Travel blogs
Guilin! The land of Sweet Osmanthus Fragrant Trees
Updated: 2011-06-23 16:20
By Naligbe (chinatraveldepot.com)
On your trip to China, visit one of the most beautiful cities named Guilin through the Guilin tours available. Reserve one of the exotic Guilin Hotels and enhance the quality of your trip. Guilin is a prefectural level city in China, located in the northeastern section of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region on the west bank of the Li River. Guilin stands for “forest of Sweet Osmanthus”, representing the number of fragrant sweet Osmanthus trees located in the city. The city is known for its unique scenery.
Guilin is a scenic town, one of the best tourist spots in China. There are many different places to visit. Li River is the scene printed on the back of the twenty Rmb bank note and Yangshuo, it is a small county close to Guilin. Li river cruise is a must do. Through any hotel in Guilin, frequent boats are easily accessible for the cruise. The cruise goes from Guilin to Yangshuo. For those of you looking to explore China, Guilin is an excellent base for sight seeing. Two rivers, four lakes and mountains surround it. The main industry in the city is tourism so the city is kept clean compared to other cities in China.
Also located around Guilin are Yaoshan Park, Seven star park, Fubo hill, Ocean Aquarium, Solitary beauty peak, Jing jiang princess city park and Moon and sun pagoda. Ocean aquarium is one of the largest aquariums in Asia. The facility has a wide range of fishes and other aquatic animals. Seven star park has a small zoo area located inside the facility. Giant pandas and red pandas serve as the main attraction for the park. Fubo hill on the other hand, contains stone cravings from the Tang Dynasty and Buddhist inscriptions; it is a sheer sided rock.
Guilin is widely known for its snacks and the use of spices, especially chili. The most popular chili sauce is made up of fresh chili, garlic and fermented soybeans. It is used for cooking by locals and considered as one of Guilin’s three treasures. The other two treasures are Sanhua Jiu, which is liquor distilled from rice and pickled tofu.
Since the Qin Dynasty, rice noodle has been the most popular breakfast meal in Guilin. Guilin is known for its superb meals. A local for Guilin, first prepared the rice noodles for Qing troops who were not able to eat local foods. Since then, the consumption of rice noodles increased tremendously, making it the favorite dish among the people in Guilin. It can be either prepared with or without horsemeat. Another popular must try dish is Zongzi. Zongzi is dumpling made out of glutinous rice and mung bean paste wrapped in either bamboo or banana leaf.
When traveling to China, do not miss a great opportunity of seeing one of the beautiful cities in China. Guilin flights are usually available at a good price. While on your trip, do not forget to try the traditional Guilin snacks as well as the rice noodle.
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