Gourmet Traveller

GUILIN, CHINA
A short way outside Guilin city centre, set back from the Peach Blossom River beneath Bright Mountain, Reed Flute Cave is the archetypal stuff of local legend, with stalactite and stalagmite piled one upon the other above limpid pools and lit in the sharpest of primary colours. Once a refuge for the citizens of Guilin fleeing Japanese bombs and roaming bandits, more recently a venue for political rallies in the heady days of the Cultural Revolution, the cave is now swarming with tourists during the day, and – on occasion – filled with up to 500 conventioneers who are brought here in the evening for formal black-tie dinners amid such poetically named formations as the Dragon Pagoda and the Crystal Palace. The cave’s transformation – from hosting Mao jackets to dinner jackets – is perhaps one of the best snapshots of the development of Guilin’s cuisine over the past few decades.
To read the full article on Guilin by Edward Peters plus lots more on food, wine and travel simply click on to the digital edition: www.f1colour.co.uk/DE/Food&Travel/APRIL09.htm
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