Ludagun, pastry made of steamed glutinous flour mixed with sugar

Previous efforts to list many of the individual snacks as cultural heritage items have failed.

"We used to have so many varieties of refreshments, fried, boiled or baked, but many of them only remain in the memory of the old generations," he said.

"In addition to the dishes long lost, many snacks eaten today are not authentic," he said.

Yao Sheng, 66, has lived in Beijing's Dongcheng district all his life.

He said that much of the douzhi, or mung bean milk, sold today is no longer the same that he used to drink years ago.

"The douzhi that I'm used to is made of green beans, but some of it sold nowadays uses yellow beans as its main ingredient, which makes it totally different," he said.

"It's hard to imagine a jiaoquan (crispy fried dough ring), or aiwowo becoming a national cultural heritage," he added.

Wang from the Beijing Folklore Committee said that he is also working on a project to bring back the lost Beijing snacks and rebuild the city's culinary culture.

"We're trying to bring back the lost recipes for some dishes, while restoring the less authentic snacks to what they should be," he said.

"It's really a pity that the ancient culinary culture is being phased out by the city's development," Wang said with a sigh.