Much of what you find in convenience stores is simply junk food — but when you’re in a hurry and need a cheap, fulfilling snack, look no further than the onigiri (Japanese rice balls) that are available in the refrigerated cases at most 7-Eleven stores. Each feature Japanese-style sticky rice wrapped around mostly savory fillings and encased in a layer of seaweed, which makes it easy finger food.

Here’s five varieties to try:

# 5: Kimchi & Roast Beef (辣白菜饭团-烤牛肉)

Costing only RMB 4.20, this onigiri has a veggie-and-meat filling. It’s slightly spicy and does not include that strange mayonnaise-like dressing that often comes in onigiri.

# 4: Kabayaki Eel & Crispy Seaweed (蒲烧鳗鱼-脆香海苔)

For RMB 5.40, this onigiri’s filling tastes like ordinary fish rather than eel. The rice and crispy seaweed does a good job supporting the taste, so if you enjoy any generic fish, this is a good choice for you.

# 3: Salad Dressing & Salmon (沙拉酱饭团-三文鱼)

For RMB 4.60, this onigiri tasted a little bit more like crab to me than salmon. The creamy salad dressing gave it a slightly slimy texture, but the combination was nevertheless enjoyable. If you’re somewhat adventurous with trying new foods, this is the one to try. There’s a little bit of wasabi packed in there, so if that’s not your thing, watch out!

# 2: Grilled Wagyu Beef & Crispy Seaweed (香烤和牛-脆香海苔)

Costing RMB 4.80, you can always rely on this trusty onigiri to not pull any pranks on your taste buds. It is a very standard onigiri — though you might want to watch out that the beef has a distinctly sweet flavor.

# 1: Salad Dressing & Tuna (沙拉酱饭团-金枪鱼)

Number one of this list costs RMB 4.20, making it one of the cheapest — but it’s also delicious and my top pick of the 7-Eleven selection. It has a super prominent tuna flavor padded with a good mix of rice. Although it does contain the somewhat suspect creamy salad dressing, the combo should not be underestimated — if you’re only going to try one onigiri, make it this one.

Images: Lumi A

Hot times are ahead of Beijing this time of year, and with the heat comes a wave of fun frozen refreshments to look forward to.

When looking for these frozen treats, you will likely go to a simple convenience store. Luckily, there is plenty of those stores around, one of the more well-known being 7-Eleven! Thus, this article will be reviewing the top 5 ice creams from your local 7-Eleven which you should get and enjoy with your family and friends!

#5 – 葡萄冰 (Grape Ice)

Counting down from #5, we have “Grape Ice”. With an amusing slight mistranslation, ice grapes are not exactly what you think they are. Barely making number five, just beating an anonymous ice cream, ice grapes are grape juice but frozen in spheres. A bag has about eight of these frozen grape juice spheres, making it good for sharing with your friends. The only downside is that consumption is hard as eating it all at once will be uncomfortable due to the cold, and holding the frozen grape juice will make your fingers cold and sticky! It’s not recommended to be added as ice cubes in actual grape juice, as it turns out that all the juice of the Grape Ice will just concentrate at the bottom. It costs ￥12.90 per bag!

#4 – 梦龙 (Magnum)

Magnum, the classic nut flavor ice cream has perfected the art of soft creamy texture and a crunchy chocolate which accents the ice cream. With the additional nuts, it provides extra crunch and taste. It is usually a decent pick, if not anything else. It costs ￥10.00 per magnum!

#3 – Dove 冰淇淋 (Dove Ice cream)

Dove, better known for their chocolate bars, has certainly used its chocolate production to its advantage in the creation of this ice cream. The main part being creamy chocolate that’s coated in another layer of additional chocolate. It gets soft fast, but it makes the texture of the ice cream more enjoyable. It costs ￥14.90 per Dove ice cream!

#2 – 宝可梦精灵球款雪糕 – 草莓牛乳巧克力口味
(Pokemon ball ice cream – Strawberry, Vanilla, Chocolate flavored)

The Pokemon ball ice cream made by the company named 和路雪 (Helulei) is surprisingly good, with no disturbance in the design and a good mix of flavors. Although the strawberry flavor dominates over the vanilla and chocolate flavor, it is very enjoyable and tasty, and will certainly be a favorite among children considering their standards. It costs ￥17.80 per Pokemon Ball ice cream!

#1 – 鲷鱼烧冰淇淋 (Taiyaki ice cream)

Taiyaki ice cream is based on the actual taiyaki which is a Japanese-style waffle made with a fish-shaped mold, typically filled with a sweet bean paste. Taiyaki ice cream made by Appolo (阿波罗) has taken inspiration and made it better when converting it into ice cream. It is delicious, tasty, filled with smooth blended Oreo ice cream layered with chocolate and Oreo (cooked) dough and the waffle on top. If you enjoy ice cream sandwiches, and hate getting messy from melted ice cream, this is the number one pick for you, as it tastes great and it is difficult to get messy when the melted ice cream is contained within the waffle mold of the fish. It costs ￥10.00 per Taiyaki ice cream!

Images: Lumi A

Manasvi S is an aspiring future model who wants to explore the world of fashion and share the beauty with the community around her. She believes that working at Jingkids as an intern will allow her to get opportunities to interview models to not only share insight on fashion trends but also gain more knowledge about the future industry she hopes to be in. If she gets rejected for her interview with a model, she sees it as beneficial because she believes that by choosing to become a model, it means that being rejected is a part of the career. During her internship with JingKids, she hopes to explore the subjects of fashion in Beijing, especially street fashion.

Manasvi’s hobbies include bungee jumping, going on rollercoasters and being adventurous in general, making her an outgoing person who is enjoyable to be around with. Although by now Manasvi had lived in Beijing for a year, her first experience in China that was shocking to her was when she was pleasantly surprised by the locals who were very nice upon being asked for help when she was lost in the city. She enjoys sleeping when she has the time, truly, a beauty sleep.

Images: Manasvi S