In the depths of Guizhou Province, China, an ancient and unique culinary tradition offers sustenance during times of grief.
Funeral noodles are much more than just a meal; these noodles are a symbol of community, remembrance, and the enduring cycle of life and when someone sadly passes away, in the Guizhou region, it is a tradition to hold a funeral banquet with a large steaming bowl of noodles, prepared with meticulous care as the centrepiece to nourish those who mourn and to honouree departed.
And when one local blogger shared a post on social media, having attended with his mum, the post quickly went viral, highlighting just how delicious one funeral home’s noodles were. Things then got a bit out of hand. The funeral home promptly became the region’s biggest culinary hotspot as hundreds of curious diners formed long, winding lines around the block, waiting to sample the now-iconic noodles.
The Erlong Funeral Home canteen even had several culture vulture foodie types turning up and pretending to be mourners to get their hands on the noodles. Priced at around 10RMD, which is around £1 in the canteen created specifically for attending mourners, the minced pork and peanut-topped special has become one of China’s biggest and most unlikely culinary hits,
To such an extent that the peculiar rise to fame has led to waiting times of over an hour and a willingness to bend to popular demand, officially opening to the public.
The funeral home management keeps a strict eye over diners and only admits patrons on the basis that they do not interfere with mourning families in the space.
So, if you find yourself in Guizhou, and you have a mad hankering for traditional noodles, you now no longer need to invent a distant relative to enjoy China’s biggest and most unexpected culinary hit of 2025
