Here is a little story. Nuodeng is one of the oldest and traditional villages of Yunnan, which contains most of the ancient buildings and cultural relics. More than a hundred residential houses and courtyards still stand in the village to the current day, which are located at the foot of the hill. Since the Qin and Han dynasties were an important centres for salt mining, the government established an important salt production here. The salt wells are located few kilometres away. With the collapse of the Qing Dynasty, the salt trade, and every other kind of caravan business, became extinct and salt wells left abandoned. Only few families still engage in salt production here and most of this salt goes to cure ham. Since Nuodeng’s feature on popular TV show “Bite of China”, this place became famous among Chinese tourists. Local ham could be sold for as much as $15 per kilo, so locals have stopped eating it themselves.
