Dali is a little village with expanding tourism potential set against picturesque mountains on the banks of the expansive Erhai Hu (a lake) in the middle of Yunnan. Home of the Bai minority group, Dali is a good 8-hour train or bus from the provincial capital of Kunming, and it's miles away from the hustle and bustle of a Chinese city.
Dali boasts just a few streets that tourists meander, each lined with craft vendors, marble hawkers (Dali is famous for its marble) and local girls dressed up in traditional Bai costume charging 25 kuai for a photo. Of course, there are also local food vendors.
I spent three and a half days in Dali, resting on my laurels and recovering my trek through Tiger Leaping Gorge. Besides shopping, the local alleys offer not much to do with the exception of dining and lounging. On my first afternoon in Dali, I examined a few street food offerings. The first of my samplings was something I will call a "Yak Pop".
After being spread with yak butter, the dough is roasted open an open coal fire, melting the butter and spreading it all over the dough.
As the butter melts, the vendor twists the dough around a chopstick, forming a sort of "roll-up" around the stick. The dough itself crisps.
Yak butter, as a flavor, is unctuous and unforgettable. It's an acquired taste (I acquired mine during a meal in Chengdu). My travelling companion wrinkled her nose in contrast.
Yak butter, though pungent, is mild. It dominated the dough flavor and left an animalistic slick on one's tongue, but it didn't offend in a big way. The end product is like chewing on a greasy tortilla, folded many times.
I only ate one of these yak pops in Dali. Though vendors lined the streets sellng just these items, I never saw the "pops" anywhere else in my travels. I enjoyed sampling one, but wouldn't consider it a "must-taste" to any visitor to Dali. Unless of course, you love the taste and smell of yak products.
Posted by Astrid at February 24, 2005 05:18 AM