Tibetan Tuba can be considered the Tibetan equivalent of a reunion meal, typically enjoyed on the 29th day of the 12th lunar month, similar to dumplings in inland China. Some dough tubas are stuffed with stones, chili peppers, charcoal, or yarn. Each item carries a specific meaning: a stone signifies a hard heart in the coming year, yarn a soft heart, charcoal a black heart, and chili a sharp tongue…
Origin and Distribution: Native to the highland grasslands of eastern Tibet Autonomous Region, with the best quality found in Jiali County. They are also distributed in the southwestern mountainous regions, inhabiting alpine and humid grasslands at elevations above 4,000 meters. Physical Characteristics: Relatively large body size, compact build, long body with short legs, loose and thick hide but no dewlap. Back is flat, belly is large but not pendulous…
Wooden Bowl Wooden bowls are commonly used household items among the Tibetan people and are also exquisite traditional handicrafts. When visiting a Tibetan family, guests usually drink tea and eat tsampa (roasted barley flour) using their own wooden bowls. Especially in rural Tibet, herders often carry wooden bowls with them even when going to others’ homes, so that the host can serve them tea...
Blown Lung and Blown Liver, also known as salted pig lung and pig liver, are among the unique cured meat products of the Tibetan people. They have a fragrant and savory taste, are not greasy, offer a refreshing and appetizing flavor, and make an excellent cold dish. They can be taken out and consumed anytime and can be preserved for about one year. Method: 1. For Blown Lung, use a fresh pig lung and blow air into it from the throat while gently patting the lung with your hand to expand it. Then mix an appropriate amount...
· Ingredients: 150g raw sheep tendon, 15g soaked wood ear fungus, 15g dried daylily, 20g broad bean starch, 3g ginger, 20g vegetable oil, 3g pepper, 5g alkali, 3g prickly ash powder, 3g salt, 1g MSG, 10g scallions, 10g sesame oil, 5g garlic (white skin)...
Yunnan Ma Duck Breed Description Origin and Distribution: A medium-sized dual-purpose breed for both eggs and meat. Mainly produced in northwestern Yunnan, as well as in Qujing, Yuxi, Kunming, Honghe, Wenshan, Baoshan, Xishuangbanna, Simao, Dehong, Chuxiong, Zhaotong, and other areas, covering the entire province of Yunnan. In addition to being used for producing table eggs, a significant portion...
The Yi people have been eating chunky meat for almost as long as their culture has existed. Chunky meat can be said to be the most representative dish in Yi cuisine. As the name suggests, it involves cutting meat into chunks and boiling them. Pork, beef, mutton, and chicken can all be made into chunky meat. Among the various types, young pig chunky meat is the most famous...
Angelica sinensis, a plant of the genus Angelica in the Umbelliferae family, functions to enrich and harmonize blood, moisten dryness and lubricate the intestines, break up blood stasis and generate new tissue, relieve pain and regulate menstruation. It is an essential herb for treating headaches and backaches due to blood deficiency, deficiency fatigue accompanied by fever and chills, dry and hard stools, rheumatism, blood stasis from wounds, abscesses and swelling with pain, as well as various gynecological blood disorders. The root head is used in dishes such as chicken or meat stew, serving as a warming and strengthening tonic with benefits for replenishing weakness...
Gastrodia elata, also known as Chi Jian, Ding Feng Cao, or Shui Yang Yu, is a precious medicinal herb capable of treating headaches, dizziness, vertigo, migraines, blurred vision, and speech impediments. It is also used to address various conditions such as wind-cold-damp arthralgia, limb spasms, and infantile convulsions. In recent years, it has been used to treat hypertension and neurasthenia. According to relevant sources, Gastrodia elata is only produced in Eastern Asia...
"Yun Gui" refers to the premium angelica produced in Yunnan, grown in mountainous areas above 2,300 meters in places such as Lijiang and Jianchuan. It is large in size, white in color, and has a strong fragrance, making it one of Yunnan’s most exported medicinal herbs. "Yun Gui" has the effects of promoting blood circulation, enriching blood, regulating menstruation, relieving pain, and moistening the intestines to relieve constipation. It is also commonly used as an ingredient in various soups. Angelica is known as...
The dried root of *Saussurea costus*, a tall, perennial herbaceous plant in the Asteraceae family. Originally called "muxiang" (costus), it was historically imported through Guangzhou, hence the name "Guangmuxiang" (Guang costus). In 1935, a businessman from Heqing, Yunnan, Zhang Xiangchen, obtained costus seeds from their place of origin, India, and sent them to his nephew living in Yunnan...
Jinsha Red Pottery is a new product developed in recent years by the Huangshan Nationality Pottery Factory in Lijiang County. Its products mainly fall into two categories: daily-use pottery for the Naxi people and arts-and-crafts pottery, comprising over forty varieties. Among the daily-use pottery, the distinctive “Two Dragons Soaring Ghee Pot,” rich in Naxi ethnic characteristics, was recognized as a high-quality product at the 1983 National Ethnic Minorities’ Daily-Use Products Evaluation...
The Jinsha River flows through Yongsheng County for 215 kilometers, passing through 8 townships and 180 villages. Due to the abundance of alluvial gold in the Jinsha River, Yongsheng has become one of the main counties producing river gold in Yunnan. Historical records indicate that Yongsheng (formerly known as Yongbei Prefecture) began gold panning and smelting as early as before the Yuan Dynasty, boasting a history of over 500 years. …
Are a traditional legume crop in Lijiang. In recent years, with the increase in export earnings from white kidney beans, the mountainous areas of Lijiang have focused on developing white kidney bean products as a key industry to help lift the region out of poverty. The white kidney bean industry in Lijiang has become one of the province’s major bases for legume exports. Just the two townships of Liming and Ludian in Lijiang produce over 40…
A microscopic, invisible plant that floats on the surface of Chenghai Lake in Yongsheng. Under a microscope, it appears bluish-green, non-branching, and filamentous, resembling a coiled spring—hence the name "spirulina." Chenghai Lake in Yongsheng, Yunnan is currently one of the world’s three major freshwater lakes where spirulina grows naturally, following Lake Chad in Central Africa and Lake Texcoco in Mexico…
In the 1920s, during his 27-year stay in Lijiang, the renowned Austrian-American botanist Dr. Joseph Rock introduced the "Shangri-La" — a hidden paradise — and the Dongba culture to the Western world. At the same time, he was amazed to discover that deep in the mountain valleys around the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain and Lugu Lake, where most vegetation withered during the harsh winter, there grew a unique plant — the Prinsepia utilis Royle. This remarkable plant bloomed with beautiful flowers, demonstrating an extraordinary vitality as if to proclaim, “While all else sleeps, I alone am awake.” It is truly a rare gem among the world’s woody oil plants. Local ethnic minorities who have long consumed Prinsepia utilis oil often enjoy longevity, with many people over eighty still able to work or hunt. They regard the Prinsepia utilis fruit as sacred and worship it. The introduction of pure, natural, high-grade edible Prinsepia utilis oil into people's lives is a first both in China and internationally. Modern scientific research has confirmed that this oil is rich in various essential fatty acids and fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, K, along with a variety of bioactive substances. Its unsaturated fatty acid content exceeds 70%, closely resembling the composition of human lipids. Nutritionists praise it as “edible cosmetics” and “a new source of essential fatty acids for humans.” (Lijiang)
Chicken Bean Jelly is a cold noodle-like snack made from the flour of a local bean in Lijiang known as chicken bean (also called "chicken fava bean"). The beans are ground into powder, strained into a slurry, and then formed into jelly. Due to the high melanin content in chicken beans, the jelly has a black appearance, hence it is also commonly referred to as “black jelly.” In the past, officials unfamiliar with its true nature mistakenly documented it in the Qianlong-era *Lijiang Prefecture Records* as “black tofu,” though in reality, this so-called “black tofu” is what we now call “black jelly.” For hundreds of years in both the old and new districts of Lijiang, chicken bean jelly has remained a long-standing and beloved snack. It can be eaten cold in summer or hot in winter. When served cold, it’s typically mixed with seasonings such as vinegar, soy sauce, chopped green onions, garlic, and sesame oil, offering a refreshing and appetizing flavor that also helps prevent motion sickness. When served hot, the jelly is pan-fried in sesame oil until golden on both sides and then topped with seasonings. It can also be enjoyed dry or pan-fried after drying.
Preserved pork belly, also known as "pipa meat" or "pipa pork," is a unique type of cured meat product made by the Mosuo and Puhuo peoples living around Lugu Lake in Ninglang and on the Yongning Plain. The production method involves: during the deep winter season, completely depilating and cleaning a whole fattened pig, then making an incision along the belly to remove the internal organs and bones. The inside of the pork belly is rubbed evenly with a mixture of pepper and salt...
Yunnan Wild Mushrooms…
Pickled sour fish is a traditional delicacy served to guests by the Mosuo and Pumi ethnic groups in Ninglang. When locals catch fresh fish around half a jin (250 grams) in size from Lugu Lake, they first keep them alive in wooden basins. After bringing them home, they gut the fish, clean off the blood, and flatten the flesh. The fish are then layered belly-down in a clay jar, with each layer sprinkled with roasted barley flour,...