I departed frigid, damp Chengdu on an overnight train to Panzhihua, a city on the border of Sichuan and Yunnan provinces. We woke up in Panzhihua when it was still dark; bleary-eyed, we took a rickety cross-city bus that deposited us at the bus station while the sun rose. After purchasing a ticket for the 8-hour bus ride to Lijiang, we settled in for the long trip. Eight wide-eyed hours later, I had seen some of the most beautiful natural scenery I had ever laid eyes upon.
Located in the northwest corner of Yunnan province, Lijiang is home to the Naxi people, one of the over 50 minority groups in China. Yunnan itself is home to many of these minority groups. According to my guidebook, the Naxi are something of a matriarchal society. The Naxi women were in evidence all over Lijiang, notable in their blue tops, hats, and trademark t-shaped capes.
We stayed in "Old Town", which is actually mostly a reconstruction. In 1996, an earthquake rumbled through Lijiang, leveling much of the town. The Chinese government then poured millions in to reconstructing the old town while staying true to the Naxi architectural style. For their efforts, which I daresay were impressive, Lijiang's Old Town has been named a World Heritage site.
Lijiang now is downright cute, with cobblestone streets criss-crossing little
streams and canals. The balmy weather allows for myriad outdoor cafes and from
inside stalls, vendors halk handmade batiks and other Naxi handicrafts. We of
course had to try the local Naxi food.
The version at the Delta Cafe, which overlooked a canal, was served on toasted Chinese bread. By Chinese bread, I mean white bread that is unnecessarily sweet (to me, anyway). The remaining ingredients included a fried egg, tomato, lettuce, a swab of mayo, a slab of the local goat cheese and some salty hunks of local Naxi-cured ham.
I really enjoyed this sandwich, despite its obvious caloric content. Eating in China really makes you forget such things, you know? The ham in particular was wonderfully fatty, tender and thick. The goat cheese was also interesting; unlike the smoothy, tangy version we eat in the West, this goat cheese wise is very mild, with just a little bit of salt, and has a ricotta-like texture.
Truthfully, I'm not sure how authentic this version of the sandwich was -- I doubt mayo is a part of the original equation, and the bread seemed an unnatural framework for the ingredients, given the sandwich's alleged heritage.
I had read the sandwich was supposed to be served on a baba, the local flatbread. My only choice was to sample such an item the next day at breakfast.
We ordered three babas for our party of six. About 8" in diameter, these dense puffy discs arrived sliced like a pizza. The sheen of the baba indicated that it had been deep-fried. Green and brown flecks represented scallion and dried pork, though neither flavor was particularly strong.
Straight from the fryer, the baba was flaky, dense and greasy. I found it to be reasonably tasty, but not a "must-try". Nonetheless, it was a good, starchy compliment to our noodles.
These noodles were not hand-pulled; I'm pretty sure they were store-bought. Though topped with minced-pork and scallions, the noodles were flavored mostly by a scoop of spicy pickled vegetables. The broth was not overly meaty; I found it rather bland and threw in my now-customary spoonful of chili flakes and some vinegar.
When walking around that morning, we had come across a lady selling what looked like cake out of a tin purchased precariously on a coal-heating barrel. A persuasive, aggressive seller, she convinced each to try a piece for 1 yuan.
The seller billed it as sweet and savory, but that wasn't at all true. It was completely sweet. Most characteristic of this sweet was its unbelievable density. It was so chewy and sticky, it reminded me of bathroom calking (not that I've eaten that). The brown paste on top, sprinkled with sesame, had no noticeable flavor.
Eh... I didn't recommend to anyone that they go find this vendor.
One more Naxi specialty was something I saw at nearly all the local foodstalls. "Zhe shenme yisi?" (What is this?), my question to the seller, was greeted with a grunted response, the transliteration of which I neglected to copy down.
I think it may have been some sort of dofu, or gelatinous cake, fried on one side to create a crisp edge. Maybe it was related to this? But, no, I didn't taste it.
After two days in Lijiang, we left our heavy packs at our hostel and climbed aboard a bus to Tiger Leaping Gorge, a two-hour bus ride away in Qiaotou. More later..
Oh, and that gorgeous Yunnan scenery of the road to Lijiang? Here's a photo... it doesn't come close to doing the area justice.
Posted by Astrid at February 4, 2005 05:17 AM