i'd trade our food here for their's

tibetans have never been know for their culinary prowess. to be honest tibetan fare is far too fair. boiled mutton, tsampa (barley dough), butter, milk and butter tea, yogurt, dumplings, tintu (noodle soup) and some yak of course. that is really the extent of it. needless to say, these items get a little boring after a while. although i must say the tibetan dumplings are the best i've ever eaten.

now, it's a different story out in kashgar. rice pilaf, roasted pidgin, roasted chicken, kebabs of every kind, fresh melons by the slice, figs, dates, dried fruit by the ton, quality wine produced locally, local dark beer, high altitude fish (from glacial lakes above 20,000 ft), nan bread, laghman noodles, and the most surprising of all, tortellini. that is just the uyghur food. there was also pakistani food--think indian--to sate the pallet. for me it was a gastronomic extravaganza.

i guess the desert is the place to be for foods. i truly had some of the most enjoyable meals i've ever eaten in xinjiang, especially the roasted pidgin. i mean, come on, how can a place that claims to have taught the italians how to make pasta, tortellini, and pizza not have good food. like i said, i would trade qinghai food for xinjiang food in a second.