Guilin Rice Noodles

Guilin rice noodles are the most representative staple of the Guilin-Yangshuo area: fine round pressed noodles are blanched in boiling water, dressed with each house's secret master stock, then topped with crispy fried pork, braised beef, fried soybeans, pickled beans and scallion, so mixed together the strands are springy, the stock fragrant, and the taste deeply savoury with a sweet return.

Guilin rice noodles reach back more than two thousand years, said to be linked to the Qin-dynasty cutting of the Lingqu canal when rice batter was made into noodles to feed troops, and they were famous far and wide well before the war of resistance. The making technique entered the third Guangxi autonomous-region ICH list in 2010, and Yangshuo as a county of Guilin lies squarely within its area of practice.

The local way follows a clear order: first mix the noodles with the master stock and toppings and eat them dry, then finish with a bowl of clear bone broth to settle the meal; a bowl at breakfast is the most authentic, and the noodle shops lining every street fill up at first light.

Each house's closely guarded master-stock recipe, the smooth springy pressed noodles, and the singular order of eating dry then adding broth are what have kept Guilin rice noodles alive for two thousand years.