Dali - Part I - Late August

This was the first day in Dali, China. It is actually old Dali as there is a new city about 30 km south which is also known as Dali. We didn't spend any time in the new city, our sleeper bus arrived there at 3 am but let everyone sleep in their beds till sunrise, a gesture we were very grateful for.

I have to say that there was a map in the bus station showing new Dali with a square in the upper righthand corner which was a map of old Dali... I didn't clue into the fact that it wasn't close till we started walking, it turned out to much farther, off the map far, so we ended up getting a taxi.

Old Dali is a place you could imagine existing centuries before. It is a walled city and the walls are of immense proportions, with water running through the city in open streams beautifully created. At the same time you wonder how much is real and how much is a take on the idea of ancient China. I say this as the first impression I had was a mix of a Chinese themed city in Disneyland and imaginations of sentries on the wall and guards at the gates.

There where more Chinese tourist than Western tourists and we found ourselves being covertly photographed many times and approached even more for a photo with one person or sometimes with a whole family or group. It was fun but we did hear of a couple who made a sign, "Photo with Westerner 5 yn", and made over $100 a day on the Great Wall. The reason we didn't try it was the sheep below, he gets 5 yn for the same service and we didn't think his owner would take kindly to us muscling in on his business.

The South Gate.

So Dali used to be known as a hippie stoping place but that side of the city was cracked down on recently... the reason it was such a place was due to the fact that weed grows like weed here, ie. everywhere. This was from the side of a road just outside of the old city.

Anyone that knows me knows I love trees, especially, but not exclusively, their ability to make the most of their environment... I wasn't allowed to make a tree house when I was kid as my father didn't want me to hurt the tree.

These are the roofs... classic and beautiful.

We found a factory making large wooden carvings, desks, chairs, tables, etc... We arrived from Laos and while on the road we noticed many trucks carrying huge chunks of trees to China, some, it seems, ended up here. I got Jacqueline in the photo for perspective.

Dali is on the edge of a lake and surrounded by mountains on all sides. It creates a microclimate and unlike the rest of China enjoys a mostly clear sky and beautiful weather. I climbed to the top of our hotel to capture this pano, it is about 160 degrees of the landscape during sunset.