Dinner at Tibetan's Home Restaurant.

Somehow, rather randomly, digged this photo out tonight.

Gosh! That was two years ago when I took my parents on a trip to JiuZhaiGou, also called the Nine Tibetan Villages, in China. We certainly were the curious tourists who take pleasure in hanging out with the locals, tasting the traditional cuisines and experiencing the culture. So, we thought it might be a good idea to go have dinner at a Tibetan Home Restaurant, a home for a family of 3-generations and 10 kids who are all beautiful and talented in singing and dancing.

The secret? They told me that they sing and dance while farming cows on the hills everyday. And, if they sing well, even the cows will remain calm and relaxed. :)

The food is just simple, non-pretentious, non-refined in any form. But, the presentation, the novelty of eating something untried, and the experience of spending the night watching the 10 kids performing totally satisfied our curiosity towards the mysterious Tibetan culture and their people.

JiuZhaiGou National Park - Tibetan Village

JiuZhaiGou - ZhaGa Water Fall

到了九寨沟，一下飞机，就去了扎嘎瀑布。Parents in front of the famous ZhaGa Waterfall at JiuZhaiGou.

ZhaGa waterfall is the largest travertine waterfall in China. It is 93.2 meters (306 feet) high and 35 meters (38 yards) wide with an elevation of 3,270 meters (10,728 feet). In the upper reaches of the waterfall is a lake and in the lower reaches, is a multi-step waterbed.

我家老妈的两个女儿。干女儿比亲女儿好多了。 Mom has two daughters. She often jokes about the other daughter is much nicer than the real one. :)

JiuZhaiGou - Song Zhou

到了九寨沟，一下飞机，还没有等到去酒店登记，就迫不及待地要去玩。第一站去了松州牧泥沟。松州是当年文成公主出嫁的地方。

YunNan Stone Forest (ShiLin)

同家里人去云南石林游玩是上半年的事了。一直到现在才有时间整理。 唉， 忙呀。
So four of us took on a trip to explore the stone forest of YunNan. A very odd mix of travel partners with the Texas cowboy, the GuiZhou peasant (my mom of course), and the likes.

据说八仙里的张国佬以前倒骑着毛驴到这里，就睡在这儿。 导游说了，凡人睡了张国佬得石床，就会交好运的。 那么我也赶紧上去沾光沾光。

Little elephant.

Tried on the dress for the YuanNan BaiZhu, one of the 55 minorities in China. 当回云南白族吧。

A great place to play hide-and-seek. See how silly my parents could get!!! 我家老爸和老妈还在石林里躲猫猫。

Tianlong Tunpu (Village Fortress) (4) - Ground Opera

原始拙朴的屯堡地戏。 地戏是贵州安顺屯堡有600多年历史的特有文化。自从张艺谋的《千里走单骑走红之后，便由此扬名天下.

旧时地戏演出是极其庄重的，一年之中只有两个期间能演，一是春节，年初二这一天地戏班子在“神头”的带领下，开箱“请脸子”摆放香案，献雄鸡、猪头、敬神，请神灵保佑，付予脸子的灵气，然后敲锣打鼓热热闹闹的来到演出场，此时场地四周已是人山人海。从年初二开始一跳就半月，年复一年的重复着《说岳》、《三国》、《杨家将》等忠烈演义书籍报国杀敌的英雄故事。

"Tunpu" are stone-structured villages dating back to the 14th century which are found in Guizhou Province.The ancestors of the inhabitants of the "Tunpu" were troops of the Ming Dynasty from the middle and lower reaches of the Changjiang (Yangtze) River who were sent to Anshun some 600 years ago.

Below are the masks On the forehead of Di Xi, a.k.a. ground opera.

Try it on...

Tastes of GuiYang Travel China GuiYang Travel Tianlong Tunpu (Village Fortress)

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The Enchanting Night Life at Li River (YunNan China) (1)

五彩斑斓的古城丽江。白天的丽江给游人一种小鸟依人，宁静祥和的氛围，小桥流水，亭台楼阁，杨柳扶风。但到了夜晚，便仿佛换了一副装扮。全然一副浓妆艳抹，神秘莫测，回魅一笑，宁人销魂的风范。

到了丽江古镇，就尤不得你一副神魂颠倒的感觉了。赶紧对我家王老太婆和马老者抱怨-为什么没有早一点来？！

Enchanting?! Yes, Enchanting! That's the word kept coming into my mind whenever I thought about the night at the Historical Town of the Li River.

During the day, the 1500-year-old historical town is a girl, quiet, shy and reserved. But at night, she turns into a mature woman the make-up and perfume, attractive, seductive and mysterious.

Delicious YunNan Cross-the-Bridge Rice Noodle Soup

在昆明转了一圈滇池和西上。有点累，但离上飞机去丽江还有一段时间。而且心中总觉得没有吃上正宗的云南过桥米饯好象于心不甘。于是一行四人打了一辆车到昆明市内有名的的“桥香园“一饱口福。所谓有名就是地道的昆明人都会光顾的好地方。过桥米饯分好几个档次，从9元到78元。

Yunnan's famed Across the Bridge Rice Noodles is known as "Guo-Qiao Mi-Xian" in Chinese.

Legend has it that guoqiao mixian came about when a young scholar retreated to another place to prepare for his imperial examination. His loving wife would travel and cross a nearby bridge to bring him his daily meal. Frequently, his meal would turned cold by the time it gets to him. One day, quite by chance, she discovered a bowl of chicken soup could keep warm with a layer of oil on top. From then on, she would serve the noodles and meat slices with the oil layer soup and the young scholar could enjoy a warm meal every day. When the scholar did well in the examination, he credited his success to his wife's noodles,hence, this dish Across the Bridge Rice Noodles was made known.

The price of the cross-bridge noodle ranges from 9 RMB to 78RMB. Here are all the ingredients for the most expensive one, including chicken, pork, lamb, beef, seafood, mushroom, etc.

Add all the meat and ingredients first. 先把所有的配料放进一大海碗汤里。

Then, add the noodle. A huge bowl of noodle soup enough for at least 3 people to share. Yummy!

有好菜岂能没有冰啤酒？！ 来点下酒菜，同我家马老者晕几杯。 又香又辣的卤鸡珍和牛杂。

看我家王老太婆和马老者吃得多么的同心协力！！！不愧是几十年夫妻啊。

我妈是当老师的。对学生那套严词逼供是驾轻就熟。一看这张照片我就知道她肯定又是在对刘医生”洗脑“。肯定是几辈子的旧账都全部挖掘出来了。你说有我这个能干的老妈，我每天的八卦新闻还少得了吗？

With 30 years of experience of dealing with tough students, my mom is a talented interrogator. No kidding! Whatever one has in his/her head, my mom can definitely dig it out. Look at her! Must be doing some major brain-wash with Dr. Liu. :)