Guilin(桂林) is a beautiful area in China with plenty of sights to see and enjoy. During my second trip to China, I stayed in Guilin for over three months enjoying these wonderful views. But the thing that Guilin is also known for is their rice noodles or Guilin Mifen (桂林米粉). Guilin(桂林) is the location, mi(米) is rice, and fen(粉) in this case means noodle. You can find these noodles all over Guilin and in large cities throughout China. In Guilin, the noodles cost about a dollar, but if you get it with horse meat, it can be up to two dollars. Still very affordable. At the airport leaving Guilin it cost the ridiculous price of $3-$4, the same price I saw at a Guilin noodle shop in Shanghai(上海). I know that isn’t a lot of money, but I was traveling on a budget just out of university.
The dish is typically served in a metal bowl and comes with meat, usually beef or pork. I personally prefer pork as it was often the softer of the two types of meat. Be warned, you can get pig ear zhu erduo (猪耳朵) which contains hair. After realizing what I got, I gave it to a friend. The dish contains the rice noodles with are thick and quickly boiled before being put into your dish. The flexibility in price is based on the amount of noodles you get. Typically peanuts and garlic can be added which I highly recommend. After you have your meat, noodles, peanuts, and garlic, they hand you the bowl, and you can add chili paste to your soup along with the delicious broth. This is all prepared in a facility with questionable cleanliness so you may want to stock up on anti-diarrhea medicine and get your typhoid vaccine just in case.
The dish is said to have been created for the Chinese army a long time ago as they were unable to handle to local food, and it has become a staple through out the region.
Guilin rice noodles are one of the few things I miss the most about China, and I hope you all can have a chance to visit Guilin and try them for yourselves!
