Zhangjiajie's Unbeatable Local Specialty Collection
"Two lips, only craving the best food" — a local Zhangjiajie saying. Put nicely, it means Zhangjiajie people are discerning gourmets; put bluntly, it means they love to eat. Visiting Zhangjiajie, one must try authentic Tujia cuisine — from the lavish Tujia Ten Bowls to the humble roadside snacks beloved by locals.
This article has been compiled from historical materials on 'Zhangjiajie Tour Guide Network' (33519.com · Specialty Foods / Cuisine / Customs section). Prices, business hours, administrative divisions, and statistical data mentioned in the text may already be outdated. Before traveling, please refer to the latest announcements from merchants, scenic areas, and local competent authorities; the parts involving folk legends and folk customs are local historical and cultural anecdotes, provided for cultural reference.
"With two flaps of lips, one only wants to eat the good stuff" — this is a local saying in Zhangjiajie. Put nicely, it means the people of Zhangjiajie know how to appreciate good food; put less nicely, it simply means they are a bit greedy and quite the gourmets.
When you come to Zhangjiajie, you cannot miss tasting authentic Tujia cuisine. From the most lavish Tujia Ten Great Bowls to the Sanxiaguo hot pot by the roadside that ordinary folk love; from the exquisite Geba and Jueba in hotels to the Haozi Baba in the back baskets of old ladies by the road; from the corn on the cob that has made it onto grand banquet tables to the roasted sweet potatoes by the street whose fragrance drifts for miles. Zhangjiajie's cuisine has everything, from the "highbrow" to the "lowbrow," and people of any kind can find food here to satisfy themselves. Even many tourists who never eat spicy food end up falling in love with the food here and dreaming about it long after.
After seeing the beautiful scenery on the mountain, you always want to bring back some local specialties for family and friends. For one thing, it proves your trip was worthwhile; for another, it puts the most memorable finishing touch on your travels.
■ Tujia Cured Meats
Tujia dishes emphasize sourness, aroma, and spiciness. As the saying goes: "Three days without sour and spicy, and it feels like a cat's claws are scratching your heart; your legs go weak and your eyes grow dim." Chili peppers, black pepper, Sichuan pepper, garlic, wild onions, chives, Chinese toon, and other strongly pungent seasonings are kept year-round in every household's kitchen.
Most Tujia women are skilled makers of sour, aromatic, and spicy foods. Through drying, pickling, and roasting, they turn fresh vegetables of the four seasons, wild greens, and the meat of poultry and livestock into dried vegetable series, cured meat series, spicy vegetable series, pickled vegetable series, and more. With their wisdom, they make the days of their lives flavorful and full of zest.
■ Tea
(Qingyan Mingcui)
(Lobster Flower Tea)
Including Qingyan Mingcui, Maoping Maojian, Lobster Flower Tea, and others.
The famous painter Huang Yongyu once praised: "Guilin's scenery is the finest under heaven, Zhangjiajie's scenery surpasses Guilin's, and Qingyan Mingcui's fragrance spreads across the four seas." Dong Keqin, president of the Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences and a senior agronomist, came to Zhangjiajie and gave high praise to Lobster Flower Tea: "The lobster flavor is fragrant, its sweet mellow taste lingers in the nine bowels; 'Lobster' surpasses 'Longjing,' the latecomer excels." Professor Lu Songhou, a renowned tea expert from Hunan Agricultural College, after viewing and tasting Maoping Maojian, commented: "Maoping Maojian belongs to the Mao Feng type of premium green tea, with slender and elegant strips, fully covered in white down, and a verdant, lustrous color."
■ Hezha
Soak soybeans in water, grind them with a mill, mix in finely chopped green vegetable leaves, then cook over a gentle fire until done. Though simple to make, this dish is highly nutritious and delicious, and is a common dish for the local people.
■ Tujia Ciba (Glutinous Rice Cake)
Wash glutinous rice and soak it for a full day and night, then drain it and steam it in a wooden steamer until cooked. Then put the cooked glutinous rice into a pounding trough and mash it with a hammer, then shape it into evenly sized balls and press them flat to form the ciba. After the formed cakes are dried in the shade, they are soaked in a jar, with the water changed every ten days to half a month. In this way, they can be kept until the Dragon Boat Festival without spoiling.
■ Shefan (Community Feast Rice)
This is the "festival meal" that Tujia people must eat on the "She Day" in the second month of each year. The method is: before the festival, go up the mountain to gather wild onions and she vegetables, wash and chop them, and dry-roast them in a wok. When cooking the rice, first stir-fry fatty cured meat until fragrant and set it aside. Cook the rice using three parts glutinous rice and one part long-grain rice mixed together; add the glutinous rice only after the long-grain rice is half-cooked, then drain off the rice water, add the she vegetables, wild onions, and cured meat, stir evenly, and simmer over a low fire until done. When you lift the lid, the fragrance fills the room, and the taste is simply wonderful beyond words.
■ Sangzhi Salted Dried Tofu
Introduction: Sangzhi salted dried tofu is a famous local specialty. During the Xianfeng period of the Qing Dynasty, the salted dried tofu made by the tofu shops in Sangzhi county town sold well in Changsha, Wuhan, Guangzhou, and other places, earning fame throughout the three Xiang regions, and was even listed as a tribute item, making a name for itself in the capital. Nowadays it can be bought at various specialty shops and tasted in restaurants.
■ Kudzu Root
Kudzu root contains a large amount of kudzu starch and protein, as well as many trace elements, and has extremely high nutritional value. It can also increase blood flow in the coronary and cerebral arteries, relieve angina; resist arrhythmia; provide antioxidant effects; enhance the body's immunity; lower blood sugar, and more.
■ Rock Ear
Rock ear, also known as stone ear, grows on the sheer cliffs of the Wuling Mountains. It is both a food and a medicine. It is rich in nutrients and has a special effect of reducing inflammation and providing nourishment. Rock ear is cool in nature and mild in taste, and can be used as medicine. Eating rock ear regularly has an auxiliary effect on lowering blood pressure. Rock ear is also a food with relatively high nutritional value; after cooking it becomes quite glutinous and wonderfully fragrant and tasty; if made into soup with meat, the flavor is even better.
■ Chrysanthemum-Heart Pomelo and Golden Fragrance Pomelo
The Chrysanthemum-Heart Pomelo of Yongding District and the Golden Fragrance Pomelo of Cili County — these two premium fruits renowned throughout the three Xiang regions and the four rivers — both have a long history of cultivation. When autumn comes, the heavy fruits hang all over the branches, and not only out-of-town tourists but even local people are deeply fond of them. After both entered the tourism market, they became the "new nobility among fruits" that domestic and international tourists specifically ask for.
■ Kiwi Fruit
We mountain folk call kiwi fruit "yangtao" or "yangtao"; abroad, it is known as "kiwifruit."
It is sweet and delicious, with a unique flavor and rich nutrition, and also has health and beauty benefits. According to medical texts, each person only needs to eat four grams of kiwi fruit per day to meet the body's need for vitamin C. It is clear that the kiwi fruit fully deserves to be called the king of fruits; it is known as the "King of Fruits" and the "Super Fruit."
■ Tujia Collage Painting
Introduction: This uses tree roots, branches, leaves, bark, as well as sand and stones, moss, cloth scraps, and other materials as raw materials to paste together pictures of figures, landscapes, animals, flowers and plants, and various other subjects.
Collage paintings mostly take the beautiful local scenery and Tujia customs as their themes, and are rich in three-dimensionality and realism.
■ Tujia Brocade
Introduction: Also known as "Xilankapu." For Tujia people's marriages, engagements, courtships, gifts to friends, home decoration, and clothing, brocade is indispensable. Because of its unique craftsmanship, brocade products were once listed as tribute items.
Ethnic brocade bags, brocade pouches, scenic wall hangings, and various brocade handicrafts can be bought at scenic areas and at local specialty shops in the city.
■ Batik
The making of batik printed cloth involves laying a softwood or cardboard mold carved with various blank floral patterns on white cloth, pouring melted wax solution into the blank spaces of the flower mold, and after it dries, using a plant that grows naturally in the area and has a high dye content to make a dye liquid for immersion dyeing. After removing the resist wax, the blue-and-white floral patterns are revealed.
■ Ethnic Jewelry
With their diverse varieties, strikingly beautiful designs, and exquisite craftsmanship, silver ornaments not only present people with a magnificent and colorful artistic world, but also display a spiritual world rich in meaning. There are many types of silver ornaments — from head to toe, there is no place without adornment. Besides head ornaments, chest and neck ornaments, hand ornaments, clothing ornaments, back ornaments, and waist pendants, some places even have foot ornaments.
Some of the images above are from the internet, and their sources are unknown. Authors, please contact this website.