A Leisurely 3-Day, 2-Night Foodie Trip in Liuzhou (No Rushing)

I traveled around Guangxi 8 years ago but never made it to Liuzhou. This time I was determined to come. I had only planned to stay one night, but Liuzhou turned out to be so much fun—more than just snail noodles! I ended up extending another night and left with a heavy heart.

Since my previous stop was Xingping (Yangshuo), on Sep 8 I took the 12:55–15:50 train from Xingping (Yangshuo) to Liuzhou. I booked a Hanting hotel near the train station. I had looked into renting an electric scooter for getting around, but then found that some attractions were 7–8 km away, making it tiring to ride, plus you’d have to deal with parking. Actually, taking taxis wasn’t expensive and was quite convenient. On Sep 8, I gobbled down two bowls of snail noodles, tried sweet soup, glutinous rice, vegetable pickles, stinky tofu, and other snacks. I strolled along Wuxing Pedestrian Street, watched the musical fountain, packed some hot braised snacks, and had a midnight bowl of snail noodles.

Food:

- Laonai Snail Noodles – my first bowl here, it seemed good initially, but after trying a second shop, I didn’t think much of this one.

- Xihuan Feizai Snail Noodles (Main Branch) – generous portions, good flavor, recognized by locals, quite a standard taste. If you can only try one place, this is fine.

Snacks:

- Auntie Tofu Pudding (Chengzhan Road branch) – right by a school, affordable and tasty. Bean curd pudding, black herbal jelly, and ching bo leung for ¥3.5–4 each. I bought from them two more times later.

- Yili Braised Snacks – stumbled upon it and it turned out delicious. I’m not usually a chicken feet fan, but their sour-spicy ones won me over. The beancurd skewers were good too.

- Weijie Pickled Goods – vegetable and fruit pickles, not cheap, and the flavor didn’t suit my palate. I’d had similar ones in Guizhou that I enjoyed, but theirs wasn’t good.

- Street snacks: glutinous rice – ¥4 with sausage, generous portion, sold by an old man at a school gate, much tastier than Guilin’s. Stinky tofu – ¥5 per portion, different from what I’d had before, like tofu puffs with soup inside. Braised snacks – bought as a midnight treat by the roadside, sold by weight so not cheap, but the flavor was great; it looked like soy sauce soup with no spice, but the aftertaste was surprisingly fiery.

Things to do:

- Wuxing Pedestrian Street – a must-visit local shopping street, similar to Nanjing’s Xinjiekou or Shanghai’s Confucius Temple area, but actually not that interesting.

- Musical Fountain – right next to the pedestrian street, free, two shows a day at 20:00 and 21:00, each 15 minutes with 5 songs, well worth seeing.

Sep 9: I had another bowl of snail noodles, explored a local wet market and ate snacks, took the water bus, visited Longtan Park, had beef offal hot pot, then strolled around Yaobu Ancient Town at night.

Food:

- Dangniulao Beef Offal Hot Pot (Yaobu Ancient Town branch) – the group-buy deal at ¥68 was incredible value. The sour-spicy broth is the soul of the dish; three people could get full.

- Wangweiluo Bone Broth Snail Noodles (Diwang Xin Tiandi branch) – ordered delivery to the hotel, even the soup was drinkable, and it still tasted good packaged.

- Haohaojia Sweet Soup Shop – inside Gubu Market, their black sesame and peanut paste combo was fragrant and delicious, ¥3.5, amazing price. Their ¥4 savory congee was also good.

- Lanjie Rice Noodle Rolls – starting at ¥3, the dipping sauce with crushed peanuts was fragrant, soft and yummy.

Snacks:

- Fruit at Gubu Market was super cheap, Sunshine Rose grapes as low as ¥2.5/jin, plus hawkers selling fresh figs, crispy roast pork, and various Guangxi cakes. Self-service congee for ¥7 that fills you up, jokingly called the “Korean state banquet.”

Things to do:

- Gubu Market is where the locals really do their shopping.

- Next to it is Gubu Trade City, where you’ll find the internet-famous building full of tea bran hair wash places.

- Water bus – ¥3 per person, a pleasant 40-minute cruise on the Liu River with lovely scenery on both sides.

- Longtan Park – a must-visit free park with scenery no less impressive than Yangshuo’s paid sights. The Wind and Rain Bridge and Mirror Hill are must-see photo spots. Plan to spend 1–2 hours.

- Yaobu Ancient Town – nicer at dusk or night when lights come on, perfect for ethnic-style artistic photos.

Sep 10: I had another bowl of snail noodles, tried tea bran hair washing, visited Liuzhou Industrial Museum, then took the train back to Guilin.

Food:

- Shenxiang Snail Noodles (Chengzhan Tieyi Main Branch) – right downstairs from my hotel. The last shop turned out to be my favorite. They specialize in stir-fried snail noodles, which were good but a bit pricey. The soup version was incredible, especially the fried egg—a big, crispy, fluffy disc. I had three and still wanted more. They also had Chinese sausage at ¥3 a stick, I ate two. The soup was delicious. Don’t buy the sweet soup from the stall outside; it’s not good.

Things to do:

- Liuzhou Industrial Museum – free, requires reservation, but there was no crowd so you can book on the spot. Learn about Liuzhou’s industrial history and development, quite interesting. Yaobu Ancient Town is right across the street. After visiting, I tried the local specialty tea bran hair wash, ¥28–38 for 40 minutes, using ginger, with head, neck, and shoulder massage—really relaxing.

Summary: Liuzhou is a surprisingly delightful city—low cost of living, warm-hearted people, and an abundance of delicious food. It’s not just about snail noodles. The sweet soups, beef offal hot pot, duck feet pot, all kinds of cheap fruit, and snacks made me not want to leave. Accommodation is cheap, the air is fresh, free parks to wander, and a tea bran hair wash with massage for just twenty or thirty yuan. I’ll definitely be back.