Dining in Guilin - Yangshuo

There are some dining cultures here that are distinctly different from Malaysian dining cultures.

• The portion tends to be very large for vegetable based dishes, probably twice that we can expect in Malaysia. Meat based dishes tend to be smaller in size.
• Spoons are never provided, both in noodle and rice-based dishes. They are only provided for rice porridge or soup.
• Disposable chopsticks are used most of the time.
• Plates, cup, etc. are shrink-wrapped in plastic in more established restaurants.

• If drink is served, it is always tea. There is nothing else for you to order, except probably for alcoholic beverages.
• The local people do not seemed to eat out much. This may account for the small number of eateries relative to its populations. At every restaurant/ stall, patrons are invariably visitors from outside the district.
• The most popular dish is Guilin Mifen or Guilin rice noodle served in soup. They are found in every city. Malaysian-type rice and wheat noodles such as flat rice noodle (Kway Tiau), fresh yellow noodle, thin beehoon, etc. are not available
• No Malaysian-type chilli sauce is used. Rather, chilli powder is used for deep fried food.
• Food in this region is never sweet, but savoury, sour and spicy.

There is a dearth of good noodle dishes here. Whether it is Guilin, Yangshuo, Xingping or Sanjiang, the choices are very limited. In Yangshuo, with such a vibrant tourism industry and with so many visitors there, I could not believe that there are only such a small variety of noodle dishes.  Maybe, I should move there and start a food business specialising in Malaysian noodle dishes.