Chongqing hotpot
A pot of broth kept bubbling at the table; each person cooks their own meat, tripe, tofu and greens in it. Chongqing's is made with beef tallow, chillies and Sichuan pepper, and a split pot keeps a mild broth beside the fiery one.
Life in Mainland China
Southwest China
Sichuan, Chongqing, Guizhou, Yunnan and Tibet: mountains, the high plateau, and the numbing heat of Sichuan pepper.
Play: Southwest China quizTap a place.
The land
The Southwest climbs from the Sichuan Basin, ringed by mountains, to the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau and the Tibetan Plateau, the highest in the world. It holds deep gorges, snow peaks, karst forests and, in southern Yunnan, tropical rainforest.
Living there
Sichuan's basin is so fertile that it has been called the Land of Abundance for two thousand years. Chongqing is a mountain city of stairs and bridges. Yunnan and Guizhou are home to many of China's minorities, including the Yi, Miao, Bai, Dai, Naxi and Dong, each with their own dress, festivals and food.
How it sounds
Sichuan and Chongqing speak southwestern Mandarin, close enough to the standard to follow with practice, though the tones differ and some sounds merge, such as n and l. Tibetan is the language of the plateau, and the minorities of Yunnan and Guizhou speak dozens of their own languages.
What it eats
This is the home of numbing and spicy, mala, from Sichuan pepper and chilli, and of hotpot. Yunnan cooks wild mushrooms, flowers and rice noodles, and grows pu'er tea; tea was carried from here to Tibet on the Tea Horse Road for over a thousand years.
Chongqing
A mountain city where the Jialing River meets the Yangtze, built in layers up the hills.
- Xiaomian, the spicy breakfast noodles
- Monorail trains that run through apartment buildings
- Hongyadong, stilt houses lit up over the river at night
Sichuan
A fertile basin ringed by mountains, known for its pandas and its numbing heat.
- Giant pandas, bred and studied in Chengdu
- Mapo tofu, in a red sauce of chilli bean paste
- The Leshan Giant Buddha, carved out of a cliff over three rivers
Mapo tofu
Soft tofu simmered with minced beef in a sauce of fermented chilli bean paste, finished with ground Sichuan pepper. Said to be named after the pockmarked old woman who served it in Chengdu in the 1800s.
Guizhou
Green karst mountains, waterfalls, and the villages of the Miao and Dong.
- Huangguoshu, one of Asia's largest waterfalls
- Maotai, the town that makes China's most famous baijiu
- FAST, the world's largest single-dish radio telescope
Sour soup fish
Fish cooked in a red sour soup made with fermented tomatoes and wild chillies, a dish of the Miao people.
Yunnan
From snow peaks to rainforest, home to many peoples and languages.
- Pu'er tea, pressed into cakes and aged
- Wild mushrooms, sold in their dozens of kinds in the summer markets
- The old towns of Lijiang and Dali
Crossing-the-bridge rice noodles
A bowl of very hot chicken broth sealed under a layer of oil, brought with plates of raw sliced meat, quail egg, vegetables and rice noodles. You add them yourself and the broth cooks them.
Tibet
The high plateau, with an average elevation above 4,000 metres.
- The Potala Palace in Lhasa
- Tsampa, roasted barley flour mixed into tea
- The north face of Mount Everest
Butter tea
Brick tea boiled for a long time, then churned with yak butter and salt in a tall wooden churn. Drunk many times a day on the cold, high plateau.
Play
Southwest China quiz
Dishes, famous sights and capitals. Every answer comes with the story behind it.
Which place is famous for this? "Hotpot in a bubbling, beef-tallow broth of chillies and Sichuan pepper."
Answer
Chongqing. Chongqing. A mountain city where the Jialing River meets the Yangtze, built in layers up the hills.
Which place is famous for this? "Mala, the numbing and spicy taste of Sichuan pepper with chilli."
Answer
Sichuan. Sichuan. A fertile basin ringed by mountains, known for its pandas and its numbing heat.
What is the capital of Sichuan?
Answer
Chengdu. Chengdu. Sichuan is also known for: giant pandas, bred and studied in Chengdu.
Which place is famous for this? "Sour soup fish, a tangy red broth of the Miao people."
Answer
Guizhou. Guizhou. Green karst mountains, waterfalls, and the villages of the Miao and Dong.
What is the capital of Guizhou?
Answer
Guiyang. Guiyang. Guizhou is also known for: huangguoshu, one of Asia's largest waterfalls.
Which place is famous for this? "Crossing-the-bridge rice noodles, cooked at the table in very hot broth."
Answer
Yunnan. Yunnan. From snow peaks to rainforest, home to many peoples and languages.
What is the capital of Yunnan?
Answer
Kunming. Kunming. Yunnan is also known for: pu'er tea, pressed into cakes and aged.
Which place is famous for this? "Butter tea, churned with yak butter and salt."
Answer
Tibet. Tibet. The high plateau, with an average elevation above 4,000 metres.
What is the capital of Tibet?
Answer
Lhasa. Lhasa. Tibet is also known for: the Potala Palace in Lhasa.