From Kunming, we headed west to the city of Dali. This bus journey took only five hours by bus -- far less than what it presumably took when Marco Polo purportedly made the trip in the late 13th or early 14th century. Dali has a new city (known locally as Xiaguan), which serves as a transit hub and holds no further interest for tourists. Our destination was the very well-preserved (and authentically rebuilt) Ancient Town.
Dali is the historic center of the Bai and Yi minority groups that have lived in this region of what is now Yunnan for untold centuries, far before Han Chinese began coming to the area from the east. Many locals still trace their identity to these ethnic groups and work hard to preserve as much of their traditional culture as possible. We stayed at The Moonshine Inn of Dali, which is owned by a Bai woman who now lives in Berlin, but happened to be visiting while we were there. She explained that she views running this inn as not merely a business venture, but as a way of preserving aspects of traditional Bai architecture.
The inn was centered around this interior courtyard.
Our first night in Dali, I ate what I'm quite sure was the first yak steak of my life. Yaks, to this day, are an essential part of life in northwest Yunnan and into Tibet. In life, they are used for transportation and their milk (yak butter is prized both for its taste and it use in candles). In death, their meat is lean and delicious, and their skins provide warmth against the chill of life above 2,000m.
The morning of our first full day in Dali, we attended a cooking class, which turned out to be very much a highlight of our time in China. This was really the only pre-planned activity we had for the entire trip, as Rachel and I had had a great experience with a similar class we took in central Vietnam in January. As in the previous class, this one began with a trip to the local market to purchase fresh produce to cook.
Our very capable teacher was Luxi (below in pink), who founded and runs Rice & Friends cooking school out of her home. Luxi is a native of Sichuan Province (just north of Yunnan), and the dishes we made under her tutelage were all traditional to these regions.
You did not want to find yourself on the business end of this woman's cleaver.
Rice & Friends is located down a quiet alleyway. Every aspect of our experience here was delightful and we wholly recommend it to anyone who finds themselves in Dali.
Cooking classes are really ideal in that you have to search for no ingredients, measure very few, and -- best of all -- wash zero dishes.
The Rachels got started on making the filling for our pork spring rolls.
After making the filling, we sat down at the table to fill and roll our spring rolls. Then we returned to the kitchen to fry them in oil.
Our first course completed.
There were seven others besides the three of us in attendance. We were delighted to meet the Woods Killams, an American family pictured below (with Luxi providing some assistance). The mother and father are a public health researcher and physician, respectively, who have lived around the world and most recently finished a stint of many years in Phnom Penh, Cambodia; they were traveling in Yunnan with their three daughters prior to moving to Kazakhstan.
Our second dish was called Grandma's Potatoes, although I suppose your grandma needs to be a from a particular place for this to be true.
Our third dish was a spicy cucumber salad with a peanut sauce.
Our other cooking and table companions were a couple hailing from Turkey (him) and Russia (her), who were far more interested in canoodling than talking with the rest of us. But they were pleasant nonetheless.
We love Luxi!
And Perry (dad), Joan (mom), Ellie, Sarah, and Jessie (daughters left to right)!
After finishing lunch, we took a walk outside of the ancient town. While not all of the original fortress wall of Dali remains, much of it is still standing, including a large gate at each of the four cardinal directions. Pictured below is the north gate.
Of course we couldn't go far before encountering someone else wanting a photo op. This young lady was a bit more into it than her brother.
Cool shirt, bro.
Rachel and Rachel, looking floral.
Our walk took us past the Three Pagodas of Chongsheng Temple, which we declined to enter due to the hefty admission fee and the fact that we could get quite a good view from the outside. Dali sits on a plateau nestled between the Cangshan Mountains to the west (the beginning of which are behind the temple in the picture below) and Erhai Lake to the east (more on that in a moment).
Not sure what was going on with this guy, but I want an exact replica for our future home.
Looking northeast, towards Erhai Lake.
Back in the old city, it was time for happy hour! Rachel and Rachel were happy to get their pinot grigio fix.
Also not present when Marco Polo visited: the Dali McDonald's.
We opted for some more local fare, however.
This was probably the only day in my life where I consumed multiple cucumber salads. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
The next day started rainy and dreary, but we'd already planned to bike along Erhai Lake and we stuck to it. Stretching approximately 42 km north to south and 4 km east to west, Erhai Lake is the seventh biggest in China in terms of water storage. At its southern end, it flows into the Lancang River -- which is more widely known by its Southeast Asian name, the Mekong.
Our route, along the western edge of the lake, took us through many small villages that retained a very traditional feel. However, people with money to invest seem to be recognizing the tourism potential of the area, and there is a great deal of new construction along the lake.
Later in the afternoon, the rain cleared off nicely and we were finally able to see across to the hills on the eastern side.
After hours of biking, I was more than ready for a Xizhou Pancake, which quickly became my favorite local snack, because carbs.
This was my view for the majority of the trip. Always just a bit too slow.
This pretty statue shows a traditional Bai family at work and play.
Some more Dali cityscapes.
There comes a point in any trip when the siren song of the golden arches proves too strong for any weary backpacker to resist. The ladies gave rave reviews of the soft serve.
Another of the gates, viewed from the inside.
The next morning, we made some new playmates!
The aforementioned Bai/German woman who owned the inn where we stayed was in town for a particular reason. Her father had died 30 days prior, and there was a traditional Bai Buddhist ceremony in commemoration of that, held in the courtyard of the inn.
This involved hours of chanting and burning incense, as well as the presentation of food and flowers at the altar. It was a fascinating event to get to witness.
Dali has many small canals channeling water from the mountains down towards Erhai Lake.
The western gate.
Sister Rachel was in need of a bit of relaxation, so wife Rachel and I decided to head up into the mountains a short ways on a hike. One of the first things we encountered was a lovely temple.
We were welcomed by this motley crew.
He looks scary but he's more afraid of you than you are of him.
Looking back over the temple from above, we could see Erhai Lake in the background.
Whoever built this path has a harder job than I do.
She probably wanted to push me over the edge for stopping every ten seconds for a picture, but she was a good sport about it.
No Sonmking.
There was a cable car to the top of the mountain, too, but we have more energy than money.
The Cangshan Range has 18 peaks over 3,500 m (11,400 ft). There is a multiple day hike along the spine of the range that we'd love to return for one day.
Almost any hike in East Asia is bound to have a random, beautiful pagoda surprise you at some point.
As well as a random, slightly creepy shrine.
Higher up and on a clearer day, we could easily see across Erhai Lake to the city on the other side.
Back down on the main road into town, lots of fruit vendors line up during the evening rush hour. We bought this fresh, expertly carved pineapple from one enterprising young man.
We were happy that Rachel felt rested enough to join us for happy hour.
Asceticism sure, but everyone needs to make a call now and then.
Being our father's children, we didn't pass up on the mint chocolate chip.
Our last morning in Dali, we said goodbye to our friend Vanessa, whose flawless English was a God-sent.
And her cute son, Momo, who was uninterested in posing for a picture but seemed genuinely sad to see us go.
But we couldn't get away from without being made to feel like celebrities one last time. We must be viral on the Chinese internet by now.
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