Yunnan

One of the few restaurants that owned and ran by Yi people in Beijing

Though its focus is on gluttonous Yunnan-style hot pot, Red Cloud Restaurant is also a great place to have noodles, have a glass of mijiu, or try traditional Yunnan side dishes like the fried shrimp balls or garlic chicken foot.

Shaddow of the Cloud is as much a Yunnan snack shop as it is a beer and liquor joint, with many hard-to-find brands, including Yunnan imports.

A small and comparatively posh setting for Yunnan-style rice noodles (RMB 38-48), Sun Case also serves snacks in the basement of Topwin Center.

Opened by House of Shuhe, Taste of Shuhe's specialty is Yunnan-style rice noodle, including “crossing the bridge noodles”, or guòqiáo mxiàn (过桥米线), and dry noodles. The noodles are RMB 22-26, and you can also add more side snacks, such as potato chips, and pickled beans.

Offering several cold dishes, Daoxiaoman also provides the popular 过桥米线 (guoqiao mixian), literally crossing-the-bridge noodles (rice noodle soup), and several other options for noodle soups (RMB 26-41).

Popular Yunnanese chain has barbecued fish, bridge rice noodle soup, and other filling yet light fare.

Paradise Restaurant, or 凤羽桃源 (fengyu taoyuan), literally means a hidden paradise in Dali's Fengyu County, an area noted for its traditional architecture and large Bai ethnic group population. Nestled on the first floor of CBD's World City, Paradise is particularly popular during the lunch rush and serves signature dishes such as boiled sole (RMB 88), jizong mushrooms (RMB 32), and authentic Miao-style chicken in a bronze pot (RMB 88).

At first glance it's tough to tell that this Parkview Green restaurant is a Yunnanese joint, considering its picture windows, unremarkable modern tables and chairs, and none of the exotic lattice or homey vibes found at most such restaurants. That's not necessarily a bad thing, in fact it's refreshing to see such an eatery go for a less on-the-nose approach. And when our first dish arrived it screamed all things Yunnan – peeled prawns in sour soup (pictured at top).