About Dali
Dali is one of the ancient cities in China that has been well preserved and is now a big tourist draw. It is a very pretty city surrounded by the old city wall and filled with many pedistrian streets, shops, restaurants, bars, and, of course, tourists. To the west of the city is a small mountain (hill?) range and to the east is a huge lake. Dali is a small city, and while it is obviously a tourist town, it doesn't have that bad feel that a lot of tourist towns have. That is, it doesn't have people running up to you every 10 feet to buy their crap or eat in their restaurant. It feels very relaxed. It also does not feel totally polished and plastic. It does, however, have a ton of middle-aged women who will ask you if you want to smoke ganja (at least, if you are a single guy walking down the foreigner ghetto streets.) On the plus side, no one offered me sex the whole time I was there, and I did not get the ubiquitous calls for "massage" on my hotel phone.
I saw several westerners here, but very few in comparison to the number of Chinese tourists. Still, it was more than I have seen in other places in China.
I was in Dali twice--before and after my trek through Tiger Leaping Gorge.
Things to See
The city wall is quite nice, if incomplete. The gate houses are quite impressive and well restored. You can go up the south gate and walk about a quarter of the way around the city perimeter, which I did and enjoyed. I ran into a couple in wedding attire taking pictures. I seem to run into that a lot in Asia.
There is a pretty little stream (aritificial?) that is very pleasant and soothing. The third hotel I stayed at in Dali was right on the stream.
There is a little market area near the south gate of the wall and another further in. Not being a shopper, I didn't bother to do more than acknowledge that they were there.
The Three Pagodas are abig attractionc just outside of town. I rode past them on a bike one day and decided that they just looked like other pagodas and I wasn't going to bother to spend US$20 just to see a few pagodas. Someone later told me that they were indeed quite impressive.
There is a temple on the hills that I wanted to go to but never got around to. A chairlift takes you up and there are miles of hiking trails. I was going to do this my second time in town, but crappy, misty weather and preoccupation with travel planning prevented it.
The big lake is also an attraction. I biked along the west side one day.
Mainly, the thing to do is just walk around town and absorb the ambiance. And buy stuff if that is your thing.
The Road to Dali
I took a 5 hour bus ride from Kunming, Yunnan, China to Dali. My information from the token English speaking worker at the bus station the previous day was not quite correct so I ended up waiting a better part of an hour for the next bus. It was a pleasant enough ride in spite of the large Chinese guy sitting next to me who spilled over into my seat. There was a bit of scenery as we headed into the hills. There was, unfortunately, entertainment on this trip. Fortunately, it was not blasting at full volume and was in Chinese, meaning I could ignore it if I tried. It was some Jackie Chan movie followed by "Kung Fu Hustle", which is a movie that I like a lot.
We stopped for a bathroom break at a place with a bunch of other buses stopped for the same reason. I did not see another white person there. I was also the only person wearing a short sleeved shirt and no jacket. It actually felt great--my first dose of warm sunshine in a long time.
Unfortunately, there are 2 placed called Dali--Xiaguan (Dali City) and Dali old town. I wanted to go to Dali old town, but knew that the bus was going to Xiaguan. I also knew that there were two local buses going from one to the other. Unfortunately, the direction to the stop for one of these buses was less than specific. I ended up wandering around for probably 40 minutes before finding a bus stop for one of these buses. Half an hour later I was in Dali (old town).
Arrival
Dali has a city wall around it. Most of the stuff of interest is within the walls. Once the bus got within the city walls, I got off the bus along with a bunch of other people.
As soon as I got off the bus, I started to put on my backpacks. While doing so, a bunch of middle-school aged boys walked by, saying "Hello!". I helloed them back and one of them said "Welcome to Dali!" and another said "Welcome to China." A pretty warm welcome. A moment later, one of them came up to me and offered me a bit of street food--a thin flat bread filled with some finely chopped veggies and sauce. I was a bit suspicious, but accepted. They giggled as I started eating. I checked inside to make sure that there was nothing there that shouldn't be. If anything, they might have put a little extra hot sauce in it, but that was lost on me. I thanked them and went on.
I had probably only walked about 10 feet before I was about to pass a couple walking the same way. The guy said "Hello" and we started a little conversation. He was from Nepal and was studying in Xiaguan. His girlfriend was Chinese, and they were visiting Dali for the day. We chatted (while I was eating the snack in one hand, had my guidebook in the other, my rucksack on my back, and my daypack on my front) until we reached a signpost and I had to figure out where I was. They tried to help me get where I was going, and the girl asked a local for information, but in the end, I had the map and the compass, so I figured it out myself. They were heading the opposite direction, so we parted ways there.
That was one of the most friendly introductions to a city that I have ever had and probably had a lot to do with me liking Dali.
Walking toward the hotel area, I saw another white guy carrying a backpack with a an older local woman next to him, animatedly trying to talk to him in Chinese, with him good-naturedly saying "No, thank you, I don't need help." I know that situation. She was a tout trying to get him to hotels. He saw me and saw me smiling at his plight and said to her, "He's looking for a hotel--go help him."
I laughed and said, "Thanks, a lot."
She seemed to think we were together and tried to show us both to the hotels on her brochure--which happened to be two of the places I was going to look at anyway. I kept walking, with her alongside, and the other guy ditched. She figured that I was the horse to bet on and stayed with me.
I let her "guide" me to the first hotel (I knew exactly where it was) but wanted to check out another before going to the other hotel on her list. I could not explain this to her and she asked a local schoolgirl to interpret. The girl asked what the problem was and I told her that there was no problem and explained the situation. She was very helpful and the woman stopped following me--not that I minded her tagging along.
I checked out several hotels (it was low season--plenty of people were watching for people with backpacks to whom they could show their hotels) and eventually decided on MCA Hostel just outside the wall.
The Bike Ride
I was walking through town when the guy working at Dali Cycling asked, in perfect English, if I needed anything. I've had a hard time in China finding people who understood exactly what I was asking, so I took the opportunity to ask him some questions I had about going to Tiger Leaping Gorge. In the end, I decided it would be nice to rent a bike from him and go by the lake.
My plan was to ride the high road (closer to the mountains and less traffic) for an hour after which I would have two hours to ride back before it got dark. I must have been going a lot faster than I thought because I got very far before the hour was up.
I rode past the Three Pagodas and through some uninteresting villages. Then I decided to cross to the low road (nearer the lake and with more traffic) to go back to town. I went down to the lake shore where the only other people were--yep, a couple in wedding attire and a photographer.
Back on the main road, I saw the entrance to a village that had a temple marked on the map, so I took a detour. I was glad that I did--not for the temple, but for the village. I ended up going down narrow dirt roads squeezed between buildings and through a small crowd of old people and kids. I definitey felt like an oddity. I went past a small local market which was quite colorful.
And Along Came a Spider
I was trying to find my through the labrynthian streets of the village back to the main road, when I saw right in my path this huge spider hanging in the air. (Ok, it was only a couple of inches long, but to an arachnaphobe, that is huge.) I tried to swerve out of the way and looked back to see if the spider was still hanging in the air. It was nowhere to be seen. I panicked and started slapping at my leg which was where it would have hit, trying to see it. Unfortunately, that meant that my eyes were not on the road. I side-swiped a parked bike and knocked it over. I just bumped it with my leg, and I'm sure it was fine, but I felt really bad knowing that that bike probably represented a major investment to its owner. I got off my bike, picked up the other bike, and apologized profusely (well, as profusely as I could knowing only one phrase of apology in Chinese) to the owner who was sitting just inside the door with a couple of friends. They just smiled and dismissed my apologies. I rode off feeling like an idiot. They surely must have been wondering how this foreigner could possibly have run into a parked bicycle.
The Ride Back
The ride back was kind of a bitch. The sun was going down, so it got cold and windy. It was much harder riding back than riding out, and I was getting a bit tired. The scenery was very nice though--fields just off the road with mountains and lake in the background.
I passed several other people on bikes making their way back to town, all Chinese. We kept passing each other to the point that we began to recognize each other and wave as we passed.
By the time I finally got back to town, I was so ready to get rid of the bike.
The Food
There are some interesting foods to try in Dali. The Bai cuisine tends to be a bit on the sour side, but not bad. The Napalese food is interesting too--I had few yak dishes.
Departure
After a few days in Dali, I figured I had better get going since I had only a week left on my Chinese visa. I got a bus ticket to Tiger Leaping Gorge and was on my way.
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