The Quest for the Elusive Naxi Sandwich

The Naxi people settled in the northwest corner of Yunnan province, on a plain nestled against the eastern foothills of the Himalayas, in the third century AD. Between the tenth and thirteenth centuries AD, the Naxi people evolved from livestock breeders to an agrarian based society. At some point, they started making sandwiches.

Not more than a month ago, we had been bitterly disappointed that Qingdao's reputation as the kebab capital of China was wholly undeserved. Warmed up vegetables in pita bread does not constitute a kebab.

It was therefore with some trepidation that Reecey purchased her Naxi sandwich at Sifang Square in Lijiang's Old Town. Old Town restaurants have a wholly deserved reputation for being overpriced and we were not surprised on that count. More disheartening for Reecey though, was the alarmingly yellow egg and frankfurter perched between two slices of stale, white bread.

"Naxi sandwich" said the young Han Chinese waitress. The Naxi women, all wearing steel grey aprons and blue felt caps as if they were about to drive a steam train, were too busy trying to sell maps to the hordes of Han Chinese tourists to cook up an authentic Naxi sandwich. We left the overpriced Naxi sandwich untouched, vowing to find the authentic version.

The next morning, after peddling for ten kilometres towards the cloud-covered peak of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, we found Bai She village, the ancestral heart of the Naxi culture. Once again, Reecey nervously ordered a Naxi sandwich. She was not disappointed. The Naxi sandwich was served on "bread" baked somewhere on the spectrum between pizza crust and pancake. It was topped with fried goat's cheese, two slices of tomato, fried egg and hashed-brown-style potato.

The cook, a middle-aged Naxi woman, nodded to us as we left. "Xie xie ni-a," we replied, hoping that she would never give up her restaurant job to sell maps in an Old Town Square.