I have just returned home after four days (three nights) in Guilin. This was a business trip, so no exotic tales this time. Just food. Anyway, despite its reputation, Guilin is actually a rather dull city for the most part - anything interesting lies outside the city in the surrounding countryside.
I was staying in the far east of the city, away from the rip-off tourist hotels and restaurants and spent my time with local people eating in normal restaurants.
I arrived on Wednesday just in time for lunch.
LUNCH WEDNESDAY
We started with the obligatory oil tea.
Oil Tea
Omelette with Chinese Chives
Stir-fried Mixed Vegetables
Sour Beef with Pickled Chillies
Cakes*
Morning Glory / Water Spinach**
* I asked what the cakes were but they got rather coy when it came to details. It seems these are unique to this restaurant.
** The Chinese name is 空心菜 kōng xīn cài, which literally means 'empty heart vegetable', describing the hollow stems.
