Yangzhou, the City of Cuisine

Before starting this travelogue, let's discuss a question with everyone. What do you think are the culinary cities in China?
Chengdu? The popularity of Sichuan cuisine throughout the country has also made Chengdu highly sought after by many foodies. Various internet famous hotpot and skewers can be queued up to the subway station! Xi'an? A Muslim street can allow tourists to enjoy three days and three nights without any duplicates, with a bowl of steamed buns paired with roujiamo and a puff of ice cream. Not only is it delicious, but it's also very satisfying.
But no matter how many cities are listed, Yangzhou will definitely have a name in the food industry. It is one of the cradles of "Huaiyang Cuisine", one of the four traditional Chinese cuisines, and it has the richest food connotation. It is not as easy to spread as Sichuan hotpot. If a hotpot is delicious, you can buy a package of materials and throw them back into the pot. Add water to boil it, and then you can heat the dishes. It's not as commercialized as Xi'an cuisine, where you can take away just by stuffing meat into a bun. Yangzhou's cuisine has too many details, and it is precisely because of these details that it becomes difficult to replicate. If you want to eat it, you have to come over in person! Next, let me tell you all about the delicious and fun things in Yangzhou! Please remember these five 'musts' below

[Travel itinerary reference]:
Day 1: Check into a guesthouse in Changzhou Yangzhou, have dinner at Quyuan Tea House, and watch the performance of "Spring River Flower Moon Night";
Day 2: Fun Garden Tea House Morning Tea, Shouxi Lake Scenic Area, Shouxi Lake Hot Spring Resort Center, Yangzhou Banquet and Dinner;
Day 3: Watching the performance of "Qian Qiu Fen Dai" at a garden in Yangzhou Changzhou

Staying at a guesthouse in Yangzhou is an excellent choice. This time-honored state-owned guesthouse has hosted many well-known figures both domestically and internationally, and its scale and environment are among the best in Yangzhou. And the geographical location is quite advantageous, next to the Black Pearl listed restaurant - Quyuan Tea House, and the Shouxi Lake scenic area is also within easy reach. What reason is there not to choose Yangzhou, which has good conditions and is adjacent to the best and most fun places to eat in Yangzhou?

The floors of the guesthouse are not high, but they are very large, and many buildings are also distinguished by numbers. It is important to clarify this when making a reservation. The building we are staying in this time, Building 8, is the closest to Quyuan Tea House. Even in my room in the morning, I can hear the sound of the restaurant calling.

The hotel has a long history, but the internal facilities are not outdated. Keeping up with the times ensures the facilities of software and hardware, making living very comfortable. The location of the small balcony on the second floor where I live happens to be in the direction of sunset, and the sunlight shining in feels warm and cozy.

Yangzhou must eat - Quyuan Tea House, Yangzhou Banquet

Quyuan is not only a tea house, but also a great place for local residents and tourists to take a morning walk. Early in the morning, my friends and I also came out to take some photos. Around 8 o'clock, all of us arrived and started a morning tea in the private room of the Fun Garden, which I still enjoy to this day!

In fact, when it comes to eating morning tea, many friends will definitely think of Guangdong, and even some people around them have gone there to experience the local life for morning tea. In fact, Yangzhou's morning tea is also worth looking forward to, and its history is even longer than that of Guangdong's morning tea. Its cultural heritage is definitely not inferior to any other city. Although I had heard about the booming morning tea business before coming, I was still a bit shocked to see the scene of queuing. Let me put it this way, by the time I arrived at 8 o'clock, tables of all sizes had already been arranged in the 60s.

However, I would like to say that having such a morning tea in Yangzhou is somewhat "luxurious". The first "luxury" is time, which may take some time to queue up, and then eat it delicately, even taking up a whole morning. The second "luxury" is money. There are mainly two ways to have morning tea. For situations like ours where there are many people, you can choose a private room with a large table, which costs 300 yuan per person; When there are few people, you can choose the booth, and the price is flexible for each person. But per capita consumption may also need to reach over 100.

Luxury is luxury, although this price range is not something that ordinary people can afford on a daily basis, what we eat is cultural and worth it! Let's take everyone to see what good things they have! Exquisite is the characteristic of Yangzhou morning tea, such as the most classic dish of hot dried silk. From the material, this dish is just an ordinary bean product, so it probably won't cost much, right? But precisely this test is the chef's swordsmanship, the finer the cut, the better. Without a foundation of three to five years, one may not necessarily excel.

By the way, there is another way to make dried silk called "boiling dried silk", which has a fresher and more fragrant taste and is commonly used in regular meals.

In addition, various steamed buns are also overwhelming for me. The filling is green jadeite, and it is said that the taste can only be tasted here; San Ding Bao and Wu Ding Bao have extremely rich ingredients and diverse tastes.

And the large crab roe soup bun is a must-have at every table, and many tourists will bring a straw when eating such a big bun. And I learned the correct way to eat it, which is to take a bite on top and then absorb the filling in one breath. My friends followed suit one after another, and the sound of "sizzling" could be heard incessantly in the private room.

I also ate a bowl of seemingly ordinary Yangchun noodles, which were so smooth and fragrant that it couldn't be seen through the eyes. I couldn't help but drink the last drop of soup, leaving a layer of black dots at the bottom of the bowl. It turned out that these were all shrimp seeds! No wonder it's so fresh, it should be particularly nutritious.

In addition, there are too many small dishes and traditional Dim sum to enumerate. I won't go into too much detail here, come if you want to eat! Because other cities and even other restaurants cannot truly imitate it.

We ate until after 10 o'clock in the morning, and this time there were still tourists queuing up at the Quyuan Tea House. We heard that the tables, big and small, had already been arranged beyond number 100. It's not an exaggeration to say that Yangzhou morning tea can last until noon! Moreover, Quyuan Tea House not only offers morning tea, but also two main meals for lunch and dinner. We also had our first dinner here on our first day here.

There are too many dishes, so I will choose four that left a deep impression on me. The first one is chilled crayfish. It is not as simple and rough as the methods of making crayfish like garlic paste and thirteen spice on the market, but is secretly made with flower carving wine. The aroma of alcohol wafted through my nose, without the stimulation of alcohol. Even someone like me who never drinks has eaten a lot.

The second dish is crab roe and lion head, which has been tried as a "knockoff" product in many places. Most places make meat that is firm, but the lion's head from Yangzhou Quyuan Tea House has a soft and chewy texture that melts in the mouth. Combined with the yellowish texture, it's simply a delicious delicacy. Secretly tell you, I ate 2.5 in one breath! 0.5 of them were cut in half with a spoon because I was too embarrassed.

The third one is the Eight Treasures Hu Lu Duck, a well-known delicacy that has appeared on "A Bite of China", and the filming location of the program is also Quyuan Tea House. As early as January of the 30th year of the Qianlong reign, it was recorded in the "Jiangnan Festival Regular Meal Bottom Stall" during Qianlong's southern tour. The key to this dish is to use the whole duck boneless technique to remove the duck bones, while keeping the duck skin intact. Eight types of fillings are brewed into the duck belly and finely crafted into a gourd shape. Duck meat is fresh and tender, with a sticky filling and a savory and fragrant taste.

The last one is Yangzhou fried rice, which is full of topics. This dish of Fried Rice must be the most famous Fried Rice in China. But there are not many that can meet the standards. Because its strict selection of materials, exquisite production and exquisite processing are all beyond the reach of an ordinary bowl of Fried Rice. It's also delicious to eat authentic rice this time!

In addition, the Yangzhou banquet we went to for dinner the next day was also a well-known restaurant in the local area. The decoration style is antique and charming, and upon entering, there is a large sedan chair. Even the production team of "Fengwei" has visited.

The dishes are actually the same as what we had at the previous Fun Garden Tea House. I recommend a drunken crab to everyone, which has a similar flavor to the previous crayfish recipe. Even though it's not yet the season when crab roe is plump, the taste is already incredibly delicious.

There is also a dish of Wensi Tofu Soup, which obviously has the utmost knife skills. It originated in the Qing Dynasty and has a history of more than 300 years. It is said that Emperor Qianlong once tasted this dish and it became a famous dish in the Qing Dynasty. Because it was created by a monk named Wensi, it is called "Wensi Tofu" and has been passed down to this day. I personally think that the sesame cakes paired with the restaurant are particularly delicious.

Yangzhou must visit - Slender West Lake

There are thirty-six West Lakes in the world, but only Yangzhou West Lake is thin. If you open Baidu Maps and search for the name West Lake, you can find not only hundreds, but also dozens. If West Lake in Hangzhou is the most famous, then Slender West Lake in Yangzhou can definitely rank second. But the connotation and highlights here may be unparalleled in the West Lake.

From ancient times to the present, there have been numerous poems and writings praising the slim West Lake. My favorite is the former poet of Qiantang, who is now known as Wang Hang in Hangzhou. When he came to Yangzhou to admire the beautiful scenery of the Slender West Lake, he compared it with his hometown's West Lake and wrote a poem: "The weeping willows continue to pick up the broken Wu, and the geese bite the rainbow bridge like a painting. It is also selling gold in one pot, so it should be called Slender West Lake

The overall shape of Shouxi Lake is "slender and elongated", so it looks more like a river, but it is not. So taking a boat to visit the lake is definitely a routine operation, and in fact, such a boat is also needed because the area is too large, and it is not an easy thing to walk down with two feet. There are also sightseeing buses available on the shore.

The core attraction of the scenic area is called Wuting Bridge, which, as the name suggests, is composed of five pavilions. Known as the "most beautiful bridge in China", it is also the logo of Yangzhou's tourism and one of its landmark buildings. Even bridge building expert Mao Yisheng highly praises it. It is said that the Wuting Bridge was first built in the 22nd year of the Qianlong reign (1757), modeled after the Wulong Pavilion and the Seventeen Arch Bridge in Beihai, Beijing. Building five pavilions above, four wings below, and five out of ten on the front side of the bridge opening. The architectural style is both a southern beauty and a northern grandeur. I personally feel that the water area in this area is also the widest, and the surrounding scenery complements each other, making it the best photo spot for Slender West Lake.

Speaking of bridges, there are really quite a few in Shouxi Lake. Another well-known bridge is called "Twenty Four Bridges", which comes from "Twenty Four Bridges on a bright moon night, where can jade people teach to play the flute. But there are several different sounds about this bridge, one of which is that the Twenty Four Bridges do not refer to a specific number, but rather describe the many bridges in Yangzhou. I suggest personally listening to the tour guide's explanation.

In addition, the garden landscapes on both sides of Shouxi Lake also have many allusions and ornamental value. Generally speaking, it requires a professional tour guide to explain in order to understand. We have been playing for almost a day, and I feel that there is a lot of information, including music, chess, calligraphy, and painting. Coming once only gave us a rough feeling of the surface. It is definitely a treasure trove scenic spot in Jiangsu and even the whole country. No wonder it has the reputation of "the prosperity of gardens, unparalleled in the world".

There are also cultural and creative shops and 1757 food street in Shouxi Lake, two special areas that must be visited. I personally enjoy browsing cultural and creative stores, and wherever I go, I like to buy some local specialties, such as fridge stickers, laptops, and so on. The most popular cultural and creative works online come from the Forbidden City, and many of the cultural and creative works in Shouxi Lake are created by the Forbidden City, possibly due to the origin of Emperor Qianlong's visit to Jiangnan. I also bought a large board of beautiful refrigerator stickers.

The 1757 food neighborhood can solve the lunch problem in the Shouxi Lake scenic area, and tourists also come here for it. Highly recommend this place!

Compared to the restaurants mentioned earlier, this one is more market-oriented. Therefore, most of the food we eat is traditional pastries and snacks from Yangzhou and its surrounding areas. On a hot day, a bowl of liangfen would be perfect.

In addition, there are also some popular snacks across the country that have been integrated here. For example, Chongqing's sour and spicy noodles, as well as taro dessert and so on. Even the popular variety show 'Extreme Challenge' has been here.

By the way, there is also a performance of "Spring River Flower Moon Night" at Shouxi Lake in the evening. If you want to learn about a city, besides visiting museums, the fastest way is to watch such a performance. But not every city has performances, luckily Yangzhou has them!

The performance is inspired by a poem by the Tang Dynasty poet Zhang Ruoxu. From the spectacular scene of Emperor Yang of Sui excavating the Grand Canal to the poetic imagery of "Fireworks Under Yangzhou in March," from Du Shiniang's poignant love to Shi Kefa's heroic battle spirit, from the melodious singing of jasmine flowers to the full blessings of fireworks throughout the venue, the entire performance is intricately arranged. In one hour, visitors will have a clear understanding of Yangzhou's history, and after watching it, they will have a deeper understanding of the city.

Yangzhou Must Soak - Skinny West Lake Hot Springs

The trip to Shouxi Lake ended in the afternoon, and my feet were tired from strolling around. We arrived at the hot spring resort directly across from the north gate of Shouxi Lake. There is a saying in Yangzhou tourism that goes, 'Water covers the skin in the morning, and skin covers the skin in the evening.';. This is the most appropriate way to describe Yangzhou.

Firstly, the hot spring resort relies on the unique advantages of Shouxi Lake, and then builds a complete tourism, vacation and leisure system with rich cultural history as its foundation. In addition to being able to soak in hot springs, this place also offers a series of supporting services such as catering, entertainment, SPA, etc. I personally think that the foot repair knife in the "Three Knives of Yangzhou" is very worth experiencing. If you are a family member or a friend, you can choose to live in a villa. There is a private hot spring bathing pool inside, and you can enjoy the happiness of your family.

Attached are the precautions before soaking in hot springs:
Before soaking in hot springs, remove the metal jewelry worn, otherwise it may react chemically with the minerals in the hot springs, causing the jewelry to change color;
2. Do not take a bath on an empty stomach or when you are too full to avoid symptoms such as dizziness, vomiting, indigestion, and fatigue;
When entering the water, it should be soaked gradually from low temperature to high temperature, for 15-20 minutes each time;
When soaking in hot springs, one should drink plenty of water and replenish lost fluids at any time;
5. When taking a hot spring bath, you should be relaxed. You can apply a facial mask to relieve physical and mental pressure.

Yangzhou must visit - a garden

Suzhou's gardens are well-known, and in fact, Yangzhou is no exception. The Yangpai gardens such as Geyuan and Heyuan in the city have extremely high ornamental value. Geyuan is located in the northeast corner of Guangling District, Yangzhou City, Jiangsu Province, at No. 10 Yanfu East Road, with the bustling Dongguan Street outside. Before entering the park, we went to see the neighboring Fuyuan's' Qian Qiu Fen Dai '.

Speaking of Fuyuan, we have to go into detail. The ancient cosmetics brand "Xie Fuchun" in Yangzhou was the first cosmetics enterprise in China, with a history dating back to the 10th year of the Qing Dynasty's Daoguang reign (1830), and was awarded the title of "Chinese Time honored Brand". The performance of "Qian Qiu Fen Dai" is based on the cultural background of song, dance, and folk art, and is very worth watching.

Continuing on to visit the garden. In fact, this is a private garden belonging to a salt merchant's mansion in the Qing Dynasty, indicating that the salt merchants in Yangzhou were also wealthy at that time. The origin of its name, I think, is simple yet somewhat wonderful The character "one" is named after the three leaves at the front of the bamboo leaves, which form a "one" shape. The garden is also filled with bamboo.

But the park is not just about looking at bamboo. The core scenic spot that can be viewed is the rockery created in the four seasons of spring, summer, autumn, and winter, which is also the most wonderful point of the garden. The rockery, consisting of bamboo shoots, lake stones, yellow stones, and suitable stones, is a unique example in the four seasons of spring, summer, autumn, winter, and winter. It integrates the principles of garden design and landscape painting, and is praised by the garden master Mr. Chen Congzhou as a "rare example" in China.

In fact, the area of a garden is not very large, but there are many small scenery suitable for taking photos. Friends who like the garden itself can listen to the tour guide's explanations more often. If you enjoy taking photos, it is definitely great to find more small scenery for composition.