Sightseeing, cultural illumination and thrill seeking are all excellent reasons to travel, but the real plum in exploring China is to experience local cuisine. Gourmand tourists won't be disappointed with the Guilin region. Southern cuisine reigns supreme here with Guilin's cuisine a mixture of Guangdong and Hunan styles. Special emphasis is placed on critters drawn from the Li River; specialties include the exotic, such as snake, dog and assorted types seafood should be the most unusual you encounter.

Well-known area specialties include stuffed snails and pijiu yu, a local catfish simmered in a delicious beer broth. Dog hotpot and horsemeat with rice noodles are local specialties. Other favorites include steamed meat buns with water chestnuts, fruit and duck stew, chicken stir fry with mushrooms and heye fen zhengrou, a pork and rice powder mixture wrapped in lotus leaves then steamed, which infuses the rice powder with the flavor of the pork and the subtle aroma of the lotus leaves. For vegetarians, there's the nun's vegetarian noodles served with assorted local veggies. All of these dishes go down better with a few bottles of LiQ, the locally brewed beer.

Fans of lighter fare can rejoice in an abundance of fruit. Nearly every street has at least one stall selling freshly cut pineapple chunks, oranges, sugarcane, mangosteen, tangerines, bananas and even durians "stink fruit" can be found nearly everywhere. If you have a hankering for Western food, there are many opportunities to indulge in some of the areas newer culinary standards, including pizzas, salads, burgers and banana pancakes. Some streets to check out for good eats include Binjiang Lu, Jiefang Lu and Zhishan Lu.