Everyone has been horrified by the increasing number of food scandals and we all know that eating food from unregulated street vendors is fraught with dangers, yet we keep doing it. The risks have done little to diminish the allure of a spiced food is more than just a way to fill one’s stomach in China; it is an integral part of the food culture. Amidst towering skyscrapers and roaring traffic, a bite into a steaming hot fritter from a street stall is a sure way to be transported back into an era where bus conductors dispensed change and allowed boarding and alighting almost anywhere. And so street food vendors continue despite Chengguan, food scandals and ever tighter restrictions getting in their way.