Food
When you're in Nanning it would be a pity not to try the local food specialties:
Rice wrapped in lotus leaf (Heye mifan) and Ali dog hotpot (Ali gourou huoguo)
are the must in summer and autumn respectively. So close to Vietnam, Vietnamese
food, such as noodles, soups and burgers are also popular.There area restaurants
and night food markets on Hangzhou lu and Chaoyang lu. But at night, Zhongshan
Lu is the most popular place for street stalls serving quick-fried shrimps,
grilled chicken wings, steamed packets of lotus-wrapped zongzi with deliciously
unusual fillings (a mix of pork, beans and sometimes shredded coconut), dog
hotpot and plates of juicy snails. 100m down from the Yongjiang Bridge on the
north bank stairs lead down to waterfront hotpot tables under an open-sided
awning with night views of the bridge. For yum cha and light Chinese meals,
there's an excellent place two minutes east of the Nanning Hotel on Gonghe Lu.
Roughly opposite the Nanning Hotel, there is a group of inexpensive restaurants
serving Cantonese stir-fries, roast duck and chicken. They also have tasty fish
casseroles and rice claypots at lunchtime.Every year, a Chinese Food Festival
is held in Nanning. Food lovers can enjoy themselves there by eating the way
through China in a day. Even a McDonald's can be found at 39, Chaoyang Lu, on
the first floor of the Nanning Department Store.Local fruits includes mango,
banana, lychee, plum, longan and pineapple.
As the provincial capital, Nanning is the commercial center of Guangxi and offers you many shops and markets with numerous specialties. Nanning is also the capital of the Zhuang Autonomous Region,so you will find a lot of Zhuang artifacts. The local Zhuang brocade is most renowned for its floridity and durability. Embroidered balls are another popular souvenir; Traditionally young Zhuang women throw such balls to their beloved ones as a keepsake.Xingning district is a major commercial area with numerous shops lining the streets. The city garden and flower market is an ideal place to find bonsais, root carvings as well as some antiques and drawings. The Nanning Antique Store offers samples of traditional Chinese culture and local Guangxi culture. Shops are also clustered around Chaoyang Lu where you can find some local specialties.
The Guangxi International Folk Song Festival in is one of the most renowned festivals across the country. There are performances by artists from different ethnic cultures.Nanning is a great place to view traditional activities of local minorities. The most interesting activities includes: The Chinese Rugby (Qiang huapao): a two team contest. Both sides try to settle a iron ring into the opponent's basket. The Zhuang Long-board Shoes Dance (Banxie wu): Shoes of the dancers are fastened on two long boards. The Zhuang Stilt Soccer (Gaoqiao zuqiu): Players step on stilts and kick the ballThe Miao Pole Climbing (Pa pogan): Miao lads showing their climbing skill by even incredible reverse climbing.One of the most famous events in Nanning is the annual Dragon Boat Race (Sai longzhou) along Yong River (usually in June).Dragon Boat Regattas are held throughout China and date back to 278 B.C.: Famed poet Qu Yuan, banished to the countryside, roamed the villages composing prose and poetry about his love for his people and country. When he learned that his state had been invaded by a government he viewed as corrupt, he drowned himself in the Mi Lo River. Local fishermen, who loved the poet, jumped in their boats and raced out to save him. But they were too late. The fishermen spent the night beating the water with their paddles to prevent his body from being eaten by fish and to scare away river demons. They threw rice dumplings into the river as a sacrifice to his spirit. Today the dragon boats are elaborately decorated, with a carving of a dragon's head on the bow and a dragon's tail on the stern. They are manned by anywhere from 20 to 100 oarsmen, a healms person and a drummer who sit in the middle and the rear and set the pace of the rowing. And today in Nanning the winner is awarded a baked pig. A prize also goes to the best-decorated boat.In preparation for the event, boats are blessed with charms and spells to keep away disaster. This festival marks the time of the year when days and nights are nearly equal. The darkness, or Yin, struggles against the symbol of light and warmth, or the Yang. The Dragon Boat Races are thought to aid in the equalization of the two forces. Dragon Boat Festival is marked also by arts and crafts displays, and dragon boat folk performances--comical and cultural shows that are acted out from the boats. Everyone eats zongzi, a glutinous rice dumpling wrapped in bamboo or reed leaves, shaped like a pyramid. The zong zi represents the rice dumplings thrown into the river in honor of Qu Yuan.