Why does it rain at night in Lhasa, Tibet? Lhasa cuisine and its characteristics

Lhasa is not only a tourist destination, but also a paradise for food. Many special foods make tourists salivate. After tasting them, they want to continue. There are rich varieties and everything you can think of. Friends who have been to Lhasa are even more curious, why does it rain at night in Lhasa, Tibet? It is mainly determined by the terrain and climate characteristics of Lhasa. Today I will share with you about this aspect.

Contents of this article

1. Why does it rain at night in Lhasa, Tibet?

2. Lhasa Food

3. Characteristics of Lhasa

Why does it rain at night in Lhasa, Tibet?

Because Tibet is full of plateaus and hillsides, and towns are all built in river valleys near water sources, Lhasa is located in the Lhasa River Valley. On the Tibetan Plateau, the temperature changes of 24 hours a day are significantly affected by the solar radiation heat. At the same time, due to the large altitude difference between the hillside and the river valley, the temperature difference at different altitudes at the same time is also very obvious. The higher the altitude, the lower the temperature. Every morning, the plateau is subjected to the local unique strong radiation of the sun. The earth absorbs the radiation heat of the sun, and the temperature generally rises. After noon, the earth's temperature rises to a peak. From the afternoon, the radiation heat absorbed by the earth from the sun gradually decreases, and the heat dissipation rate of the earth gradually accelerates. At this time, the high altitude hillsides and highlands begin to cool down first, and the atmospheric temperature at the same altitude as the hillsides and highlands also decreases. The air becomes colder, the density increases, the weight of the air becomes heavier, and gradually decreases. The air at high altitudes cools and descends to the valley area at low altitudes. The warm and humid air originally in the valley area has a low density and light weight, and begins to rise under the pressure of the cold air descending from the high slopes. When the warm and humid air continues to rise and reaches a certain height, the moisture in the air begins to condense into countless tiny water droplets suspended in the air. This is the cloud. The cold air on the high slopes continues to descend, and the warm and humid air in the valleys continues to be lifted; the warm and humid air continues to rise and condenses into small water droplets, so the clouds accumulate and become thicker; the condensed small water droplets become more and more, and they gather together, and the water droplets gather and grow larger. Finally, the rising airflow can no longer support the growing water droplets, and these water droplets can no longer float in the air and fall down, and then it rains. From the high slope dry cold air descending, the warm and humid air in the valley rising, to the warm and humid air condensing into clouds, and cumulus clouds becoming rain, it is a very long process, generally starting in the afternoon and lasting until the evening, and it is night when it rains. A night of rain often brings all the moisture in the sky down in the form of raindrops, and the next morning, it is sunny and cloudless again. This kind of weather is determined by the terrain of high slopes and river valleys with a height difference of thousands of meters, with sunny days and rainy nights.

Lhasa Food

1. Tsampa is the staple food of Tibetan people. Fry highland barley and peas, grind them into flour, mix with butter tea, and knead them into small balls for eating. It is very convenient to eat tsampa. Whenever you are hungry, you can pour out some fried noodles, add a piece of butter, and mix with the prepared butter tea or hot water, knead them in a wooden bowl and you can start eating. For those who are used to eating tsampa, tsampa is still very delicious. The fragrance of highland barley fried noodles, with the addition of butter and milk tea, also has a milky fragrance. Most restaurants in Tibet have tsampa. You must try it, otherwise how can you say you have been to Tibet.

2. Butter tea is usually eaten with tsampa. It is mainly made of butter and strong tea. First, put a proper amount of butter into a special barrel, add salt, and then add boiled strong tea juice. Use a wooden handle to repeatedly stir (now basically replaced by a machine) to make the butter and tea juice dissolve into one and become milky. The taste is salty and fragrant, sweet and sweet. It can warm the body and keep out the cold, and it can also supplement nutrition. Another major function is to relieve altitude sickness. You must drink some when you go to Tibet (some people say it is a psychological effect, but it is better than nothing, right?).

3. Tibetan cheese cake: The starch from which butter has been extracted is dried and ground into powder. Then it is mixed with butter, sugar, ginseng fruit, peach kernels, raisins, etc. and made into round or square dough with red and green threads on the surface to express auspicious and longevity patterns. It is then steamed in a steamer. It is a milky dessert that has a nourishing and strengthening effect and is a pastry used by Tibetans to entertain guests.

4. Highland barley wine: a traditional Tibetan wine that you must try when you go to Lhasa.

5. Sweet tea: Lhasa sweet tea is made from boiled black tea juice, milk or milk powder and sugar. It is sweet and delicious and rich in nutrition. Sweet tea costs 70 cents per cup. You can put some change on the table in front of you. After you finish a cup, the waiter will automatically refill the cup and take the money from the table. Although sweet tea tastes good, drinking too much will cause internal heat.

6. Yak yogurt: There are two types of Tibetan yogurt. One is called "Daxue", which is made from milk that has been refined with ghee; the other is made from milk that has not been refined with ghee, and is called "Oxue" in Tibetan.

5. Air-dried beef (lamb): Tibetans like to eat air-dried beef (lamb), which is usually made in winter, usually in November. The temperature at this time is relatively low, below zero degrees. Cut the beef and mutton, hang them in a cool place, let them air-dry and remove moisture. Tibetans cut the beef and mutton into small pieces and string them together, or hang them in bamboo cages in the shade under the tent room or eaves. After March of the following year, the air-dried meat is grilled or eaten raw directly, and there is no residue stuck in the teeth when chewing. In the high-altitude cold areas of Tibet, food is not easy to rot and deteriorate, and it can remove moisture and keep fresh. Therefore, to this day, the trend of eating air-dried beef is still very popular. The meat is crispy and has a unique taste, which is endless aftertaste.

8. Steamed buns with milk residue: After boiling fresh yak milk, Tibetans use traditional and unique methods to decompose it. The most valuable and essential part is butter, followed by milk residue, which is the residue left after butter is extracted. Fresh milk residue is sour and white, and can be used as stuffing, which is how steamed buns with milk residue came about. After the milk residue is dried, Tibetans eat it as a snack, and also put it in porridge or soup as a condiment. Han people are not used to eating dried milk residue, but steamed buns with milk residue are suitable for Tibetans and Han people, young and old.

9. Masen: Put appropriate amount of tsampa, butter, crushed milk residue and crushed brown sugar on a plate, stir and knead them, put them into a small square wooden box, fill and press them with hands, and you can make Masen square cake, which tastes sweet and delicious.

10. Cheese: Also known as cheese, milk cheese, or translated as cheese, cheese, cheese, is a general name for dairy products, with a variety of flavors, tastes and forms. Cheese is made from milk and is rich in protein and lipids. The milk sources include domestic cows, buffaloes, domestic goats or sheep. Rennet is usually added during the production process to cause the casein to coagulate and acidify the dairy products, and then the solids are separated and pressed into finished products. Most cheeses are milky white to golden yellow. Traditional cheeses are rich in protein and fat, vitamin A, calcium and phosphorus. Modern low-fat cheeses are also made from skim milk. In addition to traditional Western cheese products, Chinese cheese varieties also include cheeses made from various non-lactic acid bacteria of the Daliang dairy minority in Guangdong.

Characteristics of Lhasa

1. Topographical features: Lhasa is located in the central part of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, with an altitude of 3,650 meters. It is one of the cities with the highest altitude in the world. The terrain is high in the north and low in the south, sloping from east to west. The central and southern parts are the valley plains of the middle reaches of the Lhasa River, a tributary of the Yarlung Zangbo River, with flat terrain.

2. Climate characteristics: The climate belongs to the plateau temperate semi-arid monsoon climate zone, with an annual sunshine duration of 3,000 hours, 1,800 hours more than Chengdu, Sichuan Province, and 1,100 hours more than Shanghai, China's largest eastern city. It ranks among the top cities in China, so it is known as the "Sunshine City".

3. Hydrological characteristics: Lhasa River is the mother river of Lhasa City. It originates from the Kongmagou Valley in Jialili Pencuo La at the southern foot of Nyainqentanglha Mountain. It flows through Nagqu, Dangxiong, Linzhou, Mezhugongka, Dagze, Chengguan, Doilungdeqen, and reaches Qushui County. It is a large tributary of the middle reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River, with a total length of 495 kilometers and a drainage area of ​​31,760 square kilometers; the maximum flow is 2830 cubic meters/second, the minimum flow is 20 cubic meters/second, and the annual average flow is 287 cubic meters/second; the altitude ranges from 5500 meters at the source to 3580 meters at the river mouth, making it one of the highest rivers in the world.