Dongxi Lane is located in front of Zhengyang Gate of Jingjiang Prince City. It is also known as "Zhengyang East Lane" and "Zhengyang West Lane" respectively. It is the only historical street area left in Guilin from the Ming and Qing Dynasties.
This place is like a weathered old man, witnessing the rise and fall of Guilin City over nearly 1400 years since its founding during the Wude period of the Tang Dynasty. The wheels of time have left deep marks on it.
Today, Dongxi Lane has been transformed into a commercial street, a regional commercial center integrating shopping, dining, entertainment, leisure, and culture.
People strolled around here, shoulder to shoulder, and with all sorts of local snacks, the place was filled with both antique charm and the warmth of everyday life.
Chen Zhiyao had done her research beforehand.
Some of the more famous local snacks include Guilin rice noodles, nun's vegetarian noodles, snail rice noodles, glutinous rice, oil tea, pine flower sugar, osmanthus cake, and water chestnut cake.
She opened the menu and found that the first few items were available in the store.
After studying the menu for a while, Chen Zhiyao's eyes were immediately drawn to the most eye-catching picture of snail rice noodles on the wall.
It looks delicious.
After choosing what to eat, she began to introduce it to her family:
"The signature dish here is Guilin rice noodles, but I saw online that people say the snail rice noodles and vegetarian noodles are also quite good."
As soon as he finished speaking, Grandma Chen smiled gently and said:
"Guilin rice noodles and snail rice noodles can be found in town, but I'll try this nun's vegetarian noodles."
“I want the same vegetarian noodles as your grandma.” Grandpa Chen wasn’t picky about food and was too lazy to choose, so he simply ate the same thing as his wife.
"Since we've come all the way to Guilin, we absolutely have to try the authentic Guilin rice noodles. Your dad and I both want Guilin rice noodles."
It was just past lunchtime, and the shop wasn't too crowded. Soon, the enthusiastic proprietress brought over several steaming bowls of noodles. Chen Weiqiang was starving, and like a ravenous tiger, he devoured the Guilin noodles, mumbling his praises indistinctly:
"Yes, this Guilin rice noodles really live up to its reputation. It tastes even better than what I had in town."
The delicate and smooth rice noodles, paired with special pickled bamboo shoots, pickled vegetables, peanuts and other condiments, create a unique sour and spicy flavor that whets the appetite.
Grandpa Chen slurped noodles, a satisfied smile spreading across his face.
"My nun noodles look ordinary, but they taste pretty good."
The essence of nun noodles lies entirely in the broth, which is golden in color, clear, and not cloudy. Adding straw mushrooms, vegetarian ham, gluten, and other vegetarian ingredients makes it incredibly delicious and sweet.
Chen Zhiyao was starving at the moment, and she felt that the snail rice noodles tasted pretty good, even better than the ones she had eaten before.
The food at this little shop tastes good, but the portions are just average.
These people usually do manual labor and have big appetites; a bowl of noodles will only make them seven or eight tenths full.
Just after leaving the store, Chen Zhiyao bought glutinous rice cakes and osmanthus cakes from a nearby stall.
The group strolled leisurely along the quaint street, enjoying pastries as they went.
Osmanthus cake is quite common, but people are more interested in fragrant glutinous rice cake.
Almost everyone's first choice is this square-shaped fragrant glutinous rice cake. Fragrant glutinous rice cake is a pastry made of glutinous rice, filled with fillings such as peanuts and sesame seeds, and sprinkled with some white sugar on the surface.
It tasted soft and chewy, which Chen Zhiyao found quite nice, but after eating a couple more pieces, it became a bit too rich.
He ate two pieces and then stopped, taking a piece of very soft osmanthus cake instead.
He had just taken a big bite when he couldn't help but furrow his brow.
"This osmanthus cake tastes alright, not too sweet, but it's a bit too dry."
Yan Shuting, who was standing nearby, quickly took a bottle of water from her bag and handed it over:
"Who told you to eat so fast? Drink some water and calm down first."
After browsing for a while, Chen Zhiyao set her sights on a stall selling pickled vegetables.
"Suan Ye" is made by pickling locally grown seasonal fruits and vegetables such as radishes and cucumbers with vinegar, chili peppers, and sugar.
The stall had a good variety of fruits, including papaya, mango, peach, ginger, garlic and other fresh fruits and vegetables.
The stall also provides chili vinegar water and salt and pepper for customers to use as dipping sauces. While the same pickled fruit stalls exist in Guangzhou, they are significantly more expensive and offer fewer varieties of fruit.
Worried that her family wouldn't be used to the sour taste, she specially bought an extra serving of fruit salad from a nearby stall.
Compared to the pastries, these two fruit dishes received unanimous praise.
Chen Weiqiang used a bamboo skewer to pick up a piece of green mango and skillfully dipped it in a lot of salt and pepper powder.
"These pickled vegetables are sweet and sour, quite appetizing, and they have a unique flavor when dipped in this salt and pepper powder."
The pickled wild vegetables had a unique flavor, and surprisingly everyone liked them quite a bit; the bowl was empty very quickly.
"This fruit salad is delicious, not only is it cheap, but the fruit is also quite fresh," Chen Zhiyao said as she popped a piece of dragon fruit into her mouth.
I had heard that Guangxi had a lot of cheap fruit, and after coming here, I can confirm that it is indeed true.
The fruit here is much cheaper than back home.
After filling their stomachs, the group turned their attention back to this historic alley and started taking photos.
Along the way, Chen Zhiyao practically became her mother and grandmother's personal photographer.
As for Grandpa Chen and Chen Weiqiang, the father and son were carrying all sorts of local specialties and snacks, following behind the three with helpless expressions.
The two didn't look like they were here for tourism; they looked more like they were here to do hard labor.
The alleys here are quite well preserved, and they're quite similar to the ancient alleys Chen Zhiyao visited in Shunde, Foshan. Along the quaint alleys, we also encountered quite a few beautiful young ladies dressed in traditional Chinese clothing.
Walking down the street, she felt as if she had traveled through time.
Compared to the quaint alley, Chen Zhiyao, a foodie, was actually more interested in what kind of local snacks were available.
The group strolled from one end of the street to the other, trying almost all the local snacks, such as oil tea, pine nut candy, and water chestnut cake.
Everyone had almost finished eating and had explored the area. Chen Zhiyao checked the time and realized it was already 3 p.m.
There are many fun places in Guilin city, and she plans to take everyone to explore them.
Elephant Trunk Hill is a landmark in Guilin, and it's not far from here, so she suggested we go take a look.
No one had any objections; it had been agreed before we left that we would follow her arrangements for this trip.
They strolled around and ate along the way. Seeing that everyone was a bit tired, Chen Zhiyao simply called a car and took a taxi directly there.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com