I am now back in Arizona. For various reasons: travel schedules, poor wifi, too many things going on, I have not been able to keep up with this blog while traveling. However, I am glad I am back on track.
Our guide Winnie and her driver escorted the four of us to the Kunming Railway Station. It was crowded. We were all anxious to board the train. In the moment I carried my suitcase onto the train. After a few minutes I realized I had left my backpack on the platform. All my valuables were in that backpack - passport, laptop, iPad, money, itinerary, etc. I quickly ran to the door and yelled at the agent that I am looking for a blue backpack. The train was getting ready to move. I was ready to jump onto the platform to retrieve my backpack. Luckily, she yelled back that she had given it to another agent who was just getting on board the train next door. Whew! That was a close call. I got my backpack from the other agent and just felt a big big sigh of relief.
What is the lesson here? Carry as few things as possible when you travel. It's easy to forget something when you are in a hurry, focussed on something else. Always be aware of the most important things - passport, phone, documents, money, computer, etc. Are they with you?
Our guide, Hua, met us at the train station and immediately took us to Erhai Lake. We took a stroll around the lake and admired the scenery. This is one of the iconic areas of Dali.
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| Disembarking at Dali |
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| Erhai Lake |
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The 3 Pagodas
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Dali is a city located in the northwest part of Yunnan province. It is at the crossroads of trade routes between Burma, Southeast Asia, Tibet and China. It was settled by the Bai people about 3,000 years ago. There is a new town about 10km south of the old town called Xiaguan But Dali old town is where we spent our two days here.
I first head of Dali as a place for young Americans to settle here, as a laid-back place. Many Chinese from big cities have also settled here to escape the high-pressure environment in those other places. This article in the New York Times in explained why Dali became an attraction for many young Chinese: Welcome to Dalifornia - an Oasis for China's Drifters and Dreamers.
Located just behind the pagodas is Chongsheng Temple, a beautiful Taoist temple. Taoism is a religion or philosophy that is the main religion for many parts of China. You see similar religious idols in most of the temples we visited on this China trip.
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| Chongsheng Temple |
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| Kwan Yin, Goddess of Mercy |
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| Other religious idols |
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| Another part of the temple |
After the temple we went to Dali Ancient Town. Like many old towns in China this one also caters to tourists, local and foreign.
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| We first came across a Christian Church |
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| The characters say "God is Love" |
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| Typical shop in the Old City |
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| A Pedestrian Walkway |
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| More shops |
The next morning we explored the Xizhou Morning Market. Here the locals come to shop for their daily groceries. It is similar to a farmers' market except that it is much bigger and more varieties of fruits, vegetables and meat are being sold.
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| Different types of fruits sold |
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| Chives and other vegetables |
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| More variety of vegetable |
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| Pig's Feet |
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| Selling chilis and other vegetables |
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| Grains |
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| Noodles |
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| Herbs |
We next move to Xizhou Ancient Town, a settlement for the Bai people. It is one of the best preserved towns for the ethnic Bai people.
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| A well-preserved building |
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| Entrance to a house |
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| Street is lined with Jacaranda trees |
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| A senior citizen riding her tricycle |
We walked through a beautiful rice field with a train running through the field.
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| Train running through rice field |
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| Close-up of rice grain |
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| A street vendor |
We were treated to a local dance performance by a Bai dance troupe.
As we walked through town we passed a beautiful lake.
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| A Lotus flower |
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| Bridge over Lake |
We then moved on to Zhoucheng Village, nor far from Xizhou. It is referred to as the "Hometown of Bai Embroidery." The Bai tie-dye method has been used for generations. We were given a lesson on how indigo is made into blue dye. We tried our hands on tie-dying. The patterns were already pre-made for us.
They all came out beautifully; something that we were able to take to remember Dali.
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| An Indigo plant |
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| Pattern for tie-dyeing |
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| Putting together the pattern |
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| The end result |
