Fen—Guangxi’s Special Noodles粉——广西的特别“面条”

My hometown， Guangxi， located in the south of China， has a highlight ofdiverse dishes. One of the symbols of Guangxi cuisine（ 菜） is noodles， whichare locally known as fen. The noodles are so well-loved by both locals andvisitors that they are often eaten as a whole meal.

The most famous kind of fen should be Guilin Rice Noodles. The noodlesare topped with chopped scallions（ 葱花）， pickled vegetables（ 酸菜）， slicedpork（ 肉片）， and sometimes fried beans（ 酥豆）. You need to taste it yourselfto find out the reason why it’s popular. That’s because the true heart of thenoodles is in the little soup in the dish—we call it lushui（ 卤水）. The soupis made by boiling marrowbone（ 筒骨）， adding many spices and undergoingcontinuous fermentation（ 发酵）. When lushui is added into the noodles， therewill be a special fragrance（ 香）. Everyone enjoys Guilin Rice Noodles becauseof the fragrance.

Talking about fen， we can’t miss Liuzhou Rive Snail Rice Noodles aswell. If the soul of Guilin Rice Noodles is its fragrance， the soul of River SnailRice Noodles shall be its flavors（ 味道）. The rich flavors come from the soup，which is made from a large amount of spices. Unlike Guilin Rice Noodles，River Snail Rice Noodles are often served with a large bowl of soup. The soupgives the noodles a variety of flavors， such as sour， spicy and salty. Take thedish a try， and you’ll find it delicious. You must find it too hot to eat at first.Next， when you choose to eat it， you’ll discover its unique flavors of sour andspicy. I believe you’ll totally fall in love with the noodles after finishing thedish.

In Guangxi， there are many other fens like the Good Friend RiceNoodles（ 南宁老友粉）， Luoxiu RiceNoodles（ 罗秀米粉） and Yulin RawNoodles（ 玉林生料粉）. They alsoplay an important role in the locals’life. The Guangxi people love fen. Theyregard fen as something they can’t live without. If youare going to visit Guangxi， do in Rome as the Romesdo—that’s my advice.