Known as the gateway of 3 provinces and quite literally in the shadow of Xian, I reentered this town with fairly little expectation. I was though at least hopeful that there was a street food Yuncheng scene.
And this was largely based around the fact that not only did I first visit 18 years ago, but I at least to some extent reminder it having a vibrant street scene. And not just that, but friendly welcoming people.
Table of Contents
What the Yuncheng
As stated the town is located just an hour from Xian on the fast train and is semi-famous for at least a few things. Firstly it is the “home” of legendary general Guan Yu – although there are questions about if the ginger haired little fella ever actually existed.
Secondly it is home to the “Dead Sea of China”. Because of said sea, that is of course a lake there is also a renowned salt bath and mud bath health centre/resort, which we will cover later.
Oh and they famously are bait of hub for the building of tractors that you get to seen the road…
Yuncheng 2016 vs 2024
I wont delve too much into this, for I shall cover it in a Yunchneg guide, but things as they do in China have changed greatly. In the naughties I vitiated because there was a small passage about it kn the Lonely Planet and it made a great detour from Pingyao.
Back then there were no hotels of note (we stayed in a very local place) and there ere few cars and big buildings. Now is a street filled with high-end hotels, such as the Hilton and even traffic jams. I also remember the Yuncheng street food to have been quite rustic then. That is though not to say the street food was that varied or ended that good.
Street Food around Yuncheng in 2024
As with most Chinese cities and now even towns and villages thee is no life around the fast trains stations with it instead being around the main central one and of course the centre town. Although with that being said there are pockets around the whole town, this being a Bruce bonus with any small Chinese destination.
The main main street food of Yunchneg though is to be found on “Jiu Dian Lu”, or hotel street.
Night food and nightlife Yuncheng – Yanhu District
A hotel street might not seem all that impressive, but quite literally 20 years ago it consisted of a few beaten up mom an pop shops. Nowadays it is pretty much filled with while not huge brands (mostly) high end looking hotels. An exception to this is one Hampton by Hilton.
Said street is on East Tiaoshan Street in the in Yanhu District. On said street there are quite literally back to BBQ restaurants of all persuasions. Many of them have seating outside filled with guys eating, drinking, singing and enjoying Kou Rou. This makes East Taoshan road also the nightlife centre of Yuncheng. Again in stark contrast to 18 years ago, when it was one very very strange nightclub.
Street Food Yuncheng – Yunhu District
Just opposite hotel street on East Tiashan Road lies the Street Food Yuncheng Street, something proudly signposted as you enter. Yet signpost or not you realize where you are as the nectars sprawl out even from the entrance. You are then greeted by a plethora of sites, sounds smells and street food.
Now, while I don’t want to be constantly over impressed by every places street foods, this was truly not just a success, but one of the best I have been to in a long time. I will justify this a bit latter. There were though close to a 100 stalls I estimate, with the selection being much electric than I have seen for a long time.
What was the Yuncheng street food like?
It would be impossible for me to list everything that they had, quite literally because they had so much, but I will at least point out the best bits and indeed what I tried.
Overall there is a lot of BBQ, or Kou Rou here, with most fitting into the classic Chinese genre. There were though many other variants, which included much deep fried meat, duck specialities, as well as vegetable BBQ’s and even group shared Ma La Tang where I assume you pay for what you eat.
Of course there were noodles and other main meals, but also strange little places that concentrated on just a few, or even one dish. My first test of this came from what was quite literally a bus. Yet despite this huge open air affair that had outdoor dining as well, they mainly just concentrated on cold noodles (link). They were though Shanxi cold noodles, rather than Shaanxi noodles you understand,
Did they taste alike? Well of course they did, after all they are neighbors, but any bowl of noodles that costs under $1 is frankly OK with me. Alas he had no drinks, not just booze but soft drinks.
My next encounter came with a guy who thought I was Russian and sold sausages, as well as pis feet for about $4. I duly had one pig foot. These are nowhere bear as bad as western people think, but area also not as great as the Chinese think. I truly am a cross-culture kid!
And for desert?
I found one lady early on that was selling cubes of frozen yogurt on a stick that were around 12 cents for a cube of said dish. The lady seemed genuinely polite and not trying to push sales. Because of said kindness I went out and splashed almost 50 cents.
The next friends made come closer to East Toxin Street whee one could buy fresh orange juice for just $1.50, which was fairly close to perfect and even cake iced-cream.
And what flavor did I get? Durian of course, my new favorite sporty fruit pall.
In conclusion? Apparently I say conclusion a lot, BUT in my conclusion not just the street food street, but the food in vernal are enough to make this town a wee bit special.
Therefore street food Yuncheng gets a firm upwards fist bump from me, beating off much bigger locales, such as Guilin, Yangshuo and even Dandong when it comes to street jollies in 2024.