Salty milk tea
Brick tea boiled with milk and a pinch of salt, drunk through the day with fried millet, dried curd and butter stirred in. Not sweet, and not the milk tea of the city cafes.
Life in Mainland China
Inner Mongolia: a Chinese conversation with pinyin and English
A long crescent of grassland, desert and forest along the northern border.
The conversation
Speakers: Xiaoyu and Bater.
- Xiaoyu
这儿的天大得我都快把蓝色铅笔画秃了。
The sky here is so huge I've nearly worn down my blue colored pencil.
- Bater
内蒙古？就那条横亘在北部边境的狭长草原吗？
Inner Mongolia? You mean that long, sweeping grassland stretched across the northern border?
- Xiaoyu
我在草原上呢，这儿的牧民现在还赶着牲畜转场呢。
I'm out on the grasslands. Herders around here are still moving their livestock to seasonal pastures.
- Bater
招待你吃饱了吗？
Did they feed you well?
- Xiaoyu
我都喝了三大碗茶了，巴特，居然是咸的。
I've already had three big bowls of tea, Bater. Turns out it's salty.
- Bater
咸奶茶！你猜配着什么吃？
Salty milk tea! Guess what they have with it?
- 炒米和奶豆腐 Roasted rice and dairy curds
- 菠萝包和蛋挞 Pineapple buns and egg tarts
- 红豆沙和汤圆 Red bean paste and tangyuan
Answer
炒米和奶豆腐 Roasted rice and dairy curds
- Xiaoyu
炒米和奶豆腐。跟城里的奶茶完全两码事，喝得我停不下来。
Roasted rice and dairy curds. It's nothing like city milk tea, I couldn't stop drinking it.
- Bater
你来得正是时候，刚好赶上那达慕。
You picked the right time to visit—you caught Naadam.
- Xiaoyu
就是那个夏季盛会！搏克、赛马加射箭，我画了老多骏马了。
That summer festival! Wrestling, horse racing, and archery. I've sketched so many great horses.
- Bater
那正日子吃什么？
What do they eat on the main day?
- Xiaoyu
整只烤全羊都端上桌了，这可是待客的最高规格。
They served a whole roasted sheep right at the table. That's the ultimate sign of hospitality.
- Bater
这么巧刚好让你碰上了？
What a coincidence you ran into that.
- Xiaoyu
我是特意算准了时间去碰的。
I timed it on purpose.
Words in the conversation
蓝色blue colorHSK 2完全completelyHSK 2正是preciselyHSK 2日子daysHSK 2可是butHSK 2这么soHSK 2北部the northern sectorHSK 3奶茶milk teaHSK 3下来to come down toward hereHSK 3就是preciselyHSK 3豆腐tofuHSK 4夏季summerHSK 4边境borderHSK 5草原grasslandHSK 5居然unexpectedlyHSK 5城里in the cityHSK 5铅笔pencilHSK 6刚好just rightHSK 6赶上to catch up withHSK 6特意deliberatelyHSK 6
Notes
- Kind
- Autonomous region
- Capital
- Hohhot
- Region
- North China
A long crescent of grassland, desert and forest along the northern border.
Known for
- Salty milk tea, poured from a kettle and drunk with fried millet and dried curd
- Grasslands where herders still move with their flocks
- Whole roast lamb, the dish for a feast
- Naadam, the summer festival of wrestling, horse racing and archery