If you're in Yunnan (Dali) and order "beef noodles," what should you expect to get?

[Ken Cheng]

When viewing DGSD '81, one minor scene that stuck in my mind was when Dali Imperial Guardsman Chu escorted Deun Yu and Muk Yeun Ching back to Dali City and they stopped at a restaurant in town for lunch. Chu ordered "beef noodles" for all three of them.

Now "beef noodles" is a dish I associate with northern China, especially Shanghai. It's not something I associate with southwestern China. If you order "beef noodles" in Yunnan, what should you expect to get: something like Shanghai beef noodles or something more like Vietnamese pho?

[HuangYushi]

Perhaps it looks like the pic on the page below?
http://www.ynstreet.cn/balitourism/cateview5291.html

[shadow8899]

Another question would be... Was beef noodles really that easy to get in ancient China? I would imagine in the past, beef was a fairly expensive item in China, since cows were used for farming. I remember going to China in the 1980s and having beef being a rarity. Yet, beef noodles or a catty of beef (to go with the jug of wine) is ordered all the time in these shows.

[S Beaver]

I would imagine beef would be much more expensive than the likes of pork, but not non-existent. these wuxia people (esp on TV) uses money like toilet paper anyways.

yunnan is pretty famous for their rice noodles, commonly known as Yunnan Guoqiao Mixian (Yunnan Crossing Bridge Rice Threads?). It's like pho except the noodles are thicker, rounder, and I would imagine the soup base would differ.

[flamer]

Another question would be, how is Shanghai northern China? Always thought it would be considered as southern China.

[LuNaR]

hmm i always considered anything north of guangzhou north china lol

[S Beaver]

hmm i always considered anything north of guangzhou north china lol

traditionally speaking, anything south of the yangtze is considered SOUTH china. Though, there are areas on the northern coasts of the yangtze that are also considered "south".

[Han Solo]

The foods of yunnan unfortunately does not fit my tastebud.

Apart from the Yunnan cross-bridge noodles, the rests of the cuisine that i had during my holiday there isn't all that good.

Yunnan tea is really really good though. Highly recommended.

Han Solo

[Trien Chieu]

Another question would be... Was beef noodles really that easy to get in ancient China? I would imagine in the past, beef was a fairly expensive item in China, since cows were used for farming. I remember going to China in the 1980s and having beef being a rarity. Yet, beef noodles or a catty of beef (to go with the jug of wine) is ordered all the time in these shows.

What are you talking about. Beef noodle may not be cheap and out of reach for most people but it's far from luxury. Shark fin soup, Abalone, ect. were consumed by elitists thousand of years ago. Ancient china is a society that money and power can talk loud, much louder than these day.

[Trien Chieu]

I would imagine beef would be much more expensive than the likes of pork, but not non-existent. these wuxia people (esp on TV) uses money like toilet paper anyways.

yunnan is pretty famous for their rice noodles, commonly known as Yunnan Guoqiao Mixian (Yunnan Crossing Bridge Rice Threads?). It's like pho except the noodles are thicker, rounder, and I would imagine the soup base would differ.

Not just money, gold is everywhere at the time of massive starvation.

[resident:alien]

When viewing DGSD '81, one minor scene that stuck in my mind was when Dali Imperial Guardsman Chu escorted Deun Yu and Muk Yeun Ching back to Dali City and they stopped at a restaurant in town for lunch. Chu ordered "beef noodles" for all three of them.

Now "beef noodles" is a dish I associate with northern China, especially Shanghai. It's not something I associate with southwestern China. If you order "beef noodles" in Yunnan, what should you expect to get: something like Shanghai beef noodles or something more like Vietnamese pho?

Isn't that type of cooking similar to Sichuan? I would imagine it'd be "spicy."

[pemberly]

the beef noodles in ancient tvb serials always look like beef ramen to me.