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Local Specialties, Food & Folk Customs

Local specialties, food and folk customs of Zhangjiajie and Xiangxi (sources noted per article).

About This Column

This column gathers local produce and folk culture of Zhangjiajie and Xiangxi, covering local specialties, local food, local legends, folk arts, folk customs and ethnic history & culture, for reference on local food, produce and the cultures of the Tujia and Miao peoples.

Sources & credibility

This column is compiled from public source material and is local-culture/historical in nature; some price, business and statistical data may reflect earlier years. For specialties purchasing and dining, please refer to the latest notices of the merchants. Each article notes its source and date; legends and folk-custom accounts are local historical lore, provided for cultural reference.

Zhangjiajie Gaga Chicken
Zhangjiajie Gaga Chicken
🗓️ 2009-01-13 📄 Source:Zhangjiajie Tour Guide (Specialties / Food / Folk Customs)
Gaga chicken, also known as rock chicken, belongs to the pheasant family. It get
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Zhangjiajie Litsea Cubeba Oil
Zhangjiajie Litsea Cubeba Oil
🗓️ 2009-01-13 📄 Source:Zhangjiajie Tour Guide (Specialties / Food / Folk Customs)
Litsea cubeba, locally called "lajiangzi" or "mountain pepper," is a seasoning f
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Zhangjiajie Loach Burrowing into Tofu
Zhangjiajie Loach Burrowing into Tofu
🗓️ 2009-01-13 📄 Source:Zhangjiajie Tour Guide (Specialties / Food / Folk Customs)
"Loach burrowing into tofu" is a favorite Tujia dish. To prepare it, small loach
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Zhangjiajie Glutinous Rice Pounded Ciba
Zhangjiajie Glutinous Rice Pounded Ciba
🗓️ 2009-01-13 📄 Source:Zhangjiajie Tour Guide (Specialties / Food / Folk Customs)
In Tujia and Miao villages, a widespread New Year custom is "pounding baba." Bab
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Zhangjiajie's Third Day of the Third Month: Mugwort Cakes to Plug Snake Eyes
Zhangjiajie's Third Day of the Third Month: Mugwort Cakes to Plug Snake Eyes
🗓️ 2009-01-13 📄 Source:Zhangjiajie Tour Guide (Specialties / Food / Folk Customs)
In Tujia and Miao villages, there is a custom called "On the third day of the th
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The Origin of the Tujia Bride's Mengpa in Zhangjiajie
The Origin of the Tujia Bride's Mengpa in Zhangjiajie
🗓️ 2013-08-19 📄 Source:Zhangjiajie Tour Guide (Specialties / Food / Folk Customs)
The Origin of the Tujia Bride's Mengpa in Zhangjiajie. In Tujia villages around
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The Origin of the Bride's Dew Veil
The Origin of the Bride's Dew Veil
🗓️ 2011-04-16 📄 Source:Zhangjiajie Tour Guide (Specialties / Food / Folk Customs)
When a Tujia bride is helped out of her sedan chair by the welcoming matron, her
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The Origin of the Seventy-Two Trades
The Origin of the Seventy-Two Trades
🗓️ 2011-04-16 📄 Source:Zhangjiajie Tour Guide (Specialties / Food / Folk Customs)
The Origin of the Seventy-Two Trades. Visitors to the Tujia Folk Custom Park in
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The Mystery of Tianmen Cave's Opening
The Mystery of Tianmen Cave's Opening
🗓️ 2011-04-16 📄 Source:Zhangjiajie Tour Guide (Specialties / Food / Folk Customs)
The Mystery of Tianmen Cave's Opening: A natural stone gate opened in the precip
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The Mystery of Guiguzi's Shadow on the Cliff
The Mystery of Guiguzi's Shadow on the Cliff
🗓️ 2011-04-16 📄 Source:Zhangjiajie Tour Guide (Specialties / Food / Folk Customs)
The Mystery of Guiguzi's Shadow on the Cliff: In the hundred-meter precipice on
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The Mystery of Yefu's Hidden Treasure
The Mystery of Yefu's Hidden Treasure
🗓️ 2011-04-16 📄 Source:Zhangjiajie Tour Guide (Specialties / Food / Folk Customs)
The Mystery of Yefu's Hidden Treasure: The Qing Guangxu-era 'Yongding County Loc
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Legend of Jiutian Cave
Legend of Jiutian Cave
🗓️ 2011-04-16 📄 Source:Zhangjiajie Tour Guide (Specialties / Food / Folk Customs)
Legend of Jiutian Cave: The White Mice. One day, several Tujia hunters were prep
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Legend of the Chrysanthemum Core
Legend of the Chrysanthemum Core
🗓️ 2011-04-16 📄 Source:Zhangjiajie Tour Guide (Specialties / Food / Folk Customs)
Legend of the Chrysanthemum Core: There's a saying in Zhangjiajie: 'No water is
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Legend of the Name Huangshi Village
Legend of the Name Huangshi Village
🗓️ 2011-01-16 📄 Source:Zhangjiajie Tour Guide (Specialties / Food / Folk Customs)
After Zhang Liang retired to Zhangjiajie, he devoted himself to alchemy and immo
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Origin of the Tujia People
Origin of the Tujia People
🗓️ 2011-01-08 📄 Source:Zhangjiajie Tour Guide (Specialties / Food / Folk Customs)
Legend says long, long ago, a great flood covering the sky rose, drowning everyo
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Legend of Huangshi Village in Zhangjiajie
Legend of Huangshi Village in Zhangjiajie
🗓️ 2009-10-23 📄 Source:Zhangjiajie Tour Guide (Specialties / Food / Folk Customs)
To explain the origin of Huangshi Village, one must start with Zhang Liang, Marq
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Tujia Folk Beliefs and Culture — Nuo Deity Worship (Part 1)
Tujia Folk Beliefs and Culture — Nuo Deity Worship (Part 1)
🗓️ 2012-05-21 📄 Source:Zhangjiajie Tour Guide (Specialties / Food / Folk Customs)
Chapter 10: Nuo Deity Worship. Nuo is an ancient practice of expelling plague de
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Tujia Folk Beliefs and Culture — Nuo Deity Worship (Part 2)
Tujia Folk Beliefs and Culture — Nuo Deity Worship (Part 2)
🗓️ 2012-05-21 📄 Source:Zhangjiajie Tour Guide (Specialties / Food / Folk Customs)
The Guangxu-era Longshan County Gazetteer records: "When performing the great Nu
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Tujia Folk Beliefs and Culture: Nuo Deity Worship (Part 3)
Tujia Folk Beliefs and Culture: Nuo Deity Worship (Part 3)
🗓️ 2012-05-21 📄 Source:Zhangjiajie Tour Guide (Specialties / Food / Folk Customs)
That autumn, the empress fell ill with dysentery, and no treatment worked. After
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Tujia Folk Beliefs and Culture: Nuo Deity Worship (Part 4)
Tujia Folk Beliefs and Culture: Nuo Deity Worship (Part 4)
🗓️ 2012-05-21 📄 Source:Zhangjiajie Tour Guide (Specialties / Food / Folk Customs)
The main repertoire of the 'Zhongdong' section is 'Gansheng Takes the Exam,' com
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Fulfilling the Nuo Vow
Fulfilling the Nuo Vow
🗓️ 2011-04-16 📄 Source:Zhangjiajie Tour Guide (Specialties / Food / Folk Customs)
The Tujia people practice "fulfilling the Nuo vow," worshipping the Nuo deities.
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Tujia Weeping Wedding Songs
Tujia Weeping Wedding Songs
🗓️ 2011-04-16 📄 Source:Zhangjiajie Tour Guide (Specialties / Food / Folk Customs)
Drinking the clear mountain spring water, Tujia girls grow up. When a young man
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Hand-Waving Dance
Hand-Waving Dance
🗓️ 2011-04-16 📄 Source:Zhangjiajie Tour Guide (Specialties / Food / Folk Customs)
Hand-Waving Dance: In early times, every New Year, in the Tujia villages of west
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Zhanggu Dance
Zhanggu Dance
🗓️ 2011-04-16 📄 Source:Zhangjiajie Tour Guide (Specialties / Food / Folk Customs)
Zhanggu Dance: Why do the Bai people of Sangzhi County in Zhangjiajie love to da
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