Food
Food eaten by the local Tibetans has
distinctive and unique characteristics. Everyone
traveling in Tibet likes to try their authentic
cuisine, but few can really get used to it.
 The most popular
and distinctive Tibetan foods are zanba and
buttered tea. Zanba, made of qingke (barley
flour), is slightly sour tasting, though extremely
nutritious and easy to digest. Buttered tea is a
mixture of butter, tea and salt, and is considered
to be a good source of energy. Quite a number of
tourists like drinking it during their stay here,
in order to adapt to the high-altitude and
dry-climate environment.
Qinke wine is the local alcohol and is
fairly potent. Many outsiders shrink from the
challenge of drinking this wine despite its
popularity amongst the locals. Other typical
Tibetan foods include dried meat, mutton served
with sheep's trotters, roast sheep intestine,
yogurt and cheese.
All the hotels in Tibet serve local Tibetan
food and there are several Tibetan restaurants
along Eastern Beijing Road in Lhasa. Another
favorite haunt is the Snow Goddess Palace, at the
foot of the Potala.
 Once you have
found a good eating spot, get ready to sample some
highly unusual dishes. For the first course try
cold dishes such as zanba, yak meat, beef tripe
and ox tongue. Next, try the sheep blood soup,
fried sheep lung and stir-fried beef with pickled
carrot. The staple diet of the locals consists of
steamed buns stuffed with minced beef and
potatoes, or rice fried with butter.
Tibetan food is not the only choice for
tourists. Sichuan and Guangdong cuisine is served
at most hotels and restaurants in most major
cities such as Lhasa, Zetang and Shigatse. There
are also western restaurants and buffet cafeterias
for the slightly non-adventurous tourists
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