Yanjiao Fine Dried Noodles 岩脚面
Yanjiao Fine Dried Noodles is featured among the local specialties of Guizhou.
Yanjiao Fine Dried Noodles (岩脚面) are hanging dried noodles from Yanjiao Town (岩脚镇) in Liuzhi Special District (六枝特区), Liupanshui (六盘水), Guizhou. The Guizhou provincial government site, carrying a Guizhou Daily report, describes them as fine as silver thread and a national geographical-indication product.
How it is made
The defining step is the alkali. Mugwort (aihao, 艾蒿) is burned to ash and the ash is leached into a home-made lye (tujian, 土碱). The dough is then mixed by hand and kneaded and pressed many times over.
The wheat harvest is also the best season for making noodles. At that time households across Yanjiao hang rows of noodles to dry in the sun under the eaves and in their courtyards, which Guizhou Daily likens to countless golden threads.
Flavour and texture
The noodles have a taste of their own and stand up to long boiling without thickening the water or falling apart. They chew like "dragon sinew", which has given them a second name, Longjin Noodles (龙筋面, dragon-sinew noodles).
Where it comes from
Yanjiao, known in the past as Yanyi (岩邑), has a history of more than 600 years, and the noodles are one of its specialities. The town has more than 130 noodle workshops, and the trade has spread to six neighbouring townships. Taihe Village (太和村) serves as the model for the other villages; one household there says it processes more than 300 tonnes of noodles a year and sells them across the country. The town has also been building up tourism around its climate and its history as an old town, with the noodles as one of its local products.
Sources & reading
Written from the linked sources and checked sentence by sentence against quoted extracts by a separate reviewer on 2026-09-24. Recipes and servings vary between kitchens.