Muleteer's Inn

Sideng St., Shaxi Old Town, Jianchuan 671302

Dali, Yunnan

沙溪老马店

云南大理剑川县沙溪镇寺登街古城

Tel/fax: + 86 (872) 4722 666 (Lodge)

+86 (872) 4722 777(Cafe)

The fourth town along my Yunnan journey was Sideng Old Village, Shaxi Valley, once a bustling stopping off point along the Tea and Horse Caravan Trail that stretched from Yunnan all the way to Tibet. This Bai town was long forgotten until it was given a new lease on life through the joint efforts of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) and the People’s Government of Jianchuan County through the Shaxi Rehabilitation Project.

One of the best results of this project is the Shaxi Laoma Dian, for many years a muleteer guest house. One of the many beautiful courtyard houses in Shaxi, Laoma Dian has been nicely renovated and once again is providing visitors to this culturally-rich town with comfortable rooms and delectable homey food.

Regardless of whether you stay here or not, you must come here to dine. There are not too many dishes on the simple menu, 10 at most, but every dish served was heartwarming. The golden-fried potato pancakes with spring onion was wonderful, as were the steamed pork-filled dumplings (xiao longbao 小笼包), which easily surpassed the taste of those served in the reputable Din Tai Fung. Also tasty were the deep-fried pockets of minced beef pie (niurou bing 牛肉饼), which were accompanied by a uniquely-flavored tomato-based dipping sauce with a hint of unspeakable spices. A welcome surprise was the mashed potatoes and excellent steak, a beef fillet that was mighty tender, mighty flavorful, and mighty incredible. The Taiwan stir-fried vermicelli was creatively enhanced by adding a squeeze of lime and a few flecks of shallot. And last but not least, the clear egg-drop soup with spinach, beancurd and carrots was rich and purely tasty. Every dish was just ordinary, yet each one was also extraordinarily memorable. It’s a pleasant surprise when you’re in such an out-of-the-way place to find such a perfect meal. I wish I could find restaurants in Beijing that could match the cooking of Shaxi Laoma Dian’s kitchen, which opted not to use artificial enhancers such as MSG.

This guest house is managed by A Fang, a Taiwanese architect who spent many years in the United States, who has a penchant for Western and Taiwan specialities. If you get to Zhongdian (Shangri-La), stop by A Fang’s Karma Cafe.

With the unavoidable commercialization that is taking place in Dali and Lijiang, the as-of-yet undisturbed Shaxi Valley is a welcome haven for anyone wishing to experience the unspoiled natural heritage of the Bai people.

For more details on the old Tea Horse Caravan Trail read Trail and Tribulations

An excellent book on this ancient trail is Jeff Fuchs The Ancient Tea Horse Road: Travels with the Last of the Himalayan Muleteers.