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English>>Special Coverage >> Discovering Yunnan

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(People's Daily Online) 08:08, August 16, 2013

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The "Kingdom of Plants" Yunnan is a species-rich magical place with magnificent mountains, complex topography, and climate dimensional.

Yunnan, is a sea of flowers and the hometown of flowers cuisine. Brilliant flowers not only give the enjoyment of beauty and aroma through the heart, but also give the people of all nationalities in Yunnan originally ecological food that is extremely popular in today's Yunnan Province.

Yunnan's forests are home to more than a dozen wild banana species, and banana crops grow well in most Dai ethnic gardens.

With peculiar medicinal value, banana flowers taste somewhat sweet. They must be deprived of the bitterness by being scalded in hot water and cooled down in cold water. Minorities such as Dai, Jingpo and Hani etc like eating banana flowers. "Chicken simmered with banana flowers" is a delicacy of the Hani people; it is nutritious and can promote lactation.

Wood Flower, also named tree flower, looks like radish strips. To eat it, first we should boil the wood flower in boiling water, after that we wash it with clean water, and then dress it with sauces and vegetables. Cold wood flower is welcomed by all the people in Yunnan. Hani people regard cold wood flower as the symbol of diligence.

Sophora davidii can be found in most places of Yunnan. After being scalded to get rid of the bitterness, Sophora davidii flowers can be handed to the chef. Normally, Sophora davidii can be prepared with eggs and bacon etc. "Sophora davidii flower sautéed with fermented soybeans" is a household dish of the Miao minority.

Kapok flower is called "Pan Zhi Hua" in Chinese. In each March, you can find masses of blooming kapok flowers in places including Jinghong (Xishuangbanna), Pu'er (Simao), Nujiang etc. Locals in these areas like to pick kapok flowers and dry them for further cooking. A famous delicacy is "pork stewed with kapok flowers".

Snow lotus (Saussurea) is found to grow in alpine snow-capped mountains with an altitude of 4,500 meters above the sea level. Appearing white and sometimes looking like a bird nest, snow lotus exhibits both ornamental and medicinal values. Local Tibetans in Diqing Prefecture (Northwest Yunnan) have got used to dry snow lotuses and dip them, with saffron and crab-apple etc, in liquor-which is a good cure for arthritis, rheumatism and gynecological diseases. A nourishing dish is "chicken simmered with snow lotus".

People in Kunming like to eat white azaleas, birch leaf pear flowers, mangnolia flowers and gorse flowers. "Minced chicken and gorse flowers" is a delicious dish cooked with flowers.

（Editor：YeXin、Chen Lidan）