6 Days Across Two Cities: My Guangzhou & Liuzhou Trip
I had been to Guangzhou before, visiting Chimelong Safari Park and Xiaozhou Village. This time, I went mainly for food and to see sights I hadn't seen before. I had a total of 7 days off, so I planned 3 days in Guangzhou and 3 days in Liuzhou. Guangzhou and Liuzhou are about 500 km apart. My friend and I decided to drive directly to Liuzhou, enjoying the different scenery along the way.
We flew to Guangzhou first, picked up a car from a store near Guangzhou Baiyun Airport, and after arrival contacted staff for pickup and handled the rental procedures. We returned the car at the Liuzhou High-Speed Rail Station store and then took the high-speed train home. Returning the car at a different location incurred no fee, which was really convenient.
Every time I come to Guangzhou, I eat at Tao Tao Ju. This time I met up with friends in Guangzhou, and the three of us went there. I really love their dishes; they rank among the best in my opinion.
As a true northerner, I have to admit that southerners make dishes more delicately, while northerners tend to favor hearty, large portions. Tao Tao Ju has so many dishes and dim sums. We ate a huge variety of delicious food, but we only remembered to take photos after finishing.
After leaving Tao Tao Ju, we went to Shamian. Shamian is a hipster hotspot with tons of visitors.
There's a trendy Starbucks there. We were so hot we only took a few photos and left.
After leaving Starbucks, we went back to the hotel for a nap, then went out to find dinner at Xihua Road, a food street known among locals. This street is full of small eateries—don't come if you want clean, upscale places.
There's Tengyuan Shengjian, which always has a line, and Yingjie Dessert (in a small alley). We ended up eating at Zhao Ji Dessert at the end of the road. I highly recommend Zhao Ji's little tangyuan; my bestie loved them. I thought they were great too. On such a scorching day, I think it's best to stay indoors if possible.
After eating, we passed by the shengjian shop again. Since we were there, we decided to try it. This shengjian shop is said to be famous, and from the queue outside, you could tell. The shengjian buns were delicious, full of rich broth, incredibly satisfying.
In the afternoon, we continued eating our way through, and I tried ginger milk curd for the first time. It had a strong ginger taste. I didn't like it, but my bestie loved it.
In the evening, we had more plans. First, we drove to Beijing Road Minji Claypot Rice, and after eating, went to see the Grand Buddha Temple. The claypot rice shop was crowded; even at 8 p.m., we still had to queue.
The Grand Buddha Temple at night is very beautiful, almost like Chongqing's Hongya Cave. By night, Guangzhou had cooled down to a bearable temperature.
After visiting the temple, we drove back to the hotel. On the way, we saw Nanxin, a place where I had delicious desserts last time, so we went again. I had sheng-egg pudding (double skin milk), which tasted great. The shop was originally founded in 1934.
After the dessert, we returned to the hotel, played some games, and then went to sleep.
The next two days in Guangzhou were also spent eating and drinking; we hardly visited any major attractions.
The Liuzhou part of the trip was more of a highlight for me, as it was my first time there.
We drove to Liuzhou Museum, which is free. The lobby on the first floor has tables and chairs for resting, and various stalls selling items. It seemed well arranged.
The second floor is the Paleontology Hall, with a rich collection of fossils spanning a long time period. I highly recommend visiting it; it's a great place to learn about nature.
The third floor is the History Hall, displaying hundreds of Liuzhou historical artifacts from the Paleolithic era to the Republic of China. Even though it's just a city-level museum, walking through it made me feel its vastness.
The second floor also houses the Nationalities Hall, showcasing the characteristics of Guangxi's minority groups. We learned about "Zhuang folk songs, Miao festivals, Yao dances, and Dong architecture." It was all very captivating.
The third floor's Bronze Hall has over 150 bronze artifacts. Here we saw the museum's treasure: the Cloud-and-Thunder Pattern Bronze Ox Horn. The curve of the horn was beautifully crafted, clearly top-notch. We also saw a Bronze Drum with Frog and Feathered Human Pattern. Ancient people really used a lot of wisdom in their creations. There's also a Calligraphy and Painting Hall on the third floor. In short, there are many artifacts to see.
When in Liuzhou, you must eat luosifen (snail rice noodles). (Many shops in Liuzhou make it differently, with different ingredients, so try several places.) After dark, we went to Five Star Pedestrian Street, just a few hundred meters from our hotel.
Five Star Pedestrian Street is a commercial street, bustling with people. We saw several trendy spots, the most famous being Liuzhou Treasure City. It's a beautiful place with a misty atmosphere, like stepping into a fairyland.
After leaving the treasure area, we wandered around. There are many shops selling clothes, hotels, pubs, restaurants, hot pot, and snacks. We ended up just eating snacks instead of going to a restaurant, and got full from them.
Let me talk about the snack options. Fengqinggang Convenience Night Market has all kinds of snacks: shaved ice, luosifen, duck feet stew, soup dumplings, and coconut milk qingbuliang. The coconut milk qingbuliang cost 12 yuan with lots of toppings. On a hot summer day, a bite of qingbuliang feels like it brings you back to life. Flowers were 9.9 yuan, mouth mushroom shrimp paste 18 yuan for 6-8 pieces. Overall, prices in this area aren't high.
So we kept eating and drinking until late at night before returning to the hotel. We chose a cheaper hotel because we spent so much on food.
On our second day in Liuzhou, we had a packed itinerary: Liuzhou Industrial Museum — Longtan Park — Yaobu Ancient Town — Qingyun Min Sheng Market. My favorite was the Liuzhou Industrial Museum, which showcases the innovation and reform of this industrial city. The museum also has introductions to many familiar household brand companies.
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