Hot Pot

We haven't had good wifi, so I'm posting three entries today.

Our hotel in Chengdu was the Tibet Hotel. It was eco-friendly with natural and organic shampoos and soaps. This is the yak in the lobby.

For our last night in Chengdu, the guide asked us if we wanted to try the dish Chengdu is known for. We said sure. But then on the way to the restaurant he said that after we ate, our hair and clothes would smell like hot pot. And he was right. The hot pot is like fondue but is loaded with garlic. 

This is the regular hot pot. One side is chicken fat with tons of chili peppers in it. The other side is a broth. 

My vegetarian one was a mushroom broth.

You made your own dipping sauce with oyster sauce, onion, garlic, cilantro, some kind of little bean and salt. Then you add some of your oil or broth to it.

He ordered so many plates of food to dip in the oil or broth, we couldn't begin to finish them.

This is tofu skin. Kyra was only pretending to taste it. The rest of us loved it -- it tasted like a noodle.

This is the entrance to what the locals call hot pot street. All of the buildings, even though they weren't old, were made to look old. 

After dinner we went to a variety show of traditional Chinese arts. This was our favorite of the three shows we've seen. The hand shadow portion, as shown below, was simply amazing.