Day 4 -Lijang Market

Judging by the number of photos above you could think I am a sucker for SE Asian markets...and you could be correct. This large Old Town market was rocking. There were vast tables of chilies, great fresh greens, noodles, ummm and uh... duck heads ( and other fowl parts), the expected and unexpected vegetables and stalls of prepared food. From time to time we ran into heavy congestion made up of merchants, shoppers and trolleys ( see above) but this is China and negotiating jammed aisles is to be expected.

I suppose also to be expected - although we were not prepared - was the killer pen section seen in part in the last image directly above. If it looks evil I must say it felt that way too. When I saw the caged dogs, about 5 to each small wooden cage - all, we were told, raised for slaughter, I had to leave. Travel broadens one's thinking, however, in this case I choose to stick with western narrow.

We went to the market to shop for the day's lunch which would be the fabulous result of a cooking lesson from our friend H. Our friend, a native of Lijang, was at one time the chef and owner of a local restaurant known for it's special fried rice. At the market shops he shops judicially, deliberately choosing perfect vegetables and seeking out his favorite meat vendor. " She always has the best quality" he says of the vendor in the first image.

The fried rice was amazing AND the recipe with his instructions and demo photos will follow.