Dali

rǔ shàn

A Bai-minority fresh cheese: cow's milk curdled with sour papaya water, stretched into a translucent sheet and dried on a bamboo rack into a fan shape. It is grilled on a skewer and brushed with rose jam, or pan-fried and dusted with salt or sugar.

Tastes like: Milky and faintly sour, chewy-stretchy when grilled and crisp when fried; the rose jam version is floral and sweet.

Not on the menu but in it: This is pure dairy — a real surprise to visitors who assume Chinese food contains no cheese. Fried versions use vegetable oil; some stalls add a sesame or walnut filling.

Might not be for you: The texture is unusual: somewhere between halloumi and chewing gum. Mild sour-milk smell.

Where: Grill stalls all along Renmin Road and Fuxing Road in Dali Old Town, and in Xizhou village market; 5-10 CNY.

shēng pí

A Bai festive dish, listed as intangible cultural heritage: a pig is straw-fired so the skin goes golden and the meat beneath is only half-cooked, then both are sliced raw-ish and eaten with a dipping sauce of plum vinegar, crushed walnut, chilli and garlic.

Tastes like: Smoky from the straw fire, chewy skin and tender near-raw pork, cut by a very sharp sour-salty dip.

Not on the menu but in it: The dipping sauce almost always contains walnut and often soy; the pork is deliberately not fully cooked.

Might not be for you: This is genuinely raw or near-raw pork. Beyond the squeamishness factor there is a real parasite and food-safety risk, and most non-local Chinese visitors decline it too. Order it only if you understand that.

Where: Traditional Bai restaurants in Dali Old Town and the villages around Erhai; often a banquet item.

dàlǐ suān là yú

A whole freshwater fish from Erhai Lake stewed in a broth soured with pickled green papaya and sharpened with dried chilli and Sichuan pepper, served as a shared hotpot you eat down to the bone.

Tastes like: Bright, sour and peppery with a long savoury finish — the sourness is fruity, not vinegary.

Not on the menu but in it: Often started with pork or chicken stock and finished with lard; some versions add cured ham.

Might not be for you: Served whole with head, bones and skin, and you are expected to pick around them. Sichuan pepper gives a numbing tingle people do not expect.

Where: Restaurants along the Erhai west-shore road (环海西路) in Yinqiao and Pan Xi village, where the fish is freshest.

wēishān pá ròu ěr sī

Thick ribbon noodles cut from pressed rice cake, served in a clear pork broth with pork belly stewed until it collapses at the touch of a chopstick.

Tastes like: Clean, gently savoury and rich without being greasy; you season it yourself at the condiment table.

Not on the menu but in it: Pork bone broth and pork fat throughout — not a safe order for vegetarians or halal eaters even though it looks plain.

Might not be for you: Nothing — this is the easiest and most comforting thing on any Dali breakfast menu.

Where: Breakfast noodle shops across Dali and especially in Weishan county; 12-20 CNY.

báizú sān dào chá

A Bai hospitality ritual of three cups: the first bitter roasted tea, the second sweet with rushan cheese shavings, walnut, sesame and brown sugar, the third spiced with cinnamon, Sichuan pepper, ginger and honey.

Tastes like: Bitter, then sweet-nutty-milky, then sweet with a peppery tingle — 'one bitter, two sweet, three aftertaste'.

Not on the menu but in it: The second cup contains actual cheese and walnut; people with nut allergies should skip it or ask for it plain.

Might not be for you: The first cup is aggressively bitter and the third is oddly peppery for a drink. Most tourist versions come with a song-and-dance show attached.

Where: Bai courtyard houses in Xizhou (喜洲) and performance venues in Dali Old Town.

xǐzhōu bābā

A round layered wheat pastry baked between two charcoal-heated pans, so it crisps top and bottom. Savoury versions hold spring onion and minced pork; sweet ones hold rose jam or brown sugar.

Tastes like: Crisp, flaky and buttery; savoury is oniony and salty, sweet is intensely floral.

Not on the menu but in it: Made with pork lard in the layering at most traditional stalls — including the sweet rose version. Ask if it matters.

Might not be for you: Nothing difficult; just very rich and best eaten hot from the pan.

Where: The stalls on Xizhou village square, about 30 minutes north of Dali Old Town; 8-15 CNY.

nuòdèng huǒtuǐ

Pork leg cured with salt from the ancient Nuodeng salt wells and aged two to three years. Eaten in thin raw slices, fried with vegetables, or steamed.

Tastes like: Intensely savoury, nutty and sweet-salty — closer to Spanish jamon than to Western cooked ham.

Not on the menu but in it: Pork, used as a seasoning in many apparently vegetable dishes across Dali menus — check stir-fried greens if you avoid pork.

Might not be for you: Often served uncooked and very salty; the aged rind has a strong cured smell.

Where: Bai restaurants in Dali Old Town; also sold vacuum-packed in markets.

shāo ěr kuài

A disc of pounded rice cake grilled over charcoal until it puffs and blisters, then smeared with sweet or savoury bean paste and chilli sauce and folded around a fried dough stick or a sausage.

Tastes like: Chewy and mildly toasty, with the sauce doing the work — sweet, salty and a little spicy at once.

Not on the menu but in it: The sauces are fermented-soy based and peanut or sesame paste is common; the usual fillings are sausage or fried dough.

Might not be for you: Nothing — a good cheap breakfast, and easy to get meat-free if you skip the sausage.

Where: Morning street grills throughout Dali Old Town and Xiaguan; 5-12 CNY.

diāo méi

Green plums scored into a chrysanthemum pattern by hand, then cured in brine and brown sugar. Served as a snack, a palate cleanser, or stuffed with minced pork and steamed as 'diaomei kourou'.

Tastes like: Very sour then sweet, with a floral plum perfume.

Not on the menu but in it: The plain plums are vegan; the steamed banquet version is built on fatty pork belly.

Might not be for you: Extremely sour by Western standards, and the stones are left in.

Where: Market stalls and souvenir shops in Dali Old Town and Xizhou.