The Most Direct Things to Learn About Yunnan

1. Yuanmou people

At the sound of Yunnan, the first thing pops into people's head is backwardness  and ignorance. However, such prejudice is not a complete nonsense, at least not in the past. In the old days when the  transportation is not as convenient as today, indigenous people inhabiting this place found it impossible to communicate with others. why? Because ninety four percent   of the land is occupied by high plateau and the mountains. No one would ever thought  Yunnan should be the cradle of the human being. When Chinese students opened the first page of their history book, they see the name of their ancestor, Yuanmou people. what is Yuanmou? It's a small county  under the jurisdiction of yunnan province, where archeologists discovered   the very first ancestor for all Asian people which can be dated back to   1.7 million years ago. because of the discovery, the  beginning of the history of   Chinese people was pushed forward by one million years.  and because of this, Yunnan became known to more and more people.We are so proud that we share the same land with our very ancestors.

2. Nie er

1.7 million years  natural changes the human efforts have made this land different. Yunnan people remains humble, gentle and carefree regardless of the constant changes of the outside world. As the capital of yunan province, Kunming was granted the fame of spring city. A poet in Ming dynasty used to describe the flowers in Kunming, saying that the weather is always like that   in February and March, while the flowers can be seen in four seasons. If you're wondering whether he is exaggerating the facts or not, you can ask those black-headed seagulls from the Siberia  who migrated thousands of miles to km to escape the  frigid winter.

In Chinese, there is a four-character idiom called Renjiediling，meaning the greatest of a man lends glory to a place. this is especially true for Kunming. Have you heard of the national anthem of China?  March of the Volunteers. the song is  extremely inspiring, especially during the warring times. I can hardly imagine now how such as a song inject confidence and courage into chinese people. Do you believe that this song was composed by 23 year old young man. His name is Nie er. his name is composed of four ears, this is actually a nickname for him because he has an ear for music. Nie'er did not compose the song in a very peaceful environment. on the contrary, the environment back then was extremely dark and dangerous.  he was targeted by the Japanese spies and was forced to go to japan.  unfortunately, his life lasts only for twenty three years. as chinese go saying goes, his excellence was   jealous by the heaven. Anyway, Nieer is not only the proud of china but also the product of yn.

3. Yunnan Baiyao Herbal Medicine

Ten years before the birth of Nier'er, 1902, a doctor of yi ethnicity called Qu Huanzhang offered Yunnan army a small bottle of white powder. To everybody's surprise, this small bottle of white powder made undeniable contribution during the warring time. When YN soldiers got injured   by bruises, bleeding, congestion or even shot by bullets, they  would apply some of the white powder on to their wounds or directly drink it, bleeding will be immediately stopped  and the inflammation would be diminished. therefore they did not need to be   transferred to the rear to receive treatment, instead, they can treat themselves by simply using the small   white powder and can go back to the battlefield immediately. Japanese soldiers were surprised,  how come those soldiers were still on the battlefield after they got shot?  they realized it was this small border of   white powder saved the life of so many YN soldiers, therefore they called it indestructable YN soldiers.

so the question is what may the small bottle white powder so magical? the answer lies in the key ingredient in it, that is pseudo ginseng. in chinese we call it three seven, why we used two numbers to name it? this is because its drug efficacy wont't show until three to seven years' growth. Another reason for any of this name is its special structure. generally speaking there are three leaf stalk/petiole, on each of them   grows   seven leaves. therefore people called three seven.

the famous YN baiyao herbal medicine has won great popularity among chinese customers, they have   various products such as sprays for traumatic injuries, toothpaste to stop the bleeding, beverage and even shampoo. Knowing in efficacy   of pseudo ginseng,  local people use it directly. it can be eaten raw or cooked. it is also the favorite of traditional chinese doctors.

Traditional Chinese medicine holds the opinion that all kinds of illness and sickness are caused by unhealthy blood. well the bitter substance in a pseudo ginseng can  cleanse our blood and unclogged our blood vessels thus promote the blood circulation.
can help us control our blood pressure, blood lipid and blood sugar. To sum up, it is useful for all blood-related diseases. Therefore, it is extremely good ingredient for dietotherapy. its powder can be cooked   with steam egg,  sometimes we also cook it with the chicken.

Currently the formula for the Yunnan Baiyao herbal medicine   is classified information,  however we do know that pseudo ginseng is a major ingredient in it. as you know, herbal medicine is a major part of traditional chinese medicine ,in a province alone grows more than two thousand   kinds of   herbal medicines,such as cordyceps,  gastrodia, chinese angelica,maca and so forth.

4. Lijiang

When the traveler  first come to YN,  where is his first choice? dancers definitely Lijiang. This small town lying at the foot  of snow jade mountain, boasts of three  world relics, namely the world  natural heritage--  three parallel rivers, world cultural heritage-- Lijiang ancient town, and the memory of the world--Dongba culture. Despite all this world class titles, Lijiang is still amiable   small town ready to receive all the guests from the world.

5. Yunnan cigarette

Every smoker in china knows the cigarette in Yunnan . among all the . Yunnan and a Hongta are the two most   popular brands which made YN province a real kingdom of tobacco. currently Hongta corporations and Hongyun corporation are the most powerful tobacco corporations in china.

6. Stone forest

if you have ever pay attention to the logo appearing on tourism   you'll see   its stone forest and ashima. the reason that the stone forest can enjoy such laurel because the nature has spent 170 million years   to created such wonder. It makes us marvel at how powerful nature is and how transients our lives are.

7. Puer tea

Coffee, cocoa and tea are the three  most popular beverages  in the world. You must have heard how crazy Chinese people love tea. They almost replaced   water by tea. someone starts to wonder who is the first man to discover that tea is drinkable, and where is the very first tea tree? Experts found  a tea tree with a age of 3200 years in Xishuangbanna which is the oldest tea tree in the world.  It tells  the world.that Yunnan is the origin.of.tea. Another evidence is the ancient   and bizarre ways of drinking tea among   indigenous ethnic groups in YN. For example, Bulang people's sour tea,  Jinuo people 's cold tea dish, Dai people's bamboo tube tea, Bai people's three-course tea.

then why is the  tea in yn called puer tea? puer is now a municipality under yunnan province. It used to be the collecting and distributing center of tea. Gradually all the tea produced in Yunan province was called puer tea.

There is an old saying in China that food is the paramount necessity of people.

The record about the history of Yunnan cusine is quite scarce, however, what we know is that Yunnan people were enjoying steamed rice 10,000 years ago. This is definitelyan amazing thing.

As you may have heard, there are eight styles of cooking in China, however, since Yunnan cuisine rose up too late, it was blocked outside the door of the eight styles. Some say that snacks are not presentable and acceptable on grand occasions nor appeal to refined taste. However, our cross bridge rice noodle did manage to walk itself out and become famous worldwide. Especially on the world expo in 1999, cross bridge rice noodle was presented in a brand-new style in front of people's eyes.

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Stories about Cross-Bridge Rice Noodle

There is an interesting story about how the name came into being. It's said that in Qing dynasty, there was a man in Mengzi county in Honghe Prefecture who was preparing for the imperial examination. However, the man was too fond of playing that he barely study. Seeing this, his wife was really worried and she suggested him study alone on an island in Nanhu lake in Mengzi. Since then, the wife persisted in preparing and sending  food for the husband everyday and on her way there, she would cross a small bridge. Being touched by what his wife had been doing, the husband decided to strive harder and study industriously. Sometimes he was so preoccupied that he forgot to eat what his wife had brought for him. Such things happened a lot and the health condition of the man deteriorated. The examination day was already around the corner, the wife was so anxious. She decided to kill the only hen in their family and stewed a pot of delicious chicken soup.  When the wife was preparing the tidying up the dishes, she found the soup was not even touched. So angry was she and she scolded the husband. Afterwards, she was about to put away the pot.  To her surprise, the soup was still very hot. When revealing the lid, she realized that there was a thick layer of oil on the surface which kept the temperature. Being enlightened by this phenomenon, the smar wife devised a new way of eating. She separated the soup from the rice noodle. Thus, the husband could put the rice noodle into the soup whenever he got hungry and the dish wouldn't go cold any more. Finally, the man succeeded in the examination. In order to commemorate what his wife had done for him, he decided to name such dish as cross bridge rice noodle.

There is another interesting story about the cross bridge rice noodle. I assume all of you have heard of Lihongzhang? The story goes that when Lihongzhang was visiting France, the climate was extremely hot. The local French men presented him a popsicle. Having never saw such thing, he noticed the popsicle was steaming. Li thought that the popsicle was hot so he blowed the popsicle again and again before he dare to bite. To his great suprise, the popsicle was really cold. Li lost face in front of those French people. The humiliation sowed the seed of revenge in Li's heart.

Not long from the incident, those French people visited China. As the host, Li treated them with a very special local cuisine, cross-bridge rice noodle. When the soup was served, Li didn't say anything. Since there was no steam rising from it, those French people thought the soup was just cold beverage. So they lifted the bowl and took a deep swig. The result can be imagined. Those people was almost scalded.

The story is not necessarily fun because it might cause injury. However, we did learn one thing from it, that is the soup of the cross bridge rice noodle was really hot. We should be careful when dealing with it.

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How is it made?

It consists of four parts: the soup, the seasoning, the main dish rice noodle and saucers of meat and vegetable.

Soup: the soup was made by stewing bones, hen's meant, and xuanwei ham for a long time; though the soup has no steam but the temperature can reach even 100 degrees.
Seasoning: seasonings include oil chilly, pepper, salt and sugar(MSG味精）;
Saucers of meat and vegetables: include pork filliet/pork tenderloin/griskin, chicken breast, cuttle fish, half-cooked pig's kidney, stomach and sliced squid. Vegetables include tine peas豌豆尖, Chinese chive(韭菜）, Chinese parsley(芫荽), spring onion, shredded ginger, bamboo shoot slices, beancurd shin.;
Main dish: obviously the main dish is the rice noodle, which was slightly cooked already.
 

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How should we eat it?

First, let's put the pigeon's egg into the soup, then the meat, stir it slightly, then put in lettuce and rice noodle. Then you can put in whatever you like or suites your taste.

                                                                        Caoxisi     Temple

This temple has a history of eight or nine hundred years.The hall in wooden structures is a building rare in China and "the Huayan Statues of the Three Sages"cared in wood are works of the Song Dynasty.Supported by "dougongs"(wood brakets supporting upturning eaves).the roof -beam kind of building is typical of the architectural style of the Song Dynadty.there is an opening in the central part of the facade of the hall between the rafters and the lintels.it is said that on the Mid-autumn Festival night,the bright moon first casts her light directly on the mirror set on Sakyamuni's forehead through the opning.As th bright moon rises,the moonlight shine from his nose tip to his navel,thus forming "the mutual reflection between the moon and the image of Lord Buddha".Such a wonderful sight is hailed as "Tianhan Baoyue"(Sacred moonlight Streaming in by the Will of Heaven),also called "Caoxi Yunyue".