Qingyuan chicken is a must-eat while on your travels. After you arrive in Qingyuan, you can soak yourself in one of the city’s hot springs to expel all that fatigue.

Through years of energetic development, the beautiful landscapes around Qingyuan have become known to the outside world, while the reputation of the area’s food has been spread even farther. The unique ingredients and cooking methods used by the Qingyuan ethnic groups to create dishes such as: Fengyang jerk, Shantang tofu and Lianzhou whelk, attract numerous food lovers for a culinary-inspired road trip.

Route: Guangzhou -- Guangqing Expressway -- Qinglian Expressway -- Lianzhou -- Yangshan -- Qingyuan -- Fogang -- Guangzhou

A great feature of this route is that the entire trip is made via major roads. The center of Qingyuan is reachable from Guangzhou in just one hour, however, if you want to go to Qingyuan by car and enjoy the food and attractions there, we suggest you to stop off at Lianzhou first. Here you can taste delicious local foods and watch the beautiful landscapes on the way from Lianzhou to Qingyuan’s downtown area. After you arrive in Qingyuan, you can soak yourself in one of the city’s hot springs to expel all that fatigue. Then you may drive back to Guangzhou.

En route, we recommend you first visit the ethnic group areas in Lianzhou (including the Zhuang people in Liannan and the Zhuang people and Yao people in Lianshan), then drive along Qinglian Expressway to the beautiful Yangshan county, where you can enjoy the local food and visit the various scenic spots. Once your eyes and stomach have been satisfied, you can continue on to either Qingxin county or Fogang county and choose Shampoola Hot Springs or Julong Hot Springs as the last stop before you drive back to Guangzhou.

Attractions along the route

Stop 1 Lianzhou: a 5km long corridor with countless delicious foods

Lianzhou is an area of breathtaking mountains and soothing rivers. What could go better with such extraordinary scenery than extraordinary foods such as preserved meat, preserved eggs, all-dog banquet, game and river food, quick-fried whelk and Shafang noodles? Known as the 5km long food corridor the night food stalls in Lianzhou offer a wide variety of such delicacies.

There are many kinds of whelks in Lianzhou. Fried whelk is a genuine home style dish. The people in Lianzhou are geniuses when it comes to dealing with these humble shellfish. The rather ordinary whelk can be cooked in many ways: fried, braised in Casserole, stuffed, and so on. The list is endless. Stuffed whelk is a dish with a complex preparation process. First, the whelk meat is taken out of the shells and chopped, then lean pork or fish meat, dried mushroom and egg are added. These ingredients are combined together to make a stuffing to be put back into the whelk shells, which are then gently steamed before being served up.

"Shantang Tofu” is the signature dish of many restaurants in Lianzhou. Thanks to the purity of the local water, Shantang tofu enjoys great popularity among diners as it is especially smooth and delicate. Among snacks, Dongpi dumpling is the most famous. Its skin is soft, crispy, smooth and delicate. Its stuffing is neither too salty nor too sweet and contains both the spicy taste of Sichuan cuisine and the light and elegant flavor of Lingnan cuisine. A plate of dumplings must be matched with a small bowl of sauce. The sauce prepared with high-grade mustard, sesame oil, chili oil and a little dark soy sauce.

Soft, crispy and smooth, Dongpi Dumplings are a delicious snack in Lianzhou.

● Highlights

Lianzhou Underground River: Three layers are opened to tourists. The upper and middle stories are terrestrial stories, with tall and spacious lobbies. In the lower story flows an underground river, which visitors may visit by boat.

Liannan Yao Village: The ancient houses were built in harmony with the terrain of the mountains. The stone slab paved roads crisscross one and other.

Breathtaking Lianzhou Underground River

Stop 2 Yangshan: A combination of local food and exquisite mountains and waters

Though the mountain and water landscapes of Yangshan are famous across the county, the delicious local food remains a secret to the outside world. While the name may conjure up images from horror films to many western ears, beef and pork organ feast is in fact just one of many local countryside delicacies.

Beef and pork organ feast: The first thing to come into your sight will be a strange looking pan. This is the leading actor in the feast. The waiter will first serve soup of the day, followed by fresh pork and beef internal organs including pork large intestine, pork liver, beef stomach and beef tendon. Before eating, the unique Yangshan tofu is pan fried under a strong flame until golden yellow. The pork liver is then put into the pan and fried for more than three minutes. It is advised to eat this dish in the morning when the beef and pork organs are at their freshest.

Genuine local pork and beef organ feast in Yangshan

● Highlights

Yangshan Water Gallery: As marvelous as the waters and mountains of the Lijiang River, Yangshen Water Galley has long been called the “Lijiang River of Guangdong”.

Shenbi Mountain: Shenbi Immortal Cave Scenic Area, Earth Center Rafting Scenic Area and Fengrong Stone Forest Scenic Area.

Guangdong First Peak: The Guangdong First Peak Virgin Forest Scenic area is located in the Nanling National Nature Reserve. Shikengkong located within the scenic spot 1902m above the sea level is the highest peak in Guangdong and is called the “Himalaya” in Guangdong.

Yangshan Water Gallery has long been called the “Lijiang River of Guangdong”.

Stop 3 Qingxin and Fogang: Food and hot springs

If you choose to drive southward and enter the center of Qingyuan you must try boiled Qingyuan chicken with sauce and knife-cut fried rice cake.

Boiled Qingyuan chicken with sauce: choose a 1kg genuine Qingyuan chicken, kill it and hang it to drain away its waters, put the whole chicken into lightly boiling water, and boil on a low heat until just cooked. Take it out, put it into clean icy water, cut it after cooling and place it on a plate. Prepare a sauce with ginger, shallot, coriander, soy sauce and salt. This cooking method retains the original flavor of Qingyuan chicken and leaves it tasty, smooth and refreshing. It well deserves the name of “Qingyuan’s number one dish”.

Qingyuan chicken is a must-eat while on your travels.

The Beijiang River flows through Qingyuan providing the city with fresh river food. Using the delicacies in the Beijiang River as the main ingredients, numerous dishes have been derived. Among the snacks, cut glutinous rice noodles are rather special. The well kneaded glutinous rice dough is cut into strips. These are then cooked together with goose gravy, lean pork, snow bean and coriander. It is a favorite dish amongst the local people.

● Highlights

Shampoola: Before the end of the trip, stop off at Shampoola Hot Springs Resort and soak in the hot springs. Surrounded by tens of thousands of mu of Yangjiaoshan provincial-level forest park, Shampoola is at the Fogang Exit of Beijing-Zhuhai Expressway and 50min’s drive from Guangzhou. It consists of a theme park, a hotel, hot springs, an activity training center and a forest park.

Shampoola Hot Springs

Tips

1. Tourism in Qingyuan is booming, people who want to visit Qingyuan should book a hotel a half month in advance of their trip.

2. The most popular breakfast in Lianzhou is soup noodles with pork and bean curd. The bean curd on the soup is especially delicious.

3. Before the trip, please make a general examination of your car in a 4S shop and ensure your car is in a good condition. A tow rope, an accumulator line, a vehicle breakdown warning triangle and a spare tire must be kept in the car.

What to buy?

Fengyang jerk is a must-buy in Lianzhou. It is a classic Lianzhou specialty. The meat must be taken from the back or elbow, and must be thoroughly dried by a gentle fire. Only in this way, will the jerk achieve its yellow color, its fragrant smell, and not be charred. The unique flavor of Fengyang jerk is determined by the unique climatic conditions of Fengyang.

For the adventurous among you who fancy trying preserved dog, we recommend Guanwu “Sui Chang Hao” products. Dongpi preserved dog tastes delicate, refreshing, tasty and non-oily, and may be steamed or fried.

Editor: Natalie Thomas