamed ribs, congee, and rice noodle rolls, locals can chat away the morning until noon.

Luxurious, piping hot, and delicious congee.

Heading north, Shandong is another hub of the online "morning drinking trend." Unlike the urban flavors along the Yangtze, Shandong’s morning drinking exudes rustic charm.

Zheng Banqiao’s "Weixian Bamboo Branch Lyrics" wrote: "The crowd disperses as the market closes, lanterns light the streets at dusk." For centuries, market days have been a Shandong tradition, and how could the drink-loving locals miss a morning toast at the fair?

Vendors display braised beef and lamb early in the morning, weighed and priced on the spot. Diners pick their cuts, the vendor swiftly chops and weighs them, then tosses in handfuls of scallions and cilantro. Some set up large pots for smoked tofu—three pieces for a yuan, three yuan buys a full plate. Paired with a dozen-yuan portion of meat, it’s enough for a morning of drinking. At Jiaodong fairs, seafood sometimes appears—diners pick a basin for the vendor to cook, served with bread soaked in broth, turning breakfast into a lunch-like feast. This might be the most down-to-earth seafood buffet.

At Shandong’s morning markets, many bring their families for drinks.

Northeasterners also drink in the morning, with simple sides like cold dishes and smoked meats. Older folks prefer strong baijiu, while some younger ones opt for beer—after all, Harbin is China’s beer capital. In rural Jiangxi, Anhui, and Jiangsu, winter-brewed wine was once a tradition, with homemade rice wine becoming farmers’ morning comfort during idle seasons.

For modern urbanites, morning drinking is certainly unusual.

In the past, it was a way for dockworkers and farmers to unwind. Now, as manual labor declines along the Yangtze and traditional farming fades, morning drinkers are mostly idle elders. With no rush to work or school and few entertainment options, they have endless time to spare. In articles and shows about morning drinking, the elderly dominate the scene. If earlier generations drank to relax and sleep, today’s elders do it for conversation, leisure, and the love of drinking itself.

For modern people, the trending morning drinking offers precious relaxation. Its culinary philosophy and lifestyle belong to the working class—unhurried, uncompetitive, affordable yet not crude.

Perhaps the young who envy morning drinkers, trapped in cities ruled by subway schedules and work tasks, will never truly join the morning stalls. But in this age of widespread anxiety, watching small-town morning drinking scenes through screens brings rare mental relief and the pure joy of food—already priceless.

In a fast-paced life, what’s happier than eating well?