Zhengyang Pedestrian Street

Zhengyang Pedestrian Street runs along Zhengyang Road in the Xiufeng District of Guilin, Guangxi, China, and is the commercial and food heart of the city. The traffic-free street is lined with shops, rice-noodle restaurants, souvenir stalls, bars and cafes, and it connects to the Zhongshan Road gateway leading to the lakes. Guilin rice noodles, served in a broth with pork, pickles and chilli, are the signature local dish, and many small shops along the street and its side lanes specialise in them. Other snacks include Lipu taro dishes, beer fish, and sweet osmanthus pastries. Souvenir stalls sell silk, tea, cassia products, Guilin chilli sauce and handicrafts, and bargaining is expected at street stalls. Shops generally open from around 9:00 AM to 10:00 PM, while the street itself stays open all day and is busy until late. The area is free to enter, and a walk along the street takes one to two hours with stops for food and shopping. The street is a short walk from the Sun and Moon Pagodas and the Two Rivers and Four Lakes, so many visitors combine them in an evening. Evening is the liveliest period, with neon signs, street musicians and crowds, and weekends and holidays are packed, so pickpocketing is a risk and bags should be kept closed. Lunch hours bring queues at the best-known noodle shops. Buses 2, 12 and 99 stop nearby, and taxis are cheap from other parts of the centre. The pavement is flat and well paved, making it easy to explore with children or on foot. Prices in tourist restaurants can be higher than in side-street shops, so checking the menu before sitting down helps.