China Hand: Guangzhou Dining 食在广州

Guangzhou Dining 食在广州

Except the plane and the stool, Guangzhou people eat everything in the sky and on the earth.' From this common saying, we can get some idea of the variety of Guangzhou's delicacies.

Guangzhou delicacies are the main representatives of Yue Cai (Cantonese Cuisine), which includes Guangzhou dishes, Chaozhou dishes and Dongjiang dishes and enjoys great popularity all over the country. Guangzhou cuisine uses a wide range of ingredients from the sky, the earth, and the water. They also use seasonings sparingly. Compared with other Chinese cuisines, Guangzhou dishes use few thick spicy dressings in order to keep from masking the original taste of the food.

The most famous dishes of Guangzhou cuisine are Roast Suckling Pig (Kao Ru Zhu), Dragon Fighting against the Tiger (Long Hu Dou) - stewed snake and wild cat, Taiye Chicken (Taiye Ji) and Stewed Wild Dog Meat.

Foreigners say 'All delicious food is in Guangzhou'. Guangzhou people say, 'delicacies are at Xiguan of Guangzhou'. Xiguan preserves lots of famous traditional snacks. The most lively and popular place is definitely the Shangxia Jiu Lu.

Famous Restaurants: 名馆名店

Guangzhou Jiujia (Guangzhou Restaurant) 广州酒家

Location: No. 2, Wenchang Nan Lu, Guangzhou 地点：广州文昌南路2号

Specialties: Jiaji Duck, Wenchang Chicken and Fried Duck Palm. 招牌菜：家鸭、文昌鸡和焖鸭掌

Taotao Ju Jiujia (Taotao Ju Restaurant): 淘淘居酒家

Location: No. 20, Di Shi Fu Lu, Guangzhou地点：广州路20号

Lianxiang Lou (Lianxiang Lou Restaurant)莲香楼

Location: No. 67, Di Shi Fu Lu, Guangzhou 地点：广州第十甫路67号

Specialties: Vegetable Spring Roll 招牌菜：素春卷

Panxi Jiujia (Panxi Restaurant) 畔溪酒家

Location: No. 151, Longjin Xi Lu, Guangzho 地点：广州龙津西路

Datong Jiujia (Datong Restaurant) 大通酒家

Location: No. 63, Yanjiang Xi Lu, Guangzhou 地点：广州沿江西路63号

Specialties: Roast Suckling Pig 招牌菜：烤乳猪

Snacks

Cantonese dim sum ranks the best in the whole country. Exquisitely made dim sums attract your eyes and stomach. Panxi Restaurant (Panxi Jiujia) creates 1,000 kinds of dim sums. Among the various choices of dim sums, you may choose the most typical ones: Shrimp Dumpling, Steamed Shaomai, Steamed Vermicelli Roll and so on.

Other delicious snacks are listed below.

Shuang Pi Nai (Double-Skin Milk): Nanxin Shuang Pi Nai is the specialty of Nanxin Milk Store on the Xia Jiu Lu. Simmered milk has a frozen cover made of the mixture of egg white and milk, Hence the name Double-Skin Milk. When finished, this food appears to be pure white and semisolid. It tastes soft and sweet. And most importantly, it has much nutritional value, good for your health.

Jidi Zhou (Jidi Porridge): Jidi Zhou served in the Wuzhan Ji Restaurant is the most famous of all. It has been a noted snack bar since the early 1900s.

Liuhua Porridge City: inside the Liuhua Park, Liuhua Lu, Guangzhou

Yuntun Mian (Wonton Noodle): Go to Shangxia Jiu Lu, Xihua Lu and Renmin Lu. You will find many eateries that serve Wonton Noodles. Cantonese like to have the delicious Yuntun Miao for breakfast.

Chang Fen (Steamed Vermicelli Roll): This featured snack is popular among local people. It is now a must-serve in nearly all teahouses and night markets.

Guiling Gao: Being afraid of suffering from excessive internal heat, Cantonese love to have Guiling Gao. That is a kind of brown jelly that holds the shape of the vessel. It is said the Guiling Gao can clear internal heat. The bitterer, the better.

Fruits: fruits are not in short supply in Guangzhou. Litchi, mangos, bananas, carambola, longans and pineapples come into the market in season.

Local Specialties 地方特产

Herbal Tea-Drinking is a longtime habit for Guangzhou people. Herbal tea can eliminate summer heat from the human body and cure the sore throats caused by winter dryness. Wang Laoji Herbal Tea is the most famous tea in Guangzhou.

Guangzhou people like tea-drinking, especially in the morning. Teahouses are all filled up before 11:00 in the morning.

Gongfu Cha (Gongfu Tea): Cantonese drink Gongfu Tea for enjoyment in their leisure time. It was popular in the Chaozhou and Shantou areas, and now has spread in Guangzhou. Serving Guangfu Tea requires strict attention to the teapot, tea leaves, the water quality and even how to make the tea, how to pour and how to drink the tea. The teapot in use is as small as a fist and the teacup as small as half a Pingpong ball. Give it a try!

Tangshui literarily means Sweet Water, but actually it is somewhat like a soft drink with the ingredients being fruits and vegetables. Guangzhou people are partial to Tangshui. They regard it as nutritious food. 'Boiled' Tangshui is a hot drink and the 'frozen' one is the soft drink. The most popular Tangshui store is the Taiping Guan Icehouse on Beijing Lu.

Yexiao (Midnight Snack) is one of the Guangzhou population's customs. It is usually taken after 10 p.m.; hence the name Midnight Snack. Some people like to cook the meal themselves; others invite a few friends to have Yexiao at a teahouse. Nearly every teahouse serves Midnight Snacks.

Foreign Restaurants 外国餐馆

Tianhe District has the largest immigrant population and it is a district that contains the largest variety of foreign delicacies. These well-known restaurants include the Thai restaurants, Banana Leaf and Niuqiao (Cow and Bridge), and Italian restaurants such as the Mamamia

天河区拥有最多外国移民，也是外国餐馆最多的区。这些知名的餐馆有泰国餐馆、蕉叶和牛桥，还有如Mamamia 这样的意大利餐馆。

Niuqiao: Floor 2, Xianglong Garden, No. 175-181, Tianhe Bei Lu, Guangzhou

Mamamia: Inside the Rihang Hotel, No. 196, Linhe Xiheng Lu, Guangzhou

Banana Leaf (Shimao Branch): Floor 5, Shimao Mansion, No. 371-375, Huanshi Dong Lu, Guangzhou

牛桥：广州天河北路175－181号，翔龙花园2层

玛玛米亚: 广州林和西横路宾馆2 层

蕉叶(世贸店)：广州环市东路371－375号世贸大厦5层

Vegetarian Restaurants: 素食馆

Lianhua Vegetarian Restaurant: No. 76, Jinghui Lu

Shangshi Zhai Vegetarian Restaurant: No. 38, Jinghui Lu, next to the Guangxiao Si (Bright Filial Piety Temple)

莲花素食馆：净慧路76号

尚食斋素食馆：净慧路38号（光孝寺旁）

Shopping 购物

Lying next to Hong Kong and Macau, Guangzhou is aware of its commercial development. The biannual Canton Fair adds to the commercial atmosphere. To tourists, Guangzhou is really a 'Shoppers' Paradise'.

If a friend comes to Guangzhou from afar, Cantonese will take him/her to walk around the Shangxia Jiu Lu and Teem Plaza area. Just like the Wangfujing in Beijing, the Town God's Temple (Chenghuang Miao) in Shanghai and the Confucius Temple in Nanjing, Shangxia Jiu Lu is the most influential traditional commercial street in Guangzhou.

Shangxia Jiu Lu Pedestrian Street is located in the Liwan District of Xiguan, a prosperous traditional commercial district. It is the first commercial pedestrian street in Guangzhou. Walking into this street, you will see the featured Qi Lou, an old building style that exists in Guangzhou and its neighboring areas, on both sides of the road. It reflects the strong Lingnan Culture. On this street lie more than 200 stores, especially those brand name restaurants and teahouses open here. From 1 p.m. to 9 p.m. on weekends and holidays and on every night, Shangxia Jiu Lu is restricted to pedestrians only.

Be sure to go to Shangxia Jiu Lu. Even if you don't buy anything, just walking along this street you will feel the cultural atmosphere in the street with Qi Lou on both sides.

Walking on the Beijing Lu, in the center of Guangzhou City, however, you will find a world far different from Shangxia Jiu Lu. It is simultaneously fashionable and traditional.

If you are interested in Japanese and Korean fashion, go to Zhuangyuan Fang (Number One Scholar Lane) on Renmin Nan Lu. Although it is a small lane less than 200 meters (656 feet) long, the Zhuangyuan Fang attracts numerous visitors by its most fashionable clothes, ornaments, and small articles that are popular with young people.

The most famous department stores are Teem Plaza, China Plaza (Zhonghua Guangcheng). The Teem Plaza has become the new commercial center of Guangzhou. Here boutiques, shops selling fantastic goods and restaurants come together.

Located on Xia Jiu Lu, Hualin Jadeware Street is a street mainly dealing with retail, wholesale and jade and jewelry processing. It is said the history of this street can be traced back to the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). From that time, Hualin Jadeware Street has already been the famed Jadeware Fair. At present, hundreds of jadeware stores are found here. Best-quality jades from Burma and Yunnan Province are made into jade bracelets, rings and other wares.

Wende Calligraphy and Painting Street neighboring the Beijing Lu is known as 'Guangzhou Gallery'. Stores selling works of calligraphy and craftworks line both sides of the road.

Yide Lu Seafood Market is the home of famous dried seafood. You will find a wide variety such as shark's fin, oysters, abalone and cuttlefish... Shan Hai Cheng and Hai Zhong Bao are the most reputed seafood markets here.

The Clothes Wholesale Market: Gaodi Street from Beijing Nan Lu at the east to Qiyi Lu at the west and Hongmian Clothes Market at F1, 2 and 3, No. 184, Huanshi Xi Lu, Guangzhou

Highsun Electrical Appliance Market is the right place for those who want to buy electrical appliances.

Don't forget to buy some local products such as the Wang Laoji Herbal Tea, cooking materials, Canton Embroidery, Canton Enamel and Canton Sculpture.

1.Canton Sculpture includes Canton Ivory Carvings, Jade Sculpture, Wood Sculpture and Olive Sculpture.

2.Canton Enamel is short for Guangzhou Colorful Pottery. It has a history of over 300 years.

3. Canton Embroidery, namely Yue Embroidery, is one of the Four Famous Chinese Embroideries together with Su Embroidery, Xiang Embroidery and Shu Embroidery.

4.Canton Bacon is the general designation of cured meat in the Guangzhou Area.

5.Wang Laoji Herbal Tea is a kind of medicine that is healthy for the human body.

Nightlife

As one of the first Chinese cities that was opened to the outside world, Guangzhou is definitely a pioneer in introducing fresh overseas trends in the field of entertainment. And it is easy to find a place to relax in such a big city.

If you'd like to improve your health, there are golf courses, tennis courts and bowling clubs. If you just want to relax, the Karaoke parlors and pubs are good choices. Or you can take a boat on the Zhujiang (Pearl River) to enjoy the charming night scenery of Guangzhou.

Yue Ju (Cantonese Opera) is an opera style popular in Guangdong, Guangxi, Hong Kong, Macau and wherever overseas Chinese are found in Southeast Asia. It is sung and read in Guangzhou dialect. The vocals rise and fall in ever changing cadences, and the melodies are harmonious and graceful. You can have a listen when you are in Guangzhou.

Zhujiang Yeyou (The Pearl River Night Cruise)

The night scene viewed on the Zhujiang (the Pearl River) is so enchanting that you must have a look. The best way is by boat. The trip will start from the Xidi Dock and end at the Guangzhou Bridge. There are more than thirty attractive areas along the bank.

The schedules are 18:00 - 20:00, 20:00 - 21:30 and 20:30 - 22:30. It costs about CNY 38 (or CNY 48 including CNY 10 for dinner) for tourist boat and about CNY 68 (CNY 98 including dinner expenditure) for deluxe boat. (The ticket fare is just for your reference.)

Address: Da Shatou Dock, Yanjiang Lu, Guangzhou

Transportation: you can take bus 182, 184, 188, 125, 36, 44 543 to get to the dock.

Bars & Pubs

Three famous bar streets: Binjiang Lu, Huanshi Lu and Bai'e Tan, are the best known in Guangzhou. Binjiang Lu Bar Street is by the bank of the Zhujiang (Pearl River), and has lovely scenery. Huanshi Lu Bar Street is located in the city center of Guangzhou. However, the Bai'e Tan Bar Street, located at Changdi Lu on the bank of Bai'e Tan (White Goose Pond), is the most exotic.

Amigo

Location: B03, Bai'e Tan Bar Street, Fangcun, Guangzhou

The French pub downstairs is divided into compartments with wooden barriers and wooden winding stairs. Saddles, whips, western historical paintings, and antique wine bottles decorate every corner of the pub. A small western restaurant upstairs is a good place to enjoy the enticing Zhujiang (the Pearl River).

Location: at the north gate of Yuexiu Park, Huanshi Zhong Lu

There is a big outdoor garden in the Golf Club. The environment is tranquil and charming.

23 Club

Location: Floor 1, Guangdong International Electronic Mansion, No. 403, Huanshi Dong Lu, Guangzhou

Baby Face

Location: Aiqun Mansion, No. 83, Changdi Lu, Guangzhou

Bridge House

Location: at the south gate of the Guangdong Arts Gallery, No. 38, Yanyu Lu, Ersha Island

Party World

Location: Floor 1, Huihua Business Building, No. 80, Xianlie Zhong Lu

Cinemas

China Plaza Theater