To say I was lured to tis city under false pretenses would be doing a great disservice to disservice, but being a low level Chinese town there was at least a street food Chongzuo scene.
What though you ask were the false pretenses that brought me here? Well I was told that Chongzuo was going to be the next Yangshuo and was a great place to invest. It is neither of these things.
What the Chongzuo?
Back in the day this was on the Nanning to Hanoi Railway line, but now that train is not running and you need to take the bus. In fact and at least on my last visit there is now no link from Pingxiang to Chingzuo at all. There is also no high-speed railway line here, but at least still a slow one.
It sits next to Vietnam and in particular the insane Detian Waterfall, which is the only reason to come here.
Street Food Chongzuo and eating in Chongzuo
As a developing city there are plenty of Chinese style franchises and middle range coffee shops and restaurants to eat in. Surprisingly for both a border town and a developing one at that there is relatively little sleaze here, such as pink shops and the like.
There is though street food Chingzuo, which comes out at night and in many places, such as the main drag, but is most eclectic around the Chongzuo Railway Station. Here you will find lots of Chinese BBQ joints, as well as guys knocking back cheap beers every evening.
Chongzuo vs Yangshuo
I ahem to say I had come expecting much more, but save a very few instances of old buildings this is just a developing Chinese city. The worst part about this though is that in many respects it is too developed to ever entice tourists, as well as not being well enough developed to attract them.
Sadly this means that the search for the “next Yangshuo” continues….