A Walk Along West Street

Posted by : foongpc | Wednesday, October 7, 2009 | Published in

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Having checked into Xi Jie Hostel in Yangshuo, and planned the following day's itinerary, we rested for a while before going out for dinner.

We would be going for a 5-hour river rafting along Yulong River in the morning and watch the "Impression Liu San Jie" show in the evening. I was extremely excited!

Before dinner, we decided to take a walk along the famous West Street (Xi Jie) which was just a stone's throw from our hostel. It was just as well as we planned to have dinner at one of the restaurants in West Street.

west street 6.2

That's the stone carving with the words "Xi Jie" on it.

west street 2.2

There were a lot of western style restaurants and eateries along Xi Jie street, mostly charging at "tourist" prices. I learnt that some of the shops here were actually opened and owned by foreigners who had settled down and married the local people here. No wonder West Street is sometimes known as "Foreigner's Street"!

west street 5

In fact, it was a very touristy place with bars and all. Kind of reminds me of Bangkok with its go go girls although there were no go go girls here. There were however pretty girls dancing outside the bars! (pity I had to delete the photos as they were not very clear).

west street 4.2

There were a lot of shops and stalls along the street selling anything from clothes, shoes and antiques to paintings, craft works and calligraphy. There were hotels too although I think staying here would be too noisy!

I could see that many foreigners of different nationality walking on this street and a large number of them were also seen enjoying their food at the cafes and restaurants here. I guess foreigners really love West Street!

There were also a lot of local Chinese people here. Maybe to them, walking and shopping in West Street made them feel they were in a foreign country. And perhaps that was the "in thing" to do!

west street 3

Of all the places I visited during my China trip, I have to say I feel most comfortable at West Street. The reason is that a lot of the locals here speak English! Of course, they would still speak Mandarin when they talk to me, but if I responded in English, they could carry on the conversation in English!

I think they really take English seriously! While there, I even noticed there were a number of small schools teaching English! No wonder West Street is known as one of the biggest foreign language centres in China!

After walking for some time, we started to get hungry and decided to check out places to eat. We decided on Cloud 9 Restaurant because we wanted to be on cloud 9! Haha!

This is the entrance to the restaurant which was located on the first floor of the building.

entrance 1.2

There were not many people dining here probably because it was already close to 9pm. But the interior of the restaurant was nice and comfortable.

restaurant interior 1.2

Since we did not have to pay the tour company, we decided to splurge a little bit for our dinner! Some sort of celebration, if you like.

We ordered their famous beer fish.

beer fish 1.2

It was delicious! Wonder if there is any restaurant in Malaysia serving beer fish? Anyway, you can cook your own beer fish with the recipe here.

I guess with the Li River nearby, they would have no problem getting fresh fish!

Next, we ordered their pork and yam dish.

pork and yam 1.2

Another delicious dish! But the yam made it very filling for us. We could not finish it completely!

All meat and no vegetables would not be good, so we ordered broccoli.

broccoli

After a whole day outside cruising on Li River in the morning and visiting the various tourist attractions in Yangshuo in the afternoon, we felt really thirsty. So we ordered Chinese tea, and coupled that with Coca Cola and a bottle of beer!

beer coke and chinese tea 1.2

LiQ beer must be a very popular beer in Guilin and Yangshuo as I could see this brand in almost all restaurants! Since I do not drink beer very often, I really do not know if it was as good as famous brands like Carlsberg, Heineken and Tsingtao.

The bill came up to 139.80 yuan (RM71.30) or about 46.60 yuan (RM23.80) per person.

From Cloud 9 Restaurant, we could see an interesting restaurant opposite called Mei You Cafe. Mei You means "don't have" in English. So what is it that this particular cafe does not have?

I hope it is not mei you food and mei you service! Maybe it's mei you charge! Haha! I shall blog about that in my next post coming right up!

FIRST COMMENTER

(76) Comments

  1. CheaHSan said...

    Oh my fave dish yam & kow yoke

    October 7, 2009 at 8:36 AM
  2. CheaHSan said...

    Yeah saw a foodie Taiwanese tv program introducing the famous beer fish. Must be whoa delicious..

    October 7, 2009 at 8:41 AM
  3. Borneo Falcon said...

    I would love to sample the local beers there as they are not for export

    October 7, 2009 at 8:50 AM
  4. ladyviral said...

    wuarrrghh.. can't be FC again :/

    October 7, 2009 at 8:56 AM
  5. ladyviral said...

    Yummy food...

    Beer Curry? You think it be would allowed that to happen? :P

    The Pork Yam dish look good... yummy~ but since I am watching my cholesterol, I haven't had that for ages. The price is is good for a 3 person meal. About the same as Malaysia huh?

    October 7, 2009 at 9:02 AM
  6. levian said...

    what a lovely street! would love to be there myself. :)

    October 7, 2009 at 9:27 AM
  7. khengsiong said...

    No go go girls? Then maybe massage girls lah...

    If you had stayed in mid-range hotels, you would receive calls in the middle of night. When you picked up the phone, you would hear someone purring, "Sir, do you need a girl?"

    October 7, 2009 at 9:28 AM
  8. manglish said...

    mei you charge? you wait long long ar....hahhaah not in china, okey?! hahha...anyway the yam and pork dish looked amazing....very delicious? the beer fish looked like they just dump everything in and add some beer to make it sound special...for all you know har all the ingredients in there are the nicer part of some rotten tomatoes and et cetera hahaa...:p

    October 7, 2009 at 10:19 AM
  9. Che-Cheh said...

    Fish beer? wah interesting.

    The dishes are quite large in portion. Not bad.

    October 7, 2009 at 10:29 AM
  10. foongpc said...

    cheahs@n, you like the yam and kow yoke? Yes, the beer fish was delicious! : )

    October 7, 2009 at 12:11 PM
  11. foongpc said...

    borneo falcon, go to China and sample it! : )

    October 7, 2009 at 12:11 PM
  12. foongpc said...

    ladyviral, I guess next time you must get ready to open my blog and standby at 8am! Hahaha!

    Yes, must watch cholesterol level except when you are on holiday! Haha!

    October 7, 2009 at 12:13 PM
  13. foongpc said...

    levian, yes it's a lovely street alrite : )

    October 7, 2009 at 12:14 PM
  14. foongpc said...

    khengsiong, yeah, they not only supply girls but guys too! : )

    October 7, 2009 at 12:14 PM
  15. ~Elaine Tam~ said...

    The "pork and yam dish".......Yummy~ extra delicious!!! My favourite!

    I must learn how to cook one ONE DAY..ONE DAY..SOMEHOW...SOMEDAY...heheheh!

    October 7, 2009 at 12:14 PM
  16. foongpc said...

    manglish, after my experience with a tour company that did not chase after us for money, I am inclined to believe that anything is possible, including a cafe that does not charge! LOL!

    The yam and pork dish is yummylicious!

    Well, the beer fish does indeed look like a big dumping in of everything, but it was good! : )

    October 7, 2009 at 12:18 PM
  17. foongpc said...

    che-cheh, yeah, quite large portion, my kind of portion : )

    October 7, 2009 at 12:19 PM
  18. foongpc said...

    elaine tam, yeah, you must learn to cook and then invite me over to eat ... after you perfected your cooking, of course! Haha!

    October 7, 2009 at 12:21 PM
  19. Anonymous

    You guys had a great dinner and the price is great too.

    Hmm..I wonder why the cafe's named Mei You??

    October 7, 2009 at 1:19 PM
  20. Merryn said...

    the fish is drunk? lol.. i like the way u blog bout ur journey. if me, once i'm out of a place, everything's seem soo da same dy! haha

    October 7, 2009 at 3:19 PM
  21. CheaHSan said...

    Let me guess "meiyou shuìwù" [no service tax] OR "meiyou wèijīng" [no monosodium glutamate (MSG)] OR a meat free cafe?

    October 7, 2009 at 3:20 PM
  22. Tekkaus said...

    Finally your new post about your China trip. :) So this is the famous West Street? War..the stone carving is really impressive. Has it been there for a long time?

    October 7, 2009 at 4:03 PM
  23. Tekkaus said...

    Hahaha :D The restaurants are charging at tourist price? But you guys look local. So should be no problem what!

    October 7, 2009 at 4:04 PM
  24. Tekkaus said...

    What? Ouh...so west street is also known as Foreigner street? I see.

    The stalls looks like....er...Jonker Street in Malacca. A few of it. :p

    October 7, 2009 at 4:06 PM
  25. Tekkaus said...

    Hahahaha :D How come suddenly there was this half naked uncle? :p The weather must be hot aye? If not why is he skinless?

    October 7, 2009 at 4:07 PM
  26. Tekkaus said...

    Because you guys didn't pay...now you guys can afford to pamper yourselves more huh! The yam and pork dish must be delicious. The others look so-so to me. :p

    October 7, 2009 at 4:08 PM
  27. Anonymous

    Harlo! 1st time here! All bout foods wor. Nice blog u have :)

    October 7, 2009 at 6:20 PM
  28. [SK] said...

    foong!! it's dinner time and i just came out from the meeting room.. and you make me see that braised pork with yam!! i hate you~~

    October 7, 2009 at 7:34 PM
  29. [SK] said...

    haha, the Xi Jie is really westernised, ancient chinese architecture but all i can see is pubs and restaurants selling pizza.. and even fish is cooked with beer!!

    October 7, 2009 at 7:36 PM
  30. [SK] said...

    hmmm, i think it's not cheap to pay RM23.80 per person for your dinner too..

    October 7, 2009 at 7:37 PM
  31. [SK] said...

    you didn't take photo of that Mei You Cafe and show us?? so looking forward to see you next post about it..

    October 7, 2009 at 7:37 PM
  32. Donna said...

    love broccoli!!

    haha..

    October 7, 2009 at 8:21 PM
  33. lina said...

    foong looks local but he can't speak like a local so have to pay tourist price lah hor... :D

    October 7, 2009 at 8:30 PM
  34. Ken Wooi said...

    the street reminds me of jonker street! haha.. =D

    kenwooi.com

    October 7, 2009 at 9:22 PM
  35. wenn said...

    wow..plenty of delicious food there..

    October 7, 2009 at 11:14 PM
  36. HappySurfer said...

    Very touristy indeed and crowded too. Are the people mostly locals or Chinese people from elsewhere, do you know?

    This looks like a pedestrians only walk and nicely paved.

    Beer fish sounds interesting but the dish looks kinda mishmash. I like the way Manglish put it. LOL! Oops!

    October 8, 2009 at 12:45 AM
  37. HappySurfer said...

    The kaw-yoke is quite a large portion for the three of you. Three of you only, right? Perhaps the chef knew you must be hungry as it was already getting late.

    Are you sure Mei You is translated that way? Jam must be sniggering there..

    October 8, 2009 at 12:49 AM
  38. Pete said...

    Mei You kopi and also mei you gogo girls...ha ha ha!

    October 8, 2009 at 1:33 AM
  39. Ayie said...

    did you hop to another resto right after?

    October 8, 2009 at 2:30 AM
  40. Ayie said...

    the pork dish really looks so delish foong! i'm craving to taste it! the diet nutrition thing given to me by the nutritionist has so much restrictions!

    October 8, 2009 at 2:32 AM
  41. Ayie said...

    looks like i will enjoy that stretch too, i love eating when i go to travel and shopping too! hehe

    October 8, 2009 at 2:33 AM
  42. HEALTH NUT WANNABEE MOM said...

    Beautiful, intriguing and yummy! Through your blog I have visited many places and eaten many delicious foods!

    October 8, 2009 at 7:59 AM
  43. The Pink Blog said...

    The moment I saw the photos of those chinese foods, I can't help but crave for them coz I really love Chinese foods. GreaT tour time in a wonderful place. I wish I can visit that place too one day.

    http://benggee.blogspot.com

    October 8, 2009 at 9:41 AM
  44. Filipina Blogger said...

    Ohh this just made me super hungry.I hope I can visit this place too once in my life

    October 8, 2009 at 9:56 AM
  45. Faisal Admar said...

    omg dear... i thought it was you shirtless in the picture!!!

    October 8, 2009 at 4:19 PM
  46. eiling lim said...

    They should serve you a piece of cloud 9 as dessert! and that place really looke dlike soi cowboy in bangkok to me!

    October 8, 2009 at 6:41 PM
  47. Reanaclaire said...

    hello foong, thanks for coming by my wallop blog.. it reminded me that i hv to add u back cos i lost my blogroll list recently when i changed my domain.. now added back.. phew..

    coming back to yr post.. i love the yam and pork.. and tonite i just took brocolli.. hehe.. notice that u really enjoy the food there..

    October 8, 2009 at 8:24 PM
  48. jam said...

    I still can recall the unique taste of beer fish. I like it! So bad that we only ate once during our time in Guilin. Only if I were not down with diarrhea...

    October 8, 2009 at 9:31 PM
  49. foongpc said...

    mei teng, yeah enjoyed the dinner! You will know why it's called mei you cafe in my next post! : )

    October 9, 2009 at 12:48 AM
  50. foongpc said...

    merryn, no the fish is not drunk! Haha! Glad you like my China trip stories! : )

    October 9, 2009 at 12:50 AM
  51. foongpc said...

    cheahs@n, thanks for more hanyu pinyin yes? : )

    October 9, 2009 at 12:51 AM
  52. Ayie said...

    hi foong! saw your comment on jif pj thought i'd drop by to say hi =)

    October 9, 2009 at 1:08 AM
  53. DC said...

    5 hours of rafting?! How did you survive that?

    October 9, 2009 at 2:46 AM
  54. Willie a.k.a Reptoz said...

    Wow. Such a busy trip!

    October 9, 2009 at 11:55 AM
  55. foongpc said...

    tekkaus, we don't look local! One look and they know we are tourists!

    Looks like Jonker Street? Haha! I like Jonker Street!

    Yeah, the weather was hot, so don't be surprised to see half naked men!

    The yam and pork dish was delicious, but don't judge a book by its cover! The beer fish was good too! I don't mind going to this restaurant to eat again if I have the chance!

    October 9, 2009 at 1:52 PM
  56. foongpc said...

    joshua, hi! Thanks for dropping by! : )

    October 9, 2009 at 1:52 PM
  57. foongpc said...

    SK, no need to hate me lah! Didn't you say it's dinner time? Go eat your dinner! LOL!

    Yeah, West Street is the most Westernised street in Yangshuo. The price we paid was OK, not too high cos the food was nice!

    October 9, 2009 at 1:55 PM
  58. foongpc said...

    dolly, I love broccoli too! : )

    October 9, 2009 at 1:55 PM
  59. foongpc said...

    lina, I don't look like the locals there, and some more carrying a camera. One look they can see I am a tourist! : )

    October 9, 2009 at 1:56 PM
  60. foongpc said...

    kenwooi, really? That's what Tekkaus said too : )

    October 9, 2009 at 1:58 PM
  61. foongpc said...

    wenn, yes indeed! : )

    October 9, 2009 at 1:58 PM
  62. foongpc said...

    happysurfer, not sure if they were local Chinese or from other places! Yes, the pedestrian walk was nicely paved.

    The beer fish was delicious despite its appearance! : )

    Yes, the kow yoke was a little too much for us. Couldn't finish it!

    Jam was the one who told me about this restaurant so no, he definitely was not sniggering. Haha! : )

    October 9, 2009 at 2:02 PM
  63. foongpc said...

    pete, I am not sure about coffee, but definitely mei you go go girls! LOL!

    October 9, 2009 at 2:02 PM
  64. foongpc said...

    ayie,no, we went to mei you cafe the next evening.

    Oh, sorry to tempt you with the pork and yam dish! Hehe. But you must listen to your nutritionist! OK, maybe indulge once in a while should be fine : )

    Who doesn't love eating when go traveling? : )

    October 9, 2009 at 2:09 PM
  65. foongpc said...

    health nut wannabee mom, thanks! Glad you enjoyed reading my travel stories : )

    October 9, 2009 at 2:10 PM
  66. foongpc said...

    the pink blog, you like Chinese food? Great! Then you will definitely enjoy West Street! I wonder how Filipino food tastes like as I have never been to Philippines?

    October 9, 2009 at 2:12 PM
  67. foongpc said...

    filipina blogger, yes you should, and I think I should visit Philippines too! : )

    October 9, 2009 at 2:16 PM
  68. foongpc said...

    faisal, shirtless? Haha! Shirtless or not, I don't look anything like that person in the photo! And I won't even dream of putting my photo on my blog! LOL!

    October 9, 2009 at 2:17 PM
  69. foongpc said...

    eiling, cloud 9 as dessert? Haha! They should, shouldn't they? Like soi cowboy minus the go go girls : )

    October 9, 2009 at 2:18 PM
  70. zewt said...

    hmmm... wonder what i will eat when i am in beijing.

    October 11, 2009 at 10:06 PM
  71. foongpc said...

    reanaclaire, thanks for adding me back into your blogroll! Yes, I enjoyed the food at this restaurant! : )

    October 12, 2009 at 3:01 PM
  72. foongpc said...

    jam, yes I enjoyed eating the beer fish too! : )

    October 12, 2009 at 3:03 PM
  73. foongpc said...

    ayie, thanks for dropping by! : )

    October 12, 2009 at 3:04 PM
  74. foongpc said...

    DC, we survived it! Haha! Actually it's a relaxing rafting. I don't need to row the raft : )

    October 12, 2009 at 3:05 PM
  75. foongpc said...

    willie, quite busy but we need to make use of the time available to do as much as possible! : )

    October 12, 2009 at 3:06 PM
  76. CouLeur de Chiqu3 said...

    just back from guilin !! read my SILK ROAD STORY!!! to much to write but i have publish a bit..one by one...ermm...thnks for ur advice !

    June 29, 2010 at 9:04 PM