When you're in Nanning it would be a pity not to try the local food specialties: Rice wrapped in lotus leaf (Heye mifan) and Ali dog hotpot (Ali gourou huoguo) are the must in summer and autumn respectively. So close to Vietnam, Vietnamese food, such as noodles, soups and burgers are also popular.

There area restaurants and night food markets on Hangzhou lu and Chaoyang lu. But at night, Zhongshan Lu is the most popular place for street stalls serving quick-fried shrimps, grilled chicken wings, steamed packets of lotus-wrapped zongzi with deliciously unusual fillings (a mix of pork, beans and sometimes shredded coconut), dog hotpot and plates of juicy snails. 100m down from the Yongjiang Bridge on the north bank stairs lead down to waterfront hotpot tables under an open-sided awning with night views of the bridge. For yum cha and light Chinese meals, there's an excellent place two minutes east of the Nanning Hotel on Gonghe Lu. Roughly opposite the Nanning Hotel, there is a group of inexpensive restaurants serving Cantonese stir-fries, roast duck and chicken. They also have tasty fish casseroles and rice claypots at lunchtime.

Every year, a Chinese Food Festival is held in Nanning. Food lovers can enjoy themselves there by eating the way through China in a day.

Even a McDonald's can be found at 39, Chaoyang Lu, on the first floor of the Nanning Department Store.

Local fruits includes mango, banana, lychee, plum, longan and pineapple.