Three Parallel Rivers Dining

With the diverse ethnic groups, Three Parallel Rivers enjoys the colorful food culture. Here are some recommended local food for travelers.

What to Eat in Three Parallel Rivers

 1. Zanba (roasted highland barley flour)

Zanba is the main food for Tibetan people and is divided into several kinds: highland barley Zanba, pea Zanba and mixed Zanba. Zanba is nutritious and is easy to carry about. It is the most convenient food for the Tibetans living in plateau. 

2. Milk product

Tibetans used to breed cow and drink nutritious milk. From spring to winter, the pails of herdsmen are full of fresh milk. People use milk to make varied milk products such as cheese, skin formed on boiled milk, butter and yogurt for daily use.

3. Bamboo Section Wine 

Bamboo section wine is a traditional drink among Dulong ethnic minority, no matter young or old, women or men. It is also a kind of wine drunk at a wedding feast or some important days.

4. Xiala, Gongla (Meat Wine and Egg Wine)

As the rare delicacy of Nu nationality, it is made of liquor. ‘Xia’ means meat; ‘Gong’ means eggs; and ‘La’ means liquor in the Nu language. Meat wine and egg wine is well brewed wine, fresh with faint scent. It is a kind of dietetic foods, which has good curative effect on building up vital energy and nourishes the blood. So it is a favorite advanced nourishing food for the Nu ethnic minority.

5. Stone Baked Cake

Stone baked cake is a kind of ancient food for Dulong and Nu nationality in Gongshan County. It is very strange that they are not cooked in an iron pan but in a stone pan. It tastes special and full of nutrition.

6. Chujiu (Vinegar Wine)

This kind of wine contains 17% to 18% alcohol. Taste faint scent and full of nutrition. It can refresh and stimulate appetite, so it is an important beverage for the local Lisu ethnic minority. Recently, the local people give the vinegar beer a funny name, Canyon Beer. 

7. Salmon Fish

Lijiang boasts the largest breeding base of Salmon fish in China. Salmon fish is cold-water fish, so the glacial melt water of snow mountain is particularly suitable for raising Salmon fish either in water-quality or in water-temperature. 

8. Chickpeas Bean Jelly

On the street of Lijiang, a famous snack named Chickpeas Bean Jelly is ubiquitous. Chickpea is a kind of soybean and it is just like the eyes of the chicken in shape, hence the name "Chickpeas" is given, which means chicken eyes in Chinese. Chickpea is main ingredient of chickpeas Bean Jelly.

9. Lijiang Stuffed Bun

Lijiang Stuffed Bun is a well-known snack in Lijiang created by diligent Naxi people, which is characterized by its luring color, crisp flavor and delicious taste. Wheat flour is the main ingredient for the Lijiang stuffed bun. Mix the flour with spring-water from Jade Dragon Mountain, smear plant oil onto it on the marble slate and roll the dough into a large thin piece. After scattering minced ham or sugar, roll it into cylinder-shape. Put the two ends of the cylinder together and press it into oblate-shape. Add sesame, walnut and others seasonings, bake with soft fire on the pan until golden-yellow, then the delicate round-shaped Lijiang Stuffed Bun is prepared. It has two flavors, salted and sugary, and you can choose either of them as you like.

10. Salted Pork Ribs Hot Pot

The main ingredient in the salted pork ribs hot pot is pork ribs salted with wine, sugar, and spice and other seasonings. After stored the salted ribs in a water-filterable wooden vat for 15 days, the pork ribs are fully permeated with salt and flavor of flesh and rib are well-blended. Later, dry them in the shady ventilating area for one or 3 months, then the savory salted pork ribs are prepared. Boiling them with other vegetables in hot pot, the Salted Pork

11. Mushrooms

Lijiang also has many special and precious mushrooms, such as the pine mushroom, termite mushroom and morel mushroom. The salmon and preserved pork ribs are not landmark dishes of the local place but are very popular.

12. Snacks and Drinks

Special snacks of Lijiang include the Lijiang pan cake, buttered tea and chickpea jelly. The oldest and most traditional with most folk featuring product of Yunnan is Heqing Wine. And Lijiang Baba is now as famous as Heqing Wine. It is a round flour pan cake made of flour, ham scallions or sugar. Lijiang Baba can be described as a kind of deep-fried flour pan-cake stuffed with meat or vegetables.

Where to Eat in Three Parallel Rivers

1. Dreamer Salmon Restaurant

Tel: 0888-5399234
Add:  Middle Section of Lijiang Huama Street

2. 88 Snacks Bar

 Tel: 0888-8888676
Add: No. 88, Xingren Upper Section, Wuyi Street, Gucheng District, Lijiang City

3. Alequi Restaurant

Tel: 0888-5162121
Add: No. 11-14, S-6 Building, Huama Street, Gucheng District, Lijiang

4. Yunshuiyao Restaurant

Tel: 0888-5185588
Add: Sifang Temple Fair in Lijiang Old Town (near Shishiyu Restaurant, near Zhongyi Market)

5. Baoshan Mutton Restaurant

Tel: 0886-3413938 
Add: No. 7 Wadi Street, Fugong County, Nujiang

6. Biancheng Restaurant

Tel: 0886-3625363
Add: Nujiang No. 279, Chuangcheng Road, Lushui City, Nujiang

7. Bingzhongluo Ecological Fish Village

Add: Gongshan Dulong Minority Autonomous County, Yunnan Province

8. Shouwang Meili Dining Bar

Tel: 13988734076
Add: No. 214 National Highway in Deqin County (Opposite to the viewing platform)

9. Yangji Porridge Shop

Tel: 15758480059
Add: Tancheng Square Flower and Bird Market