Nanning Information

Nanning The South Western Chinese Capital.
Nanning is the gateway to the Indo-China Peninsula to the west and in the east, Guangdong, Hong Kong, Macao and Hainan and Nanning airport with over 20 domestic and international airlines is best placed to link the countries of Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia. Especially close to the Vietnam border, Nanning is the China to Vietnam connection point.
Nanning hosts the ASEAN exhibition every year.
Good road and rail services providing the essential link to the rest of China and the all important Yongjiang river, taking most of the city's exports to various destinations overseas.
With urban development rapidly growing, Nanning is a city that attaches great importance to improving the natural environment and has acquired the title of the 'greenest city in China'. Mainly due to the abundance of Parks and green spaces, the street trees and colourful seasonal planting displays.
Nanning runs at a much slower pace than other cities in China I have visited, which, I feel makes it a more enjoyable city. The Pizza Huts, KFCs and McDonalds have to some extent given it that 'Western' look in places but have not, as yet, taken over. Food is relatively cheap both cooked and uncooked, so eating in or out is a cheap and easy task with so many restaurants and fresh food markets.

I would describe Nanning cooking as full of flavour, often fairly dry (none or very little Gravy) and more often, spicy, with the usual abundance of ginger and garlic added to most dishes. Roast duck is very popular, probably due to the belief that the meat is good for the liver.
Nanning cuisine includes the eating of preserved fruits and vegetables (sour pickles). In this hot climate, the safest way to preserve the fruit was to pickle it. Pickles include cabbage, olives, mango, peaches, plums and pawpaw.
Also worth noting, a lot of activity stops from 12 midday till around 3 pm most days, siesta time. The main shops remain open, supermarkets etc but do not be surprised to find the smaller shops, some venues and offices either closed or running on reduced staffing levels at this time.
Getting around Nanning is, in theory, easy, in practise, sometimes not. Taxis are numerous and the fares start at around 8 RMB, a short 15 minute ride cost around 10/12 RMB. I find the rates very affordable for those journeys that require speed.
If you have time, take a bus, cost around 1.2 RMB also in plentiful supply and don't be surprised if you get on the right number bus only to find you are going in the wrong direction, even the Nanningers get it wrong occasionally. All part of the fun.
I said, if you have time, as sometimes depending how busy things are, it can take a while to get across town on a bus, my trips across town have varied from 10 minutes to 90 minutes.

If the hustle and bustle are not to your liking then it is possible to quickly get away from the urban sprawl and find peace and tranquillity, rural China does still exist in Nanning.

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