Saturday, 03.10.2020 – Sunday, 04.10.2020
On our road trip from Sichuan’s capital Chengdu to the autonomous Tibetan region farther west we made a stop at the ancient town of Liujiang where we spend a night at a beautiful traditional courtyard hotel. At night we sat on the veranda on the second floor outside overlooking the main street and drank a local beer.
Built over 800 year ago the town is hiding under an almost constant cover of clouds and mist. This humidity contributes significantly to the lush green bamboo forests we drove through to get into town. It’s towering poles grew across and above the street and built a roof over the cars passing below. On the side of the road elderly women sold pickled bamboo shoots and other vegetables homegrown in their own yards. The Yangcun river runs all the way through the small town and when the tide is lower there are walking stones on which people can cross it to get to the other side.
Zeng’s courtyard
This courtyard was built by Zeng Yicheng who studied architecture in France and combined both Chinese and Western elements into the construction. The overall layout resembles the Chinese character “Shou”, implying longevity, and includes three drama stage inside the courtyards, which is quite unusual in residential courtyards.
Liujiang turned out to be a great place to try the local cuisine and we snacked our way along the main food street to try most of the delicacies on offer.
Tofu with fermented bean paste in soup 
Steaming hot dim sum and fresh silky tofu 
Preparing the hot sauces and cooked cabbage while waiting for the noodle to be done 
Homemade pulled noodles 
Topping of cured ham 
Dried duck 
Bitter melon soup, stir-fried bamboo shoots, dried duck meat and homemade fruit liquor 
Courtyard restaurant 
Open kitchen for preparing the “burger” buns 
Sichuan burger – stuffed with pickles, pepper sauce and pulled pork
rice is the new bread 