One Very Short Life: Yunnan Food

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Yunnan Food - Lijiang

Yunnan is not well-known for her food. Indeed, like Yangshuo, the breakfast food in Lijiang is limited in choices. The common food are Baozi (steamed buns), You Tiao (fried bread stick), Naxi Baba, and not much else.

Food prices in Lijiang are slightly more expensive than Dali. Overall, prices for meals are two to three times more expensive than Chengdu. This made Yunnan food as expensive as Papua New Guinea, and definitely more expensive than Kuala Lumpur.

From Lijiang train station, I arrived at Dayan (Lijiang Old City) at a gate in the south at Xianghe Road. There, two or three stalls were selling Baozi and Naxi Baba. My first pick was Naxi Baba. The taste was just average and I would give it 4/10. Seeing that it was still too early to check into any hostel, I decided to go for the Baozi too. I rated it 5/10.

The street stall where I ordered the Naxi Baba and Baozi

Naxi Baba. Rating 4/10

Baozi (steamed buns). Rating = 5/10

The shops/ hostels were still closed when I arrived at Sifangjie Square. So, I decided to explore the old city with the aid of my Garmin eTrex 20. Along the way, I saw a few fixed stands on the street. This was the location of the night food market (N26 52 28.4 E100 14 03.9). I picked an unknown fried roll but it was just average in taste. I rated it 5/10.

The fixed food stand at the Food Square/ Night Market

Unknown fried rolls being prepared

Unknown fried roll. Rating = 5/10

I thought that I should not just savor street food to get the most out of Lijiang's cuisine. So, I walked into this restaurant close to Mama Naxi Guesthouse for dinner on my first day. From the menu, I chose the picture of the dish that I fancied. What appeared on my table were small pieces of chicken with a little flesh clinging to bones cooked in lots of chilly. Where was all the meat? There were more bones and chilly than meat. The taste was okay and I would rate it 6/10.

The restaurant where I took my first dinner

Spicy bony chicken dish. Rating = 6/10

In Dayan Old City, there were many restaurants and bars besides the stream running along Xinhua Street, between Sifangjie and Big Water Wheel. At night, loud music and singing would be blaring out from loudspeakers. However, for street food, the place to be was the night food market that I mentioned earlier.

Food Square/ Night Market

Tofu with minced meat. Rating = 6/10

Food Square/ Night Market

Sliced bbq pork. Rating 7/10 and a little expensive

Food Square/ Night Market

Jiaozi. Rating 5/10

Food Square/ Night Market

Skewered meat. Rating 6/10

Food Square/ Night Market

I woke up early wherever I travelled. I usually went out to look for breakfast early and very often, only a few food shops had opened. In Lijiang, this food shop was the first to open in the morning and I had been having breakfast here every morning. I had a selection of wrapped flat bread, Baozi, boiled egg and doujiang (soya milk) the first time there. On my second visit, it was beef rice noodle soup.