Jiuzhaigou Food - What and Where to eat in Jiuzhaigou

Picturesque Jiuzhaigou naturally doesn’t lack delicious food. The Tibetan people’s boldness is reflected in the bold flavours used in their local food, which often makes use of red meat, butter tea, yak meat, and cheese.

Butter Tea
Besides the butter, the main ingredients of butter tea also include milk, walnut kernels, peanuts, sesame, egg and salt. These materials are put into a barrel, stirred and then mixed with boiled red tea. After stirring for just a moment, the fragrant barrel of butter tea is ready to serve. In Tibetan families, butter tea is always kept in a teapot warming on a stove ready for drinking.

Zanba
This is a staple food of Tibetans, similar in shape to the fired noodles of mainland China. According to its different ingredients, Zanba can be divided into the Qingke barley Zanba, pea Zanba, and oat Zanba. The Tibetan people bring it wherever they go as it is a convenient fast food and easy to eat with just a little butter tea.

Qingke Barley Liquor
Known as the “Tibetan Beer”, the yellowish barley liquor tastes sweet and a little sour. It is an indispensable drink of the Tibetans and also the best drink with which to treat guests on special occasions.

Blood Sausage
This is a special item of Tibetan cuisine, often used to honor distinguished guests. The nutritious blood sausage is made of blood, spices, pork or yak meat, all wrapped in an intestine like a western-style sausage, and tastes deliciously soft and tender.
 

Jiuzhaigou Food Streets

Jiuzhaigou Scenic Area is located in the mountain area of northern Sichuan Province with an altitude of over 3,000 meters. So many goods and life’s necessities have to be transferred from nearby villages and towns and naturally resulting a relatively high food price and limited food variety.

Dinning inside the Jiuzhaigou Scenic Spot
Traveling inside the scenic area, tourists could taste the roast while lamb, buttered tea, barley liquor, yak meat and other typical Tibetan food at the Shuzheng Village or enjoy the buffet at Nuorilang Tourist Center ranging from CNY40 to CNY140. In addition, the box lunch is also available near the Nuorilang Tourist Center. Of course, if you’d like take some food yourself, they you can eat it at any time during the trip.

Dinning outside the Jiuzhaigou Scenic Spot
At the entrance of the scenic area, there are some hotels and restaurants offering the comparatively cheap food. Xiaobu Snack is one of the most popular restaurants among them, located at the right of the gate to Jiuzhaigou Valley. The restaurant serves tasty food at the reasonable price and Qingke barley liquor for free of charge. The menu favorite includes boiled yak meat, double-cooked pork slices, roast chicken with wild mushroom, and Chinese cabbage and tofu soup.

However, for those who dislike the strong flavor of the Tibetan food, they can choose to eat the star rated hotel like Sheraton Jiuzhaigou Resort or Jiuzhaigou Paradise. The hotels provide not only the local Tibetan cuisine, but also various kinds of good quality Chinese and Western food. For the budget-conscious travelers, they can also go to those lower grade hotels around the gate of Jiuzhaigou Valley which offer some tasty food at good prices.