Qinghai Profile

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Delicious Diet

Liquor Made of High Land Barley

Qinghai's best liquor is the one made from high land barley with the head bearing 6 columns instead of 4. As what is said in a Qinghai folk song that "nice liquor made from highland barley should be presented to the honored guests," the host or hostess in Xining toasts a guest six cups of liquor, which is referred to as Jinmenjiu, liquor for entering the door. It is the most honored manner to receive a guest. When the banquet is over and the guest is leaving, the host or hostess toasts anther six cups, hoping the guest will come again.

Toasted Mutton

Toasted Mutton refers to mutton pieces toasted on charcoal fire. It is originally a Xinjiang local dish, one of the traditional dishes of the Islamic ethnic minorities like Hasake, Weiwu'er, Huizu and Salazu. Most Islamic ethnic groups inhabit in Qinghai, Gansu and Xinjiang. In their cultural communications, the method for toasting mutton was passed on to Qinghai.

Shouzhua Mutton - to eat with hands and knife

Mutton is everyday food for the people in the pastoral areas. Shouzhua, to eat with hands and knife, is the method used only by people on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and is well-known in China.