Hotpot restaurant Wang Gang Bo boasts an authentic Chongqing-style hotpot restaurant flavor. [Photo by Wang Zhuangfei/China Daily]

There are also many ways to make the dipping sauces. "In the Chongqing-style recipe you mix sesame oil and mashed garlic, while the Beijing-style sauce uses salty sesame paste, fermented bean curd and leek flowers."

It is said that Chongqing hotpot was invented in the ports along the river by sailors and porters who sought a simple and cheap way to cook. This may explain why the typical raw ingredients to cook Chongqing hotpot are animal organs such as duck intestines, beef tripe and pork arteries－as they were leftovers from the markets near the ports.

For first-timers, the ingredients may be a bit difficult to stomach. But there is no shortage of choices－lamb, beef, seafood, potato, bamboo shoots, lettuce－for today's diners.

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If you go

11 am-2 am, daily. 15 Xiaoyun Road, Chaoyang, Beijing. 010-5625-1178.