Apr 17, Jinghong - Dali

Today we fly to Dali, also in Yunnan Provence.  The flight in was pretty rough as there are a lot of mountains in the area that generate wind.  It was also an interesting approach as much of the approach was over Lake Erhai, an extremely large lake (stated to be shaped like and ear…couldn’t tell from our angle).  After circling in and over the lake the plane took a relatively hard turn around some mountains to line up with the runway.  The approach was a bit reminiscent of the descent into Paro Bhutan except that one didn’t have the lake.

Dali city is the capital of the Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture.  There are over 25 ethinic minorities in the area with the Bai making up 65% of the population.  Most of the buildings in Dali are white with grey roofs and lovely murals or decorations on the sides.  White is considered to be a lucky color and is also a sign of purity.

After lunch at a local restaurant we took a cable car up to the Cloudy Tourist Road, also called the Jade Belt Path.  The walk was high up on the side of Mt. Cangshan.  It was actually a very flat walk, as promised by our guide, Frank.  Although he did fail to mention the 320 stairs required to get to the walk.  It was very windy but of a good temperature for walking.  The views over the city of Dali and the lake were great, when you could see them through the trees.

Red ribbons to send prayer's to the Heavens

The original plan was to walk the entire 12 kilometers (7.2 miles) to the next cable car and take it down.  Unfortunately, that cable car stopped running early and we were likely going to miss it.  So we went as far as the 4.5 km (2.8 mile) mark, stopped to take pictures of the falls, and then returned.  The wild azaleas and rhododendrons were in bloom along the path, making the hike more colorful that it would have been otherwise.

After a short rest in the hotel, Frank took us on a walk down to Old Dali.  The original city was built during the Ming Dynasty (1368 – 1644).  Dali is considered China’s Windy City and it lived up to its name…very windy. 

It was a straight run down the hill to the Western Gate of the Old City.  

Once inside we made our way to the Foreigner’s Street, an old street that is set up to accommodate foreigners (Westerners) with many souvenir shops and cafés with menus in Chinese and English.  Westerners wanted a place for coffee and snacks, and the westerners helped the locals start some businesses.  It took off from there.  

Foreigner's Street

Setting up shop just about anywhere

We stopped to look at the only Catholic Church in the area.  On the outside it looked much like a Chinese temple with the pagoda style roof except that it had a cross on the top.  The inside was laid out like many other Catholic churches we have seen with a center aisle and large wooden pillars along the side holding up the roof.  It very simply decorated inside, lacking the statuary typically seen in a Catholic Church.

We then had dinner at a café recommended by Frank.  The menu was very extensive with the traditional Chinese menu plus pizza, pastas, an enchilada (???), and many other Western dishes.  You could have a milk shake (extra 40 Yuan if you wanted it made with ice cream).  We each had a peach float with ice cream…an itty bitty scoop of ice cream.  It was really good.

This is the first place since arriving in China that we have seen a number of Westerners.  There was a young couple when we arrived at the café and a group of six French speaking tourists arrived while we were there as well as another couple who were obviously Westerners.  According to Frank Dali is a big destination in China for Europeans.  

We went back to Old Dali later that evening to see it at night.  The gate was lit up and very pretty.