Guangxi Road Trip: From Liuzhou to Nanning
Originally, our plan was just a road trip to Liuzhou, but seeing how close Liuzhou, Nanning, and Guilin are to each other, we ended up adding these two cities as well. Luckily, the final 9-day road trip was compact yet not tiring—my ideal kind of travel.
Note: For any intercity travel like this, it's best to rent a car. It's much easier than taking high-speed trains or other transport. Plus, when arranging attractions, you don't have to worry about subways or buses. We rented from eHi Car Rental; they have no fee for returning the car at a different location, and the cars are new.
In March, Liuzhou was still quite hot, especially during the day, often over 20°C, folks. You can wear short sleeves or a light sweatshirt or shirt. If you're worried about the temperature difference at night, you can put on a trench coat or denim jacket.
We arrived in Liuzhou around 11 a.m. First, we picked up the car. After getting the car, we went straight to eat Guangxi cuisine at [Kangfujia]. Guangxi food, Laobiao flavor. The sour fish soup and green beans were both delicious.
We went to the hotel to drop off our luggage. Since we had gotten up early and everyone was easygoing, we rested at the hotel for a while. Our itinerary wasn't packed; the focus was on relaxation. Originally we planned to take the water bus, but the line was too long. It only ran every 30 minutes and each trip carried only 32 people. So after thinking for two minutes, we decisively moved to our next stop, the Five Star Commercial Pedestrian Street.
There we checked out a dessert shop, Weiwei Cassava Soup. The cassava soup must have plenty of ice—super delicious. The ice-shaving tofu pudding was also great. Fugui Glutinous Rice Cake. There were tons of people, but we didn't love it. So, snacks really depend on whether they suit your taste.
After that, we went to Jubao Luosifen (snail noodles). So good I was speechless, especially the chicken feet and pork skin—it really whetted our appetite. After eating the snail noodles, we were so full that we did a citywalk to Ma'anshan. On the way, we saw a very popular snail noodle shop, but the line was ridiculous. We packed a cup of mung bean paste to go—it was really good. Then we went to Ma'anshan. We came to see the lighting ceremony. We arrived a little after 6 p.m., but due to crowd control and queuing, we missed the 7:15 p.m. lighting ceremony.
The worst part was, by the time we got to the front of the line, the ticket seller said there were no downhill elevator tickets available for the evening. But we had already waited so long—the time cost was too high—so we still took the elevator up. Walking down the mountain was really painful. The mountain path was narrow and slippery, and some sections had no streetlights. With such a large crowd, it was really dangerous.
That day was especially happy. In the evening, a few of us noisily went to eat beef offal hotpot. We chose Dangniulao Beef and Offal Hotpot City (Riverside Branch). It was warm and delicious, but we all thought the cold mixed offal was really good—very distinctive and tasty.
The second day's itinerary started with a cup of coffee—we were too bloated. Koop Kao Pu Coffee. Their Liuzhou sweet rice wine special blend was quite distinctive. We tried five varieties, all good overall, and the bread was also nice. After eating, we packed some to go. Then we headed to Qingyun Minsheng Market, which is like a local people's market, a decades-old traditional market with the smell of chicken, duck, and fish—a bit too much of a lively atmosphere.
We went to Jiaojie Luosifen. The shop only starts selling at 12:30 p.m. We were afraid of the queue, so we went early, sat down at 11:30 a.m., and when we went out to line up at noon, there were already many people ahead of us. So try to go as early as possible.
Tastes vary from person to person. Some friends thought Jubao was better from yesterday, but another friend and I found Jiaojie better. Maybe because we added wood ear mushrooms, and there were tons of snails inside. The ice-shaving tofu pudding next door was also great—freshly made tofu pudding. After eating the snail noodles, we drove straight to Nanning.
After arriving in Nanning, we first went back to the hotel to rest for one night. The next day, we set off directly to Dawangling Drifting Campground.
If you don't want to carry luggage uphill, choose a tent. If you want more quiet or a higher view, choose the boat house halfway up the mountain. Our package included dinner and one night's stay. The campground restaurant provides ingredients, and you can choose to barbecue yourself or have a small hotpot. I suggest that those who aren't skilled at cooking choose hotpot! Since our skills were average and we wanted to get full, we asked the shop for two eggs and borrowed some salt to perform an iron plate lettuce and egg fried rice—it looked and tasted great, but sorry to the staff who had to clean up.
The accommodation at 1466camping includes two tickets to the Dashiwei Tiankeng Group Scenic Area. For three people, you can book just one room and pay an extra 380 for tickets and meals. At the scenic area ticket office, you need to show your booking SMS to get a pass. You can drive the car directly to the tent entrance.
The signal in the mountains is really not good. Contacting the scenic area and 1466 staff in advance relies on luck; it's best to handle matters early. Baidong Tiankeng offers rappelling, with 50-meter and 200-meter options. For 50 meters you can operate it yourself; for 200 meters you are slowly lowered down. Considering price and experience, we chose the 50-meter one, 280/person, with a coach to help with equipment and teach the rappelling operation.
1466's complimentary Shenmu Tiankeng is a hike to see primitive vegetation. The entrance is together with Baidong rappelling, halfway up the mountain. If you want to do these, you can go directly first to avoid driving up and down the mountain road. After being recommended by the staff, we couldn't help but explore the cave. But to be honest, it was very interesting and we didn't regret it at all—300/person. We had Teacher Li, a contracted photographer for National Geographic magazine, lead us. He took many photos and videos for us, and we saw many unique landforms and small bats.
Dinner at 1466 was a self-service barbecue plus a clear soup hotpot. At this temperature, being half-outdoor was still quite cold. You basically have to eat the skewers as you grill them, otherwise they'll get cold quickly. The large sausage was amazing—it's hard to ruin it no matter how you grill it. As for the steak, beef skewers, Chinese cabbage, taro, tofu, squid—these rely on skill. I can only say I'm not picky; anyway, the grilled food was edible. However, the chicken soup, stewed with red dates, Chinese herbs, and mushrooms, was quite delicious, and adding some lettuce was also wonderful.
In the evening, there was a light drizzle, and the fog thickened. It was even hard to see the road; beyond the tent platform it was pitch black. Quiet and deep. With the night, we washed up and went to bed early—a healthy routine completely different from usual.
The accommodation is very close to Yunhai Tianzhou, just a 10-minute walk. But to get to the glass bridge, you must pass through the mountaintop café. The café opens at 9:30 a.m., so anyone thinking of watching the sunrise there should give up—learn from our lesson. But watching the sunrise from the observation deck or the small balcony of the tent was also beautiful.
After washing up, I first set up my spare phone on a gimbal on the table on the small balcony to record, then set off to the Tianzhou observation deck to take photos. I was lucky; after waiting for over half an hour, I got to see the sun appear.
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