Four Days in Guilin

When traveling China, you should never miss the food it offers. Chinese food in all its variety and complexity is unquestionably one of the finest pleasures a visitor can experience in China. We tried the famous local dishes for our lunch. Restaurants serving basically the same food are plentiful in this town. We randomly picked one relatively big restaurant with a big dining hall and some private dining rooms on the second floor. We requested Beer Fish, a famous local dish that is supposed to be on the table of all who visit Yangshuo. Fragrant and delicious, it was definitely worth a try. As is common in Chinese cuisine, the whole fish was deep fried and then cooked along with beer, green peppers and tomatoes.

After the meal, we went to the West Street, a street which was said to have a history of 1,400 years. Most visitors came to Yangshuo would go to West Street to experience its mixture of different culture and buy souvenirs. The street was narrow and packed with various shops. I was attracted by the T-shirts in a shop with Chinese characters “Wo Shi Lao Wai”, which means “I am a foreigner” on its back. After being explained the meaning of those characters I bought the shirt with great pleasure.

Day 4: Yangshuo

The next morning, I was awoken from a lovely sleep from a call of a cock. The town was very quite before business began. Most of the shops had not open yet. It was tranquil with only a few kids briskly walking by.

It was almost the end of our journey. Guilin is beautiful, but neighboring Yangshuo is even more beautiful and less crowded. We will miss the beauty and the works of nature for sure.