8 reasons why you should pay a visit to China's best food destination

China is a nation of food lovers. And everyone has strong opinions about which of the country’s many regional cuisines are the best.

So where do Chinese travelers go when they want to spend their vacations eating amazing foods? They head to Yunnan, China's southwestern-most province. This mountainous region might not be on most Americans' radars, but it's one of China's (and the world's) most exciting culinary destinations. Here’s why.

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1. Its borders

Yunnan borders Tibet, Burma, Laos, Vietnam, and the Chinese provinces of Guangxhi, Guizhou, and Sichuan. And it shares characteristics with all of them. The northern edge of the region actually sits on the Tibetan plateau; the jungles in the south look just like those in Laos or Thailand; and the west has the same beautiful karst mountains that tourists head to central China to see. From a food perspective, this means you can find dishes that range from yak hotpot to Lao-style green papaya salad to numbingly spicy Sichuan-style stir fries all within a few hours' drive.

2. Minorities

Yunnan is also China's most culturally diverse region. 25 of China's 55 minorities live there, and each community retains its own unique foodways. If you head to the beautiful central city of Dali, you'll find Bai minority dishes like cold rice noodles topped with stewed chicken, peanuts, vinegar, and sesame sauce. Down south, in jungle-filled Xishuangbanna, you'll find Dai dishes like grilled fish stuffed with fresh herbs and chiles. And throughout the province you'll find Hue Muslim restaurants that specialize in flavorful beef stir fries and stews.

3. "Barbarian" foods

Cheese is not something you expect to find in China. Or raw, leafy salads. In fact, both were historically called "barbarian foods" by China's Han majority (who considered any group outside of China's traditional borders, including their minorities, "barbarians"). But in Yunnan, both of these foods have a long, delicious history. At restaurants in Kunming, the provincial capital, you'll find slices of milky white cheese grilled with slivers of local ham, zesty chrysanthemum greens dressed with soy sauce and sesame oil, and even butter-based pastries that were introduced to the region by 19^th century French missionaries (a different kind of invading "barbarian").