Tibetan Yogurt in Xiamen

Since my recent post about pizza in China seemed to be relatively popular, I decided to continue with an informal review of another China culinary experience. One of the things that's difficult to find in China is decent yogurt. There's plenty of Chinese yogurt, but unlike the Western variety, it tends to be watery stuff that you drink from a small bag or bottle. In addition to not being very good, it's also relatively expensive (a bit higher than what you'd pay in the USA for better quality). Consequently, I generally avoid it and instead buy imported brands from the Xiamen Metro Hypermarket, a German chain which sells many imported as well as Chinese food items. As with most imported products, you pay a premium, but if I'm going to overpay for my yogurt, I might as well overpay for the better imported brands.

One day last week, I decided to stop by at a local coffee/tea/yogurt shop in Xiamen (Jimei to be more specific). I had passed by this place many times on the bus, but never tried it until recently after a workout at the nearby gym I've been going to. 

Tibetan Yogurt Shop in Jimei with picture of the Potala Palace

I have to admit that I was a bit skeptical about Tibetan yogurt since I've been to Tibet and one thing I learned is that almost all Tibetan food (only a slight exaggeration) comes from yaks - yak meat, yak milk, salty yak tea, and whatever else the Tibetans can extract from a yak. Having sampled some Yak delicacies, I wasn't overly impressed. However, my limited Tibetan culinary experience didn't include yogurt which apparently has a tradition of over 1000 years. 

Some Yaks in Tibet from my 2010 trip

Me, expertly riding a Yak in Tibet

OK, enough of the yaks, back to the yogurt. I managed to decipher enough of the menu (entirely in Chinese) to order yogurt with fruit which turned out to be some banana and strawberry slices. I'm not sure how Tibetan this yogurt really is, but it was quite good although I could have easily eaten another bowl since my workout had seriously worked up my appetite. The price was also reasonable - 8 yuan (U.S. $1.30), about the same as you pay for a small container of the crappy Chinese yogurt (with no real fruit) available in stores here.

My Tibetan yogurt with fruit

In addition to the yogurt and other drinks, this place also has some interesting Tibetan decor, including many photographs of Tibetan sights and some Tibetan artifacts hung on the walls. It's located near the intersection of Yindou lu and Shigu lu and is definitely worth a visit for anyone in the Jimei area.

Inside view of the Tibetan yogurt place

Interesting Wifi password sign