Dining · Chinese · Lijiang
A Ma Yi Naxi Restaurant
A Naxi courtyard kitchen in Lijiang's old town, named after a grandmother once respected among the Naxi as a cook.
A grandmother on the wall
A Ma Yi (阿妈意, also written Amayi) stands beside the small stone bridge on Wuyi Street, in the old town of Lijiang. Its name is a respectful way of addressing an old woman, and here it refers to a grandmother who was esteemed among the Naxi as a cook.
A Chinese traveller who wrote about the restaurant on Qunar found her photograph on the wall downstairs, and a menu whose first page told the story of “my grandmother Amayi”. At that time the restaurant was run by her grandson.
A Naxi house
The building keeps the form of a Naxi family house set around a courtyard, with cured meat hanging from the beams; upstairs, window seats catch the sun. A 2026 guide describes a wooden courtyard with warm lighting and unhurried service, and an English menu that is limited but workable.
What comes to the table
The cooking is Naxi, the food of one of Yunnan’s ethnic groups. Jidou liangfen, a jelly made from a local bean, comes dark and smooth with a little chilli. Haicai, a water plant, is stir-fried with garlic or cooked in soup.
The mabang dishes, named after the horse caravans, include roast fish and roast meat, and there is a hotpot of cured pork ribs, Naxi fried rice and butter tea.
Sources: China Highlights; Qunar; Travel of China
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