Yunnan cuisine is trending on Chinese social media after U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen was spotted having a meal at a Yunnan restaurant after landing in Beijing on July 6, 2023.

A few Chinese netizens spotted Yellen at a Yunnan cuisine restaurant with a variety of Yunnan signature dishes, including grilled fish with herbs and mint beef rolls.

The restaurant owner said in a social media post that Yellen is a big fan of a type of mushroom called jianshouqing, and her team had ordered four servings of this dish. One comment underneath the post was, "Bon appétit Yellen, hope you can try lots of different delicacies during your stay in China."

Located in southwestern China, Yunnan has cuisines and delicacies that are the result of its rich biodiversity and diverse ethnic minority population. The dishes are known for their moderately spicy and sour tastes, along with a mix of herbal seasoning ingredients that are often unexpected to the taste buds.

Yunnan is rich in wild ingredients, and the most famous one is its mushrooms. For the people of Yunnan province, the onset of summer is much anticipated for the harvest of a wide variety of tasty wild mushrooms. According to media reports, Yunnan has more than 900 species of wild edible mushrooms, with some 200 species commonly traded in local markets.

Diverse wild condiments are also commonly used in Yunnan cuisines. Mint, lemongrass, sweet smartweed grass, fennel seeds, camphor seeds, and other fragrant plants are also common in Yunnan dishes to create a more aromatic taste and colorful presentation.

The cross-bridge rice noodles are also a legendary local delicacy in Yunnan. A romantic love story is associated with the origin of the noodles: There was once a Qing Dynasty (1616-1912) scholar who was preparing for the imperial examinations on an island. His loving wife used to cook him dinner every day, but as she crossed the bridge to the classroom, the noodle soup would go cold. She then came up with the idea of using fatty chicken to make the broth so that a layer of hot oil covering the soup would keep the heat in. In this way, she was able to deliver a delicious hot meal to her husband each day.

These days, this noodle dish is hugely popular throughout Yunnan and across China with many locals having it regularly for breakfast. In some restaurants, the broth is served separately from the raw ingredients and you cook the dish at your table like a hotpot, while other restaurants serve the broth, noodles and other ingredients together.

Yunnan, a tantalizing melting pot of exotic ingredients, vibrant flavors and ethnic flair, is often a top choice for foodies to explore.