what to eat

Beer Fish: If come to Yangshuo, you have to taste Beer Fish, which is the most famous local dish. The unique cooking method of beer fish uses carp, catfish or mandarin fish caught from the nearby Li River, with a weight of 2 or 3 kilograms or so. After being fried, the fish will be boiled in the local LiQ beer. The best places to eat beer fish are on West Street, where many restaurants offer this dish.

Guilin Rice Noodles: Guilin Rice Noodles are well-known in China, with a unique flavor and smooth taste. Guilin Rice Noodles can be divided into three kinds, noodles with stewed meats, noodles with soup, and noodles with horse meat. If you don’t like chilli, you should tell the chef in advance!

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.

what to buy

Paintings are an excellent thing to give away. You will find quite a few painting shops in West Street. Popular motives are an imaginary Guilinesque landscapes, 4 seasons, flowers, bamboo, warriors, calligraphy and other motives. Paintings usually come on the roll but you can buy the painting usually without a roll too.

Handicrafts in Yangshuo, yes there are plenty of shops selling handicrafts from all over China. You will find cheap Tibetan silver, tribal textiles, Yunnan dresses, Dong minority embroidery and much more. The Dong Xi Fang shop in West Street is a good starting point to explore the handicraft for sale in Yangshuo.

what to do in the evening

West Street (Xi Jie), also known as 'Foreigners Street', attracts tourists from all over the world. There are many bars and cafes along the street, such as the Romantic Bar, the Si If Bar, the TinTin Bar, the Blue Bird Bar and the Global Café. At night, the street comes alive with tourists, students and locals drinking, chatting, singing and dancing in the bars and cafes. The lights and bustle, mixed with the sounds and sights of different languages and cultures, make for a unique and interesting experience.

Wandering along the street are peddlers with various folk musical instruments on their backs. They play these to attract buyers. The beautiful and exotic sounds mingle with each other, adding more interest and color to the street. The famous Beer Festival is held at the beginning or end of a year. It is a festival of music, dances, games and beer drinking competitions. There are also performances of international folk and traditional Chinese dances (for example, Dragon Dance and Lion Dance). It is really a night of revelry.

impression liu san jie
This is a show directed by chinese mega director, Zhang Yimou (famous movies - Farewell to My Concubine, Raise the Red Lantern and The Hero). Tho location of the show is at Shutong Mountain and the surrounding 12 famous peaks and river are the natural backdrop of this spectacular show. It boasts hi-tech sound and pyrotechnics. There are more than 600 casts which are generally acting on the river using rafts. Buffalos and cormorants are "employed" as their casts too. The story revolves around the legendary love story between Liu Sanjie (a Zhuang minority girl) and Ah Niu.

yangshuo weather

Yangshuo weather can be very similar to Guilin. Spring and Autumn would be the best time to visit Yangshuo.  It's usually dry and warm (but not hot) in these periods. Summers can be hot and raining while winters can be grey, miserable and wet. You can click here to check out Guilin Weather forecast.