Except for hotel restaurants, you don't have lots of dining choices. For inexpensive (but still overpriced) local food, try one of the several identical huoguo (hot pot) restaurants on the main street of Zhangzha Town. Another option is to pay ¥160 for dinner and a performance of Qiang and Tibetan folk entertainment, which includes dancing, singing, and audience participation. Tibetan-style barbecued mutton, Tibetan tea, and a ritual welcoming liqueur are included in the ticket price. The Gesangla Art Troupe (Gesangla Yishu Tuan) performs nightly at 7:30pm at Jiuxin Shanzhuang (Jiuxin Mountain Villa), on the hotel strip 1km (1/2 mile) east of the Jiuzhaigou entrance. For information, call tel. 0837/773-9588.
A snack bar selling kabobs, watermelon juice, pearl milk tea (a Taiwanese-style drink made of tea, milk, and sago palm starch), and tofu on a stick is outside the Jiuzhai Gou entrance, next to the tourist center. Snacks are also sold inside the reserve, but they've overpriced and not very good.
