Local Produce

Almost all of the following information is from the www.yangers.com website. This site is a great site to find out more about Yangshuo. Go there!

Yangshuo and the surrounding villages produce a wealth of fruit and vegetables all year round.

Pomelo

A cross between a grapefruit and an orange, this large fruit has a very thick skin. You may even need the help of a local to peel it. The fruit inside can taste a touch sweet or a touch sour. It does not usually have a large quantity of juice but it is refreshing. Pomelos are in season during autumn and winter and can remain fresh for many months, so you can normally get them during spring and summer.

Persimmon

A fruit that when it is ripe looks a little bit like a tomato. It can be eaten when ripe but the locals prefer to dry this fruit and eat it later. Can taste very sweet. They ripen around summer. Water Chestnuts - Usually planted in early summer, they are ready to harvest at the end of Autumn and early winter. Once washed and peeled, it has a snow-white flesh with a crunchy juicy texture and pleasant sweet taste. In the winter months they are used in many dishes as they compliment meats and vegetables.

Oranges/Mandarins

These are usually very sweet and juicy. They ripen towards the end of summer and are kept fresh over the winter and spring.

Strawberries

Available in winter and spring. They are very juicy and sweet.

Vegetables

There are a very large number of vegetables grown here. Cabbage, bak choy, celery, spring onions, carrots, and many more. Check out the market days when you are here to see what is being grown.
Chilly spices. This area is renowned for its chilly sauce. Just a little bit of the sauce is enough to add a lot of spice into any dish.

Local Dishes

Li River Beer fish

This simple dish is has a large fish which should have been caught in the Li River. The fish is cooked in beer with some local vegetables. The fish can contain many bones but the meat tastes delicious.
Drunk Duck - Very similar to the beer fish, just swapping the fish with duck meat.

Stuffed Li River snails

This dish is something special. The snails are stuffed with minced pork and a small amount of vegetables and mint and cooked in a light sauce.

Stuffed Pomelo skins

The thick pomelo skins are sliced open and stuffed with meat and vegetables and cooked with more vegetables and with a light sauce. This dish is only available around late autumn and winter when the pomelos are ripe and the skins fresh.

Souvenirs

Yangshuo is a great place to buy your holiday souvenirs. Here is a list of the most popular items that visitors are interested in.

Chinese Scroll paintings

These have to be the most popular souvenir. They are cheap and can look very beautiful in any home. The drawings on these are based on the scenery of Yangshuo.

The embroided "love ball"

This ball is used for engagement rituals. The ball should be made by the young lady who wishes to marry. In the ritual, the young lady will throw this ball through a hoop to the man that she would like to marry. The man will catch the ball to signify his willingness to marry the lady.

Antiques and wooden masks

There are several shops that sell antiques such as masks, puppets, wooden carvings and musical instruments. Some, like are friend here, have been used in the past to ward off evil spirits.

Fans

Great for decorating your house. Again they come printed woth designs from the local area. Most of these are made in Fuli town. If you like, you can go to Fuli and walk into any one of the factories and watch them being made. It is also possible to buy them much cheaper at the factory.

T-shirts

Get a T-shirt with Chinese writing on it. Some of the sayings are very creative, such as, "I have no money" or "Foreigner coming" on the front of the shirt and "foreigner going" on the back. At the moment, shirts which are based on the SARS topic are proving very popular.