Okay, the dinner really has nothing to do with Dongba culture – but for our last evening in Lijiang, Huang did introduce us to a very nice Naxi family with a beautiful courtyard home deep in the heart of town.
After a peaceful late-afternoon stroll that took us from the more-touristed areas, we came to the family’s home. The husband, a retired middle school math teacher (looks of panic in the girls’ eyes as they expected to be quizzed!), greeted us and chatted about his family and their house, which they had bought just in the past several years. |
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| The wife, a jolly woman who took an immediate shine to the girls, handed us all sprigs of cherries from the tree in the courtyard for us to snack on while she fixed dinner. |  |
An imposing array of fresh produce and meats were neatly lined up in her spacious kitchen, ready to go. She, Huang and Sami immediately swung into action. |
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| Coincidentally, we had the same stuffed-eggplant dish we had enjoyed at the Bai family dinner in Dali, but it must be said that these tasted better – light and delicate. This woman can COOK! She was clearly mistress of the kitchen, and we all happily followed her directions as she reigned from her cutting board. |  |
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| Miranda snapped away to document our dinner, which finally came out looking fantastic and tasting even better! |  |
We ate outside on the porch, with the family looking delighted as we demolished most of every dish. Huang warned us over dinner that the food in Zhongdian, our next day’s destination, was not nearly as good or varied as in Lijiang, so we stuffed ourselves!