Learn Chinese in the Most Beautiful Town in China

Food

Although Yangshuo is just a small county, its traditional dishes and snacks are well-known world wide because of their dainty appearance and uniqueness. Here, we just recommend to you some of the most famous ones.

Beer Fish (Pijiu Yu)
This dish is probably the most symbolic dish of Yangshuo. Live carp from the Li River is fried with its scales and is then stewed after several seasonings such as local beer, chili, agarics and tomatoes are added. The dish not only looks attractive, but also tastes fresh and tender with a hint of spiciness, yet remains a little sweet

 

TNiang Dishes
Niang is a traditional yet unique cooking method of combining various ingredients for stuffing (usually consisting of meat or egg) into a type of carrier (made of vegetables or bean products), then braising, boiling or frying them together. There are 32 varieties of Niang dishes, among which the most delicious is the Tianluo Niang. Select some river snails, cut the tails and take out the meat. Then put the meat into the shells together with other seasonings such as ginger, mint and pork. Finally stir-fry them together. This dish smells savory and tastes smooth, refreshing and satisfying

Lipu Kourou
This dish is made using the taros from Lipu (a small county of Guangxi Province, streaky pork and other spices. Fry the taros and streaky pork in the oil separately and place them alternately in a bowl, then braise them together. After both the taros and pork are cooked, reverse the bowls and leave them lying on a plate. In Chinese, Kou just means 'reverse', hence the name of the dish. The dish always has a golden color and tastes fluffy and tender but not greasy.

Special Local Snacks
Guilin Rice Noodles
The round or flat rice noodles are always eaten with various kinds of soup. They are white, tender, smooth and pliant. You can have a taste of the most traditional ones in Shouzi Rice Noodles Cafe in West Street.
Yangshuo Baba
Glutinous rice is widely used to make many snacks in Yangshuo. Baba is the most special one that can be made by steaming, boiling or frying other ingredients together such as sesame, broomcorn, chestnut and brown sugar. Water Steamed Leaves Baba, Fried Yinzi Baba and Sugar Soup Boiled Tangyuan Baba are really worth tasting.
Fenli
This snack is only available around the Spring Festival (one of the national festivals of China). Rice is ground into thick liquid and made in the form of short cylinders that are then steamed and dried in the sun. The cylinders are finally cut into strips and fried with preserved hams, cauliflowers and some garlic.
Songgao (Glutinous Rice Cake)
Traditionally, Songgao is given as a kind of present to mark happy events. It is mixed with glutinous rice powder and brown sugar syrup. All these substances need to be steamed together for about two hours. Being sweet, fluffy and refreshing, it is very popular among both the local people and the tourists.
Liangfen
This is a kind of transparent crystal made of rice. When you eat it, you should firstly place it in pieces in a bowl and then pour some brown sugar syrup and vinegar on it. It tastes quite cool and refreshing.

The West Street is a good place for you to enjoy these typical snacks. There are also many other delicious snacks like sesame paste, lotus seed soup and fried water snails along the street. You can also go to Yangshuo Square in Pantao Road, where many local snacks and other Chinese cuisine are sold at side stalls and restaurants.