Alley - Blogabond

Beijing, China

One of my five room mates is a girl from Latvia. Now I know 2 of only 1.5 million Latvians on the planet. I took her through the maze-like alleys not realizing it was her first daylight look at the country as she had arrived just after midnight. Might as well jump in to the culture!

Beijing, China

Lijiang, China

Eat a hostel breakfast? Not if I can help it. Bad American food is not my idea of a fun time. I took off through the alleys and to stay returnable to my cozy mattress pad, I decided to go straight. That went through the market square, clear across Old Town to a tri-belief temple turned function hall. I explored the NW corner of Old Town with a 'turn right at each intersection' plan so i could retrace my steps with a series of left turns. I started recognizing alleys and could forego the retrace. I did find breakfast along the way, an egg pancake sprinkled with diced scallions. When I came upon Naxi dancers in the Market Square I was excited. My camera can take video! Then the battery died. No more alley exploring till I can record my cool finds!

Lijiang, China

I found the street with restaurants! I made a mental note of where to find the alley that lead to them. Later I suggested to some friends I made at the hostel that we should go for 'barbecue' as that's the local specialty. [Note to US southerners: But do they use vinegar???] They agreed. Two Americans, a Canadian, an Austrian and a Chinese go to dinner. I find the alley that I remember. We walk a ways but don't see any restaurants. We back track to the main alley and continue west. We come to the main square [Market Square complete with a plaque explaining why an odd shaped public space is called a square lest a mathematical object]. Ack! We've gone too far. I was right the first time. We opt to be bold and wander down a new alley that hugs one of the small canals that stripe the city.

We sample deep fried Naxi cheese [it has sugar sprinkled on top], Naxi stewed vegetables, barbecue fish [no vinegar, no tomato based sauce - sacrilege!], Naxi tofu, Naxi crispy yak with mint and other dishes. Apparently here barbecue means salted & dried.

written by

prrrrl on March 3, 2012 from Lijiang, China

from the travel blog: Beijing, 2010 or Liaoning, 2013. They are appear to be mixed up!

tagged Naxi, Canal, Restaurant, Alley, Yak, Friends, Lijiang, Barbecue and Cheese

Send a Compliment

comment on this...

2/1500000

Beijing, China

Want to see where I'm staying?

Beijing, China

Rat in maze test 2: SUCCESS!

Lijiang, China

Rat in maze test 4: FAIL!

Lijiang, China

Heading South?