9 Days Yunnan Culinary Adventure

Day 1 – Arrival Mangshi – Start of Trip

Airport pickup. After checking into our hotel, a celebrative opening meal will be held with many local specialties. The outline of the itinerary will be explained in further detail.

Day 2 – Mangshi – Tengchong – “The Tropical Starter”

We’ll start the day by visiting a one-of-a-kind sub-tropical market. After we’ve had a look and taste of all the most exotic food and drinks, we’ll be joined by a local barbeque master.

He’ll be taking us to a typical outdoor kitchen, where you will witness and participate in the preparation of some outstanding local grilled meats, salads and noodle dishes. After enjoying our lunch (with a nice cold beer), we’ll take the car to the town of Tengchong, where we’ll spend some time to visit an old British trading consulate, an extensive war museum and the only urban waterfall in China. We’ll have dinner in a phenomenal local restaurant and have the option of visiting a traditional Chinese indoor hot spring in the evening.

Day 3 – Tengchong – “The Burmese Connection”

We’ll have another early start in order to visit a signature Tengchong rice noodle/cake workshop. After looking thoroughly into the history and the secrets behind this famous local product, and even a demonstration on how to make little animal sculptures out of the rice dough, we’ll take a sheet of the fresh rice cake with us. After finding fresh ingredients at the local market, we’ll make it over to a cozy home-style restaurant in town to get a professional demonstration and in-depth cooking course on the famous “Tengchong fried rice cake”.

After we finish the course and enjoy the results for lunch, we’ll have the rest of the afternoon to explore more history in a little trading town that is ignored by all other visitors. We’ll make a nice historic walk along an interesting library and some stunning temples. We also visit courtyards, one of which is a traditional fermented tofu workshop. Dinner is in another fantastic local eatery. The evening again has options for great natural hot springs to digest all the food.

Day 4 – Tengchong – Lujiangba – “Coffee Time”

We’ll head east to cross the Gaoligong Mountain range to the Nu River basin. We’ll be exploring some traditional Dai minority villages (closely related to the Thai) amidst the sugar cane, sub-tropical orchards (mangoes, lychee and dragon fruit). An elderly lady will show us her coffee fields and explain how this newly introduced cash crop has influenced the region. Also, she’ll show us how she roasts and grinds the coffee with her traditional Dai kitchen tools. Shortly after, we’ll be visiting a holy 700-year old Banyan tree that functions as the village temple (the Dai here have held on to their traditional animist beliefs of nature spirit and ancestor worship).

After a delicious lunch in an authentic Dai place, we’ll follow a narrow road up through the coffee fields to a pristine village at the edge of the forest. We’ll stay in a nice and clean guesthouse run by coffee farmers. In the evening we’ll be invited by a local family who are inviting us over for dinner.

Day 5 – Lujiangba – Baoshan – “The Jungle Hot Springs and the Jingpo Feast”

When we get up in the morning, we’ll be going into the forest for some real jungle exploring. A 2-hour walk will take us to an enchanting waterfall. Following a crystal-clear stream, we’ll get to the most beautiful natural forest hot springs in the area. We’ll take some time to relax at this fantastic spot. After a lush picnic (Luxi will show you how to make fried rice), we’ll walk back up and head to the town of Baoshan.

On the way, we’ll be visiting a spectacular ancient hanging bridge over the roaring Nu River. This is the last “untamed” major river in China, roaring wild without dams and fittingly named the “angry river”. It will be very exciting to cross it on this bridge! In Baoshan we’ll be presented with one of the best restaurants in the province. You’ll be in for a real treat, and we can assure you that none of the dishes can even be made outside of Yunnan!

Day 6 – Baoshan – Yongjian – “Going Halal”

We’ll start out by hitting the road in eastern direction. Lunch will be had in a predominantly Muslim town on the way. From here, we’ll drive to another Muslim area at the source of the Red River. The first town on the Red River is Yongjian, and this is a very special place. When the Mongolians invaded Yunnan in the 13^th Century, Chinese Muslims started to inhabit parts of the province.

We’ll stay for the night in this rustic village which has a traditional wooden mosque and some outstanding modern courtyards. We’ll be having dinner in one of those courtyards, and the Muslim women will invite us into their kitchen to help out making all kinds of signature Yunnanese Muslim dishes!

Day 7 – Yongjian – Dali – “Kitchen Time”

We’ll take the car from Yongjian to the Dali valley. On the way, we’ll visit one of the famous Dali pagodas, tucked away and forgotten by other visitors.

When we get to the town of Dali in the morning, we'll enjoy a hands-on workshop revolving around home-style dumplings in the cooking school. We take you step-by-step through the process, from kneading the dough to making the accompanying dipping sauce.

After our lunch, we enjoy some leisure time around the streets in Dali. If you want we can take you to an excellent tea shop to get the perfect introduction to local tea.

After some down-time, we’ll meet up for the cooking class of the day; “the Chinese Classics”. The teacher will demonstrate some crucial cooking techniques, and review some valuable insights about Chinese condiments and how to use them. We will investigate the roots of some well-known Chinese dishes, and find out how they are supposed to taste. We’ll enjoy the fruit of our labor for dinner.  Everything becomes even better with the accompanying homemade plum wine.

Day 8 – Dali – “A seasoned farewell”

In the early morning we will drive north to a village located around the Erhai Lake called Xizhou. We will first go to try a taste of the famous "Xizhou Baba" or Xizhou Pizza. There are salty and sweet pizzas topped with savory pork or filled with rose petal jam. You will have a chance to learn and make your own baba. We will sit in a coffee shop nearby and enjoy these delicious pizzas with a cup of Yunnan coffee or tea for breakfast.

Following breakfast, we will visit a local home who is living in a well-preserved traditional Bai house with a history of nearly 100 years to learn about the production process behind the local delicacy ‘rushan’, a local distinctive cheese that is produced in thin sheets. This cheese is eaten deep fried and garnished with sugar or sweet rose petal jam or placed into the local tea with nuts. You will practice to make your own cheese.

Lunch will be in one of the best Bai restaurants in the valley. Their open kitchen and laid-back courtyard setting will be a perfect place for us to indulge in some interesting local specialties.

In the afternoon, you have the option of cycling along the Erhai Lake to the town of Dali, crossing all kinds of traditional Bai villages. The other option is to kick up your feet in Dali and relax a little bit before our exciting evening program.

We will meet again in the late afternoon to have our final cooking course – we will learn how to make Chinese hotpot! There will be a hands-on workshop involving delicious broth with all kinds of potent spices. We will make two different kinds of soups, and one of them will be the word famous super-fragrant Sichuan hotpot. As a grand finale of this food tour, we will make our own dipping sauces and spend the evening boiling all kinds of fresh ingredients in the soups.

Day 9 – Departure Dali – End of Trip

Today, is the last day of the tour and you can be brought to the Airport or train station according to your further travel plans. Please schedule at least 3 days at your next destination to digest all this food!