Trip Report: Appreciating Guilin, China.

I had a free weekend while I was on a work trip in Shanghai so I took the opportunity to visit Guilin. Guilin is a picturesque city located in the Guangxi region of China. It is said that Guilin's scenery is best among all under heaven and I could not agree more. I took a cruise on the famous Li River and saw the beautiful mountains located on both sides of the river. The weather was a tad cold for my liking and the river dried up in some parts thanks to the drought (there hasn't been much rain since fall of last year), still the scenery was something of a Chinese mountain painting.

I also visited the Elephant Trunk Hill (yes the hill does resemble an elephant) and the Seven-Star Park. In my opinion, the former was nothing spectacular but the latter was definitely worth a visit. In the Seven-Star Park, you will find the famous Seven-Star cave where you can enjoy various limestone formations that are well lit. It's really up to your imagination to decide what the limestone formations look like. Some resemble dragons while others resemble humans or Chinese gods. The most amazing part of the cave is that it maintains a year round temperature of 70F even though it could be 40F out there.

In the Seven-Star Park, you will also find a zoo that houses a couple of cute panda bears. I had to pay these national treasures of China a visit because they are just so darn cute!

Guilin is not a city known for its cuisine but it does have a couple of dishes worth trying. One of them is the famous Guilin rice noodles. It can be served as soup- noodle style or lo-mein style. I like the latter better. It's usually served with spicy radishes, roast pork, garlic and peanuts. The locals usually eat it for breakfast. You can get this dish everywhere in the city, from street vendors to unsanitary looking shops. You can even get it at restaurants in five star hotels.

In short Guilin is a nice place to visit if you enjoy the scenery in movies like "The Painted Veil" or "Joy Luck Club". These movies were made there after all.

Trip Report: Good Eating in Shanghai, Beijing and Guilin.

A week of work in China gave me the opportunity to eat some good food there. I am biased when it comes to my Chinese food preferences. Raised by a Cantonese mom, I prefer Cantonese cuisine which is always well-balanced and never too greasy or salty or even sweet. Nevertheless, I do find good tasting dishes in other Chinese regional cuisine, even though they are often oily (Shanghainese cuisine) or too meaty (Northern cuisine). Here are a few dishes I particularly liked during my one-week stay in China last week.

In Beijing, I loved..

1. A few dishes served at DADONG on 22, Dongsishitiao in Dongcheng District. There are also two other locations in Beijing.



The Peking Duck is crispy and not oily in one bit. Aside from the standard way of eating it (which is with a moo-shu wrap), you can also dip it in sugar or put it in a crispy sesame bun that is empty inside.



This tofu dish features silky tofu with stuffing. I enjoyed the yellow one which is stuffed with XO sauce (dried scallop in a spicy sauce).



Who could turn down some greens? This is garlic sauteed pea-shoots, a common Cantonese dish. It used to be very difficult to get leafy vegetables like this in the North, but thanks to the improved transportation network between the North and the South, it's much easier to get them in cities like Beijing now. Knowing to cook them well is, however, a different story.

In Shanghai, I loved..

1. The pan-fried broth buns at Xiao Yang Sheng Jiang (multiple locations)



The one I went to is located in the food court area on the second floor of the Shanghai First Food Store located on Nanjing East Road. In fact, this is the best place to come sample all the famous Shanghai delicacies including these succulent pan-fried buns if you are pressed for time. Soft on the top, crispy on the bottom and a burst of crab meat broth that delights your taste buds once you bite into one. No one can really pass these little suckers up!

2. Typical Shanghainese dishes served at Xiao Nang Guo (multiple locations in Shanghai and other major cities). They also have a website (http://www.xnggroup.com/)



The crab meat broth dumpling is a must-have here (or anywhere in Shanghai).



I also liked the crab meat tofu pot and my leafy greens here.

3. The Shanghainese pastries sold at Wu Yuan Bakery on 255 Yan-Ping Lu in Jing-An District.



You may be put off by the guy behind the counter who's enjoying his puff of the hour, but this place does serve some of the best classic Shanghainese pastries like the savory yellow crab shell pastry (Xie Ke Huang) and the turnip pastry. Don't worry, the former is not made of crab shell! It's just a literal translation of its Chinese name. It is made of crab meat and other ingredients like flour and sesame. It is to die for especially when eaten warm.

4. The Mushroom Medley appetizer served at Charme restaurant ("Gang Li"). It has multiple locations in Shanghai.

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A variety of mushrooms are tossed together with a touch of spicy chili oil and placed in this Shanghainese wonton-like wrapper. Simple but tasty.

5. The authentic Shanghainese dishes served at the Jade Garden restaurant (Su Zhe Hui) in the Jing Mao building in the Pudong area.



Stir fried rice cake with crab on top. Heaven!



These semi-candied lotus roots are stuffed with rice cakes (notice the Shanghainese's love of using rice cakes in their food?) and covered with dates. They bring a hint of sweetness but not overpowering enough to ruin your taste buds for the other savory dishes.



Fried yellow fish. The batter is just right. Not too oily but tasty and crispy.

In Guilin, I loved...

1. The Guilin rice noodles served at many dingy looking locations.



This is the most famous dish in Guilin. It is available in soup noodle form as well as tossed noodle form. I suggest going for the latter. Spicy radishes, roast pork, garlic and peanuts are usually added to the noodles. At 40 cents a bowl, you can observe the Dolly Parton diet easily by having just one bite and sending it away if you don't like it (or if you are watching your waistline).

There you have it. The highlight of what I ate and liked in China in the past 7 days. Now it's back to steamed broccoli and brown rice to undo the damage I have done. I hate eating healthy!