Guizhou cuisine is renowned for its bold, spicy, and sour flavors, and now, an unexpected hotspot for food lovers in China has emerged— a funeral home. This all started after a noodle dish from the Erlong Funeral Home’s canteen went viral on social media.
Located in the southwestern province of Guizhou, Erlong Funeral Home’s canteen primarily serves those handling funeral matters, but as news spread about the delicious noodles, many foodies began to flock there—some even posing as mourners to get a taste.
In response to the surge in visitors, Erlong has now announced that it will allow a select number of members of the public to dine at its premises, with the condition that they don’t disturb the grieving families.
The canteen serves a variety of noodle dishes during breakfast and dinner hours, each priced at 10 yuan ($1.38; £1.09) per bowl. The most popular dish is said to be noodles topped with minced pork and peanuts.
An Erlong worker told Jiupai News that the canteen initially only served those dealing with funeral arrangements. However, as the popularity of the noodles grew, outsiders started sneaking in to get a bowl. Sometimes, the lines became so long that people would have to wait for hours to be served.
“Some people pretend to be family members of the deceased—it’s hard to tell them apart when it’s crowded, and managing the situation has become difficult,” the worker explained.
To cope with the demand, the funeral home has now decided to offer 50 free bowls of noodles to the public every day, as long as they don’t disrupt the mourning process, according to the chef in an interview with local media.
The craze appears to have started earlier this month when a social media user posted about the funeral home’s food while visiting a friend in Guizhou, a province famous for its spicy and sour dishes. “My friend says the food at this funeral home is so good,” the user wrote on Xiaohongshu (RedNote). “The queue for food is longer than the one for flowers for the deceased.”
Since then, more and more social media users have shared their experiences trying the noodles. On Douyin (Chinese TikTok), one user posted a photo of the canteen’s tickets, showing a crowd waiting for food. “I heard the noodles here were very good,” they wrote. “I thought about how short life was, so I got another bowl.”
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