As Jiuzhaigou Scenic Area is located in the mountainous area of north of Sichuan Province, goods and other life needed products have to be transfered from nearby towns and villages. Thus the price of the food are relatively high.
Except some star rated hotel in the area, there are some samll restaurants around the park gate and along the road. Xiaobu Snack is one of them. Xiaobu Snack is located in the right of the gate of Jiuzhaigou park. In the small restaurants, local tibetan food will be offered, including buttered tea and some highland barley wine and yak meat in different sytles. Not all the visitors like the strong flavor of the Tibetan food.
If you are not customed to the local food, you can also choose to eat in some high rated restaurants affliated with star-rated hotel like Jiu Zhai Paradise, Sheraton Jiuzhaigou Resort. They not only supply the local Tibetan food, but also other good quality Chinese food and Western food.
Visitors can get to most of the restaurants on foot or by taxi while the later saves more time. In order to avoid the crowded in peak tourism season, visitors can take some food with themselves
Since food has to adapt people inhabited environment, Tibetan in Jiuzhaigou Valley eat quite different food from traditional Sichuan food. Here is a catalog. Here are some local foods for your reference:
Zanba
A staple food of Tibetans, it looks like mainland China fried wheat flour, prepared with
main ingredients of barley flour as well as pea and oat powder. Tibetans bring the Zanba cake wherever they go, to farm, to graze and to travel. It is a convenient fast food, especially welcom in sparsely populated and fuel-scarce areas.
Butter tea
Its main ingredients are butter and milk as well as walnut kernel, peanut and sesame, egg and salt, being stirred in a barrel, then mixed with boiled tea and brawn- red coloring matter. After being stirred for a few seconds, a fragrant barrel of buttered tea is ready. It is poured into a big kettle and kept warm on a stove for drinking.
Yacha tea Selected from large tealeaves, it is produced in Yan Prefecture, also called the 'Horse Tea' in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). Tibetans eat lots of meals but few vegetables and fruits. The Yan Tea is a right drink to supplement for their vitamin deficiency, it is also an important component to prepare the buttered tea, for a strong and authentic flavor.
Qingke barley liquor
It is an indispensable drink of Tibetans, also serves as a treat at big occasions and for guests. To make this liquor, wash and steam it, and then ferment it for a couple of days. When it appears yellowish and tastes sweet, it is ready to drink. It is also called the Tibetan beer.
Flour sliced with picked cabbage It is a traditional Tibetan food. To make it, first cook the pickled-cabbage soup, then mix it with flour slices and bacon chops or fresh yak meat slices, potato slices, as well as shallot and salt.
Blood sausage 
It is a choice food of the Tibetan cuisine to honor distinguished guests. This nutritious and tasty food is made of blood, spices, yak meat or pork, all wrapped in the intestine like a western sausage.
Qingke barley cake Baked from the qingke barley flour, it looks golden and tastes delicious.
Yak meat
Preserved in sauce and other ingredients, it is cut into slices and prepared as a salad with hot pepper powder, good to go with liquor. Jiuzhaigou processing factory produces and vacuum-packs the fast-food yak meat for your convenience as a gift for friends and relatives.
Buck wheat noodle
Buckwheat flour can be made into steamed bread and noodles. As coarse food, the noodle is good for your health, and tastes delicious. A bowl of buckwheat noodles, with a cold dish, offers a typical Tibetan flavor
Potato zanba cake
To make a delicious one, first cook the potato and peel it, and smash it into dry paste. Then cut the paste into slices and cook them with pickled cabbage, of course with hot pepper or honey.
Other food Other special and delicious local food also include cheese, milk residue, cream, beancurd, and bacon.
