BAO XING LOU

After visiting Jianshui, I enjoyed a dinner at Baoxinglou, a well-known local restaurant on Guangci Road near Guangci Lake. Baoxinglou has an antique architectural style. From the Guangci Road gate, you can directly go to the second floor, which is considered upstairs. When you are in the restaurant, you can go downstairs to the first floor. From the back door, you will reach the ring road beside Guangci Lake. The scenery is very beautiful. The menu has various local specialties of Jianshui, as well as specialties from Honghe Prefecture and even many other prefectures in Yunnan Province. The ingredients are fresh, the cooking level is excellent, and the spiciness is just right, which is endless aftertaste. Jianshui grilled tofu, crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, is worth recommending.

It was probably around 1pm, so we didn't have to wait in line. The storefront was antique with ethnic characteristics. We ordered steam pot chicken, three-shredded grass sprouts, a basket of siu mai, and grilled tofu. It was okay. The steam pot chicken was crispy and a little oily, the grass sprouts were tender and refreshing, and the grilled tofu seemed different from ordinary tofu. It was crispy and spicy with a little chili.

On February 25, 2019, I came to this restaurant for dinner after taking the Jianshui train. The overall environment is still a bit high-end and antique, especially when the lights come out at night, it is very artistic. In terms of food, the steamed chicken ordered was added with a Chinese medicine Panax notoginseng. I personally recommend not to try it easily. The taste is not good at first, and the taste is bitter. I am not used to it anyway. There are also two dishes that I have never eaten before, one is snow red and the other is wild vegetable peanut soup. They are quite novel and taste good. In addition, the tableware here is charged, 2 yuan per person, and the overall per capita cost is about more than 40 yuan, which is still cost-effective!

Driving back to Kunming from Laos via Jianshui, Baoxinglou is a century-old restaurant that you must visit. Yunnan cuisine is indeed very classic. The three-strand spring bamboo shoots are very tender and smooth. Jelly is also one of the must-order dishes. Of course, there is also the signature dish, steamed chicken. The soup is as fresh and fragrant as ever. The three of us ordered three dishes and a bowl of rice noodles, which is definitely not enough.

There are two legends about Yunnan cross-bridge rice noodles, one is the story of Jianshui's Baoxing Building, and the other is the story of Mengzi's champion crossing the bridge; Baoxing Building is the birthplace of traditional cross-bridge rice noodles, located on the shore of Guangci Lake in Jianshui County, Honghe Prefecture, Yunnan Province. It was invented by Liu Jiagui (also known as Liu Jiaqing), the founder of Baoxing Building, during the Daoguang period of the Qing Dynasty and has been passed down to this day. It is said that Li Jingchun, a Jinshi from Jianshui in the late Qing Dynasty, taught him to eat cross-bridge rice noodles in the same way as eating shabu-shabu mutton, and it was very successful at the first try. When naming it, Li Jingchun said: "I came from Suolong Bridge, and ate rice noodles from the east of the bridge to the west of the bridge. People cross the bridge, and rice noodles also cross the bridge, so let's call it cross-bridge rice noodles!" Since then, cross-bridge rice noodles have spread to Mengzi, Kunming and other places, and gradually became the first brand of snacks in Yunnan. Baoxinglou's cross-bridge rice noodles have been in business for five generations. Liu Yuzhu and Chen Kun, the fifth-generation descendants, moved Baoxinglou to the shore of Guangci Lake. The restaurant has authentic flavor, first-class environment, and rich cultural atmosphere. The antique door, decoration, and lake view private rooms make it easy for people to feel the charm of cross-bridge rice noodles a hundred years ago. Baoxinglou's cross-bridge rice noodles have few ingredients, but they are well selected. They include sashimi, steamed chicken, ham slices, chicken shreds, crispy, leeks, chopped green onions, coriander, fungus, bean curd, and quail eggs. Each ingredient is very fragrant, with meat and vegetables having a meaty flavor. The strictly boiled broth does not contain modern seasonings, so you won't feel dry mouth after eating it. Baoxinglou mainly serves traditional cross-bridge rice noodles for breakfast and lunch, and stir-fried dishes, stewed dishes, steamed dishes, cold dishes, roasted tofu, steamed dumplings, noodles, fruit juice cold drinks, etc. for lunch and dinner. You can taste the local flavor of Jianshui.