Zhongdian's in-town market
had nowhere near the scale or charm of the moutain top Shaping market
in Dali, but at least we had a spectacular view of the surrounding
ranges. We followed a couple of local ladies with shopping baskets
to find the action. |
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Strings of hot peppers reminded us that
we were on the border of Sichuan, home of China's spiciest food. Huang
noted that most of the stores in the new part of Zhongdian town are
run by recently-arrived Sichuanese who seek to take advantage of the
"Shangri-la" tourist boom. Many local ethnic minorities
are not benefiting as much as Chinese immigrants to the region. |
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These two ladies spent about ten minutes
ogling the jewelry, tea sets and other housewares here before moving
on. |
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Dried yak meat and fluffy yak's tails....nothing
goes to waste! |
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Yunnan ham is a prized delicacy, but
these specimens looked a little, well, raw compared to the slickly-packaged
selections in the Kunming airport! |
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It didn't take long to find yak butter
and cheese on sale. Up close, these mounds looked pretty gritty. I
had a hunch the outward grime and mold was not carefully nurtured
in homage to French crottins and chevres, but occurred much more,
uh, naturally. |
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I got close enough to smell the cheese
- which was not actually all that close, as they are really pungent!
- but chose not to purchase.
Only because there were no baguettes
on hand, of course... |
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Huang asked a saleswoman about cheese-making,
but found out that we were about a month too early, as the yaks weren't
yet producing enough milk. I'll have to come back to learn how it's
done! |
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Our quick tour yielded no purchases
but gave a good look into daily local living. |
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