Small skewers bring big sums to Zhaotong

Walking through the streets and alleys of Zhaotong city in northeast Yunnan province at dusk, you will see barbecue restaurants roasting small skewers of beef.

As one of the typical Southern-style barbecues, Zhaotong’s skewers of beef are small but delicious. The raw materials of the skewers are carefully selected from the tenderloin of local Zhaotong yellow cattle, which is fatty but not greasy, and dry but not over chewy.

Actually, behind this cuisine, there is an industry that increases income of the locals. This involves cattle breeding, slaughtering and processing, and market marketing. There are about 700 restaurants selling small skewers in Zhaotong, over 3,600 in Yunnan, and more than 8,000 nationwide.

In the 1980s, Zhaotong's small skewers of beef have evolved from street snacks to a local culinary industry over decades, becoming a way of life for people in Zhaotong and even Yunnan.

Source: Yunnan News; trans-editing by Wang Yunya