Local people buy a lot of rice, vegetables and other ingredients. Women are chatting in dialects while picking vegetables in groups of three or five, or in the sunny yard or by the pond. People moved out tables and chairs woven with colored bamboo strips to shake off the dust. At this time, the locals told the tourists by action that the long street banquet was coming. The Long Street Banquet is the highlight of Dali Snack Festival. On this day every year, people get up early and put tables and chairs on the road when there are few pedestrians. Two hundred bamboo tables with southern characteristics are arranged in turn, like a long dragon. The long street banquet is full of vegetarian dishes. The top card must be Taiji Babao rice, which was learned by a local chef in Dali from Wudang Mountain. The whole dish is made of purple rice and glutinous rice with different colors. After steaming, mix it with white sugar and put it in a Artest pool connected head to tail. The taste is soft and glutinous, elegant and fragrant. Vegetarian chicken is also a famous dish in the long street banquet. Big tofu skin, cleverly wrapped in chicken fir, mushrooms, fungus, walnuts and other ingredients, sprinkled with sesame oil, pepper oil, soy sauce, and then sprinkled with coriander, looks like spicy chicken pieces. A variety of ingredients with sauces produce a wonderful taste, which is very fresh and refreshing. There is a fish on the banquet table. Looking intently, it turned out to be an eggplant. After the eggplant is cut open, it is cut into strips, then trimmed with an oblique knife, wrapped in batter, fried in a pot until golden, like strips of small yellow croaker, and then poured with soup made of soy sauce, vinegar, pepper powder and red oil, and a "hot and sour fish" is served. Make such ordinary ingredients vivid and fragrant, and diners will be surprised and eat. The vegetarian culture in Dali is closely related to the religious beliefs of the local Bai people. Thousands of years ago, Buddhist monks from India, Tubo and the Central Plains, after a long journey, flocked to the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, and Buddhism flourished in Nanzhao Kingdom. During this period, from dignitaries to ordinary people, the whole people believed in Buddhism, so Dali has the reputation of "Miao Xiang Buddha Country". Fasting is a compulsory course for practicing Buddhism, aiming at meditation, righting the heart, abstaining from killing and anger. Bai believers follow this rule. As early as the Tang and Song Dynasties, vegetarianism had become a common practice. Guo Songnian, a Yuan Dynasty man, described it like this in Dali Travel Notes: "However, the people in this state are close to Tianzhu in the west, and their customs and habits are mostly superficial. Rich or poor, there are Buddhist temples. People are not old and strong, and pearls are not released. They fast for a few and a half years between the ages of one and one, and never eat meat or drink before fasting. " This shows the vegetarian preference of Bai people.

This hobby continues to this day. In Dali area, the religious belief group composed of middle-aged and elderly women of Bai nationality is called "Milk-fasting Association". The members of the milk fasting club still adhere to the tradition of "fasting for several and a half years at the age of one" written by Guo Songnian hundreds of years ago. On the first and fifteenth day of each month, the old dairy will start a new stove and specialize in vegetarian food. Be sure to wash the cookware and tableware before cooking to make sure there is no meat.

Now, if you come to Dali, even if you don't catch up with the "vegetarian long street banquet", you don't have to be depressed. In the ancient city of Dali, there are many vegetarian restaurants, you can try them. The most famous vegetarian restaurant is Yirantang, which is located on the north side of Wu Temple in Bo 'ai Road, the ancient city. This is a vegetarian cafeteria, with five dishes and one soup, three or four side dishes, rice and hot porridge, and each meal is only five yuan. If you meet someone who donates to the public, you don't even have to pay five yuan for the meal. Eating here is a solemn thing. The restaurant is constantly playing Buddhist names, accompanied by videos of Buddhist teachings. While eating and watching, Buddhists clearly know the meaning. Ciyuanzhai vegetarian restaurant is also well received by tourists, and is located atNo. Liu Yitong Road 19, the ancient city of Dali. This vegetarian restaurant provides vegetarian food for free. Although it is free, the food is unambiguous. Chinese food and dinner are rich in dishes, including seven or eight kinds of hot dishes and two or three kinds of staple foods. This vegetarian restaurant requires absolute silence when eating, which is quite different from other restaurants and worth a try.