SHOPPPING in GUILIN
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Shopping Guide for Guilin: Things to buy in Guilin
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SHOPPPING in GUILIN
Although Guilin has no notable department stores, this is a good area to pick some nice souvenirs. The area around Mopanshan Dock has a few nice small shops selling gems and other traditional Guilin souvenirs such as Bamboo and wooden carvings. Guilin is an especially good place to pick up some tasty snack food. The oranges and small kumquats around here are very juicy and Guilin people also have a very sweet tooth so it's worth checking out some of their delicious candy.

Yangshuo (about 70 km from Guilin) also has some sweet little boutiques and a great weekend market where you can pick up some nice souvenirs and also some good quality clothing. Yangshuo painted fans make a nice gift and the selection in the town is good. Make sure you bargain hard here however, as the store and stall owners are used to ripping foreigners off!

Bamboo & Wooden Carvings
Bamboo and wood carvings are another local specialty which is popular with tourists in Guilin and Yangshuo. Green bamboo and boxwood are embossed and hollowed out to produce pretty carvings. Typical subjects include landscapes, characters, birds and flowers. Examples of these carvings can be seen in the small handicraft boutiques on Xi Jie in Yangshuo.
Southern Candies
Guilin is famous for its exotic and deliciously sweet food. Candy, including Osmanthus, sesame and peanut flavors, is a local specialty. Candy is often presented to guests at Chinese banquets. These delicious sweets are available all over Guilin in supermarkets and small street stalls.
Sanhua Alcohol
Sanhua is Guilin's local liqueur made from rice and Chinese yeast. The Guilin Sanhua Brewery was established during the Song dynasty, but served only the Royal family! Today, the lethal liqueur is still brewed according to traditional principles and techniques but is now widely available throughout the area. The name of the sprit mean "three flowers" and derives from the fact that the alcohol is brewed three times before it is bottled. This liqueur is transparent and has a mellow and fragrant taste, but also a good kick! Locals believe that the spirit improves blood circulation- perhaps just an excuse to drink some more!
Sweet Osmanthus Wine
Guilin has two vineyards producing two distinct types of Osmanthus wine.

There is a very sweet wine produced here which tastes much like a traditional desert wine. This drink is made by fermenting grape and Osmanthus flowers together and subjecting the fruit and flowers to a soaking, distilling and filtration process. The result is an incredibly aromatic wine which is light in color and taste. The wine is also said to have healing properties that ease indigestion and improve your spirit! (Unless you drink too much!)

The second type of wine produced in the region is a rice wine. This undergoes the same process as the grape wine but here, the grape is swapped for rice. This wine is less sweet and is crystal clear. This wine tastes a lot stronger than the last one too!

Both these wines are widely available in restaurants and bars throughout the city.

Tippy Tea
Tippy Tea is a black tea made in Guillin from leaves plucked from tea plantations in this area. This tea is held to be very healthy and locals believe that drinking vast quantities of it can help keep Cancers at bay. This tea is widely available in Stores in Guillin and costs between RMB100-200 per kilo.
Watermelon Powder
Guilin watermelon powder is renowned for having soothing properties and is taken as a drug to help throat infections and colds. Herbal medicines are very big in china and this is an effective alternative to western pain killers. This particular medicine has won numerous awards and is sold in huge amounts in Hong Kong.
Weaved Grass Craftwork
Woven silver grass is a unique handicraft produced in the Guilin area, traditionally by the minority people. Specially grown grass that is strong enough to be woven is picked from the fields and painted with a restorative oil. The grass is then woven together to make baskets, wall hangings, decorations and even clothing. Examples of this delicate handiwork can be seen at the weekend market in Yangshuo.
Yangshuo Painted Fans
Yangshuo painted paper fans are delightfully delicate and colorful. The fans are available in various sizes but all are made with either silk or paper with bamboo as the fan support. The painted fan undergoes a series of processes including dyeing, mounting and painting with lacquer before it is ready for retail. Local painters in Yangshuo particularly enjoy depicting birds, flowers, insects and traditional Chinese girls. These fans are widely available in Yangshuo in many of the boutiques in the village and also at the weekend market.
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