While my recent escapades with regards to dining on the street had for the most part being disappointing, I had faith the street food Guangzhou airport scene would not let me down. But why the confidence you ask?
That would be because whenever I have been in, or around any airport, train station, or bus station in Guangzhou I have always been greeted with a truly eclectic set of food and hotel options. You see Guangzhou folk are not just great with food, but are also the quintessential capitalists. Therefore where there is demand, there is always an abundance of supply.
In fact my first ever street food article was about some fried noodles near Guangzhou out railway station.
Where the Street Food Guangzhou Airport?
I’d booked a room at the Hilton near Guangzhou Baiyun Airport due to location, being a member and the obvious ease of getting to the airport.
Seeing that it was in an industrial area I was worried there would be few to little choices with regards to eating and drinking. Of course I should have not worried. As it turns out there are a whole plethora of streets both connected to and adjacent to the main area where all the hotels, including the Hilton are located.
Hampden By Hilton Address;
Baiyun District,
Guangzhou City,
Guangzhou,
Guangdong Province, China,
510470•+
86 181 2240 9839
And the street food? Quite literally on the parallel road to the hotel, with there being side streets to weave you through to there.
Street Food Guangzhou Airport
And the street was frankly epic, featuring many Guangdong cuisine joints, buffets, and some other choice Chinese foods. Wanting dishes rather than a smorgasbord I went for the first place serving “dishes”. Alas my lack of Chinese reading ability meant pointing to picture of one of my favorite dishes.
Said Pork and Pepper Stir-fry (辣椒小炒肉) is standard of my old Chinese dining and costs of finally cut bacon like pieces of pork stir-fried with peppers and the vegetables. Alas though as it was in Guangzhou I had to pout up with rice, rather than being able to eat fried noodles.
In between this and the second place that I dined were a number of classic old school street food carts, which for the most part were serving various pieces of a duck. I am not against them, but was not in the mood for it on this day.
One outlier though was woman selling the breakfast wraps that I really like, but also the legendary Chinese Hamburger known as Rou Jia Mo 肉夹馍. I will one day give this dish its own article, but it is usually the first Chinese dish foreigners remember! Why you ask? Because Rou Jia Mo – quite literally meat with bread sounds like Roger Moore in English. This was 8 RMB and a street food Guangzhou airport sensation.
Last on my Guangzhou street food adventure was good old fashioned Kou Rou, or street BBQ. The range here was frankly fabulous and because of proximity to the sea meant really good and well priced squid and fish options. To me it tasted very old school and was pretty perfect combined with some cheap Chinese beer.
Weird Chinese snacks
And as well as the classic street food at Guangzhou airport there were of course mini-marts and convenience stores selling fruit. Veg, booze and of course weird Chinese snacks sold by the “jin” art half kilo. Again these weird snacks, which include so many variations of tofu, and bits of chicken (included jellied) were not on my radar on this day, but will duly get their own article at some point.
My main point here was to buy booze, which I succeeded in to some degree. I once again and as did the previous night purchased a big bolshy can produced by the fine people at Rio, seemingly their foray into the super strength alcopop market. And at 8 percent I have to give them kudos for a job very well done.
Sadly I could not though get any Soju because despite this drink having somehow managed to penetrate the Chinese market, in Guangzhou it is still all about the Bai Jiu. Some people translate this as “white wine” – it is nothing of the sort, rather it is a super strength liquor than is drank religiously in these parts.
This was evidenced by not only the vast array of selection within mart, but also the fact that most everyone in street food restaurants around Guangzhou airport well drinking a bottle. I am sure this is an interesting place to be after midnight……
Overall on the street Food Guangzhou Airport scene?
I have to say that after so many disappointments in Beijing, Dandong, Yanji, Tumen and even Guilin it was great to see so much that was looked and tasted like good old fashioned China.
Ands it was not just the street food Guangzhou airport scene that gave me that feeling, but also Guangzhou as a whole. After seeing next to no0 foreigners in Beijing, or Yangshuo it was refreshing to see that the African community in Guangzhou still very much alive and kicking, thus giving the place a very multicultural feel.
Overall the street food Guangzhou scene was not just good as street food at airports go, but quite frankly has single handedly rekindled my love for Chinese food.