In Dali we got a pick up from our guide and the chauffeur. In China the repair men and the driver are called "shi fu" what sounds like "chauffeur". As you see, the Chinese language is quite easy.
The first stop in Dali was our hotel. Wow, check in before the whole sight seeing program is done? That's new. But the hotel itself was a good starting point as the first tourist attraction. Build in the stile of the Bai minority it's got plenty of inner courtyards, carvings, flowers everywhere.
Just bringing the luggage to the room we rushed to the Er Hai Lake. Funny name, by the way, "Hai" means Sea and not lake, as we expected. The easy explanation is, that this lake is so big that it looks like the sea. Whatever, as we waited for the boat to bring us to the island we had the chance to watch some of the coast cleaners and table washers. Also the traditional way to consume tobacco is nowadays mixed up with modern cigarettes: they just put the cigarettes into the big pipes. Unbelievable....
But now it's about time to leave to the island. By the way, this lake is at around 2.800m over sea level.
On the Island there is a typical village of the Bai minority. The Bai people are living around the Er Hie Lake. It's around 1.5 Mil people talking their own language, having their own characters and are quite nice people.
In the center of the village the guide took us into a house to show the typical life style of the Bai. Very important is the inner courtyard with the rooms for different usage settled around. Nowadays most of the modern families in the villages are the grandparents with the grand childs. The parents are off in the city for work.
Also a school is in the village for kids till the 6th grade. After that it's getting complicated, then the kids have to go to Dali, which is a 1.5 hrs journey by bus and train.
Obviously there is also a temple. The Bai are Buddhists as the most of the Yunnan inhabitants. Maybe it's got something to do with the near border to Tibet. Inside of the temple Stephan got 3 incense passed and before he knew, whats happening. But if we're here, why not ignite them and the nice lady (maybe the janitor) rang the bell. After that we knew why, it was 1 Yuan per incense.....
As said, we didn't get the information what these nice ladys are. Non, janitor, visitors, no clue. But they keep the order and organize the things around the temple. For example the elder people from the village. They are meeting here, playing Mahjong, discussing, drinking tee and smoke. Also a small reading room as available and a public kitchen. All in the temple, all for free and no one is alone at home. Perfect, as we think.
After the temple we had a walk over the market back to the harbor. We'll put an extra picture collection about Yunnan food to the home page, but some high lights we'd like to share already now:
Life on the Island seems to be definitely more relaxed than in the town. And by the way, I'm really talking about the Island here in Yunnan, not about the other Island which capitol is London......
Probably overloaded with the experiences in the morning, we got a late but big lunch in the ancient downtown of Dali. And again a surprise: we got potatoes. And as they told us, it's very common vegetable in the mountain regions of Yunnan province. And there are plenty of variants in the recipes. Today it was potato fritter. The other surprise was the toilet. It's allowed to urinate but nothing else. TIC.
After lunch we went to the next tourist attraction: The three pagodas of the Chongshen monastry. The tallest (64m high) was build in 836 AD as the specialists easily identify with the square base ;-)
In the bell tower there is a real big bell made from brass. Unfortunately we couldn't hear the sound. It's chimed only for special occasions - and they made us clear, we're not a special occasion.....
It took us nearly two hours to hike through the area and to marvel. Now it was time for a cup of tea and watch some people in the downtown.
Ancient town of Dali is around 600 yrs old and was circled by a more than 8m high wall. Nice is, that also the new buildings are constructed in the old way.
Not really ancient are the vehicles, which brings really everything to everywhere.
The life is most of the time lived in the streets. Dali has a sub-tropical clime, around 20°C to 25°C, independent of the season. From time to time it's raining, mostly in July and August.....
Regina fell into a shopping spree, after watching all these different bags, scarfs and fabrics. But it wasn't really a problem, at least the prices are pretty cheap.
Silversmiths from Dali has a very good reputation. And it's possible to watch them working in the streets.
What's also really amazing is the food. 24/7 available everywhere. Partly ready prepared, partly for choice and freshly boiled, braised, grilled,.....
Uuuups, now we nearly forgot to take pictures from the ancient town. Well, this happens if you're only thinking about shopping. But after dawn we calmed down and we managed some photographs.
This was a pretty long day today with a lot to tell of. As it looks and as we hope, there'll follow more of the fully packed pages, but this is a completely different story......
construction worker...
...are in most cases women. Men are on earth responsible for
thinking, not working, say the Bai...
