People pose as mourners to try China funeral home’s rice noodles   

A funeral home in China has become an unexpected destination for foodies – with some even posing as mourners – all for the chance to try its famous rice noodles.

The noodles became viral after a food blogger raved about them being served at the canteen of Erlong Funeral Home in Kaili city, located in the south-western province of Guizhou.

As a result, the eatery – which caters for the funeral home’s customers – has been packed in recent weeks, according to media reports, with many people posing as relatives or friends of people holding funeral services there.

The noodles, at 10 yuan (S$1.85) a bowl, come in four variations: spicy chicken, pig’s trotters, mixed meat and minced pork.

The most popular variation is noodles topped with minced pork and peanuts.

An Erlong worker told Chinese daily Jiupai News that at times, diners have had to wait for a couple of hours to get their food due to the long queues.

“There have been people pretending to be relatives of the deceased, it’s hard to tell them apart when it gets crowded, and it’s hard to manage,” the unnamed worker said.

Erlong has since announced it will allow some members of the public to eat at its premises, the BBC reported.

For starters, it will offer 50 bowls of noodles every day to the public for free, as long as “they do not disturb people who are in mourning”, an Erlong chef said.

While locals in Kaili have long known about the mouth-watering noodles, they became popular in February 2025 after some social media users posted about them.

“My friend says the food at this funeral home is so good,” a user who wanted to try the noodles wrote on Chinese social media app Xiaohongshu. “The queue for food is longer than the queue to lay flowers for the deceased.”

Another post said: “Their chefs could start a restaurant on their own, calling it Funeral Home Rice Noodles.”