Dali - China
7/4/05
Kunming was nice, slow and relaxing but it was still a big city, so we took on the road again, destination:Dali.
First we took a bus to Xiaguan, 400 Km west of Kunming and from there to the old city of Dali, only 18 kilometers away.
In Xiaguan we met a Dutch and Korean couple with whom we shared a cab to Old Dali.
Dali is at 1900 meters of altitude also, like Kunming, with mild climate. The stunning mountain back drop with imposing 4000 meter-tall Cang Shan (Jade Green Mountains) is hardly unnoticed.
West of the town adding to the scenery is the lovely 250 square-kilometer lake Erhai Hu.
The old city retains the historical atmosphere that is hard to come by in other parts of China.
The main inhabitants of the region are the Bai, who number today about 1.5 million and settled in the region some 3000 years ago.
The influx of Chinese tour groups, strong renovation lined with souvenir shops streets made it loose a bit of its authenticity, but it is still a wonderful old city surrounded by a defensive wall.
We spent the day wandering in the cute streets of the town exploring each old house and jumping from tea houses to coffee shops and book-lounges.
Like in Yangshuo and in Kunming the people were just so nice to us, especially when Angie engages on trying to communicate in Chinese, they love it.
7/5/05
It was still morning when, walking in the streets of Dali, ...
... we crossed a little restaurant, called Clandestino, where we stopped to read the Wanted sign: 'Looking for foreigner to take care of the restaurant - salary and accommodation, minimum three months', then a girl came by the door and invited us in hope of customers.
When Angie asked if she knew about Chinese teachers she promptly said 'I can teach you'.
So we spent the morning in Clandestino, a nice little bar/restaurant with a backyard where Angie had a first lesson.
Chinese is a language with a large number of words with the same pronunciation but a different meaning, what distinguishes these 'homophones' is their 'tonal' quality - the raising and lowering of pitch on certain syllables. For example ma can mean mother, numb, horse or swear, so just a little variation on the pitch can change the meaning of the world completely.
One remarkable thing was when the girl was trying to teach Angie the four different tons for saying ma and corrected Angie saying: 'No, repeat ma, like ma in that plant', pointing to a plant just next to us. We had not noticed but it was a huge bush of Marijuana. Look the picture again more carefully and you will see it.
She explained to us that Bai people have used it for ages and it is growing everywhere around Dali. That also made me understand why in every corner of Dali there is a nice old lady in her Bai costume offering some.
After the class we went back to our hotel and rented bikes to visit the three pagodas, San Ta Si, 2,5 kilometers north of the town.
San Ta Si is among the oldest structure in south-western China; the biggest one is 70 meters high.
From there we went down to Erhai Hu where we sat in the garden of a nice tea house by the lake.
The mixture of cultures is such a great thing; after the lake we went biking inside Dali and came across this catholic church.
Dali is a popular domestic tourist destination, so there are plenty of restaurants not aimed at the foreigner, the food is almost free. We had a nice freshly cooked dinner for two for about 10 yuan (1 $USD = 8.2 Yuan).
There was no English menu, but they were happy to help us choose something. In those restaurants you never order a dish for yourself, but a couple of dishes that are shared among the ones at the table. It was a nice experience. Bai people pick lots of different kinds of mushrooms in the surrounding moutains, so we ate several dishes with tasteful brown, black, yellow and white mushrooms. It was delicious!
At night the walls are illuminated.
7/6/05
Another morning with Chinese class and relaxation, then we spent the rest of the day biking. This time to Xizhou, 18 kilometers north of Dali.
On the way we passed by a beautiful pagoda by a lake.
Xizhou has even better preserved architecture than Dali, it is not renovated and not full of tourists. We biked slowly in its streets looking at the past before our eyes.
There we visited the Bai Culture House, watched folkloric dances, visited art galleries, traditional clothes shops and met more nice people.
There are lots of people on the streets using their local costums. We stole this picture when a Chinese tourist posed for his own camera with the girls.
Then 18 kilometers back to the guesthouse, it was a long biking day.
At night, we went back to Clandestino for another Chinese class.
Kunming was nice, slow and relaxing but it was still a big city, so we took on the road again, destination:Dali.
First we took a bus to Xiaguan, 400 Km west of Kunming and from there to the old city of Dali, only 18 kilometers away.
In Xiaguan we met a Dutch and Korean couple with whom we shared a cab to Old Dali.
Dali is at 1900 meters of altitude also, like Kunming, with mild climate. The stunning mountain back drop with imposing 4000 meter-tall Cang Shan (Jade Green Mountains) is hardly unnoticed.
West of the town adding to the scenery is the lovely 250 square-kilometer lake Erhai Hu.
The old city retains the historical atmosphere that is hard to come by in other parts of China.
The main inhabitants of the region are the Bai, who number today about 1.5 million and settled in the region some 3000 years ago.
The influx of Chinese tour groups, strong renovation lined with souvenir shops streets made it loose a bit of its authenticity, but it is still a wonderful old city surrounded by a defensive wall.
We spent the day wandering in the cute streets of the town exploring each old house and jumping from tea houses to coffee shops and book-lounges.
Like in Yangshuo and in Kunming the people were just so nice to us, especially when Angie engages on trying to communicate in Chinese, they love it.
7/5/05
It was still morning when, walking in the streets of Dali, ...
... we crossed a little restaurant, called Clandestino, where we stopped to read the Wanted sign: 'Looking for foreigner to take care of the restaurant - salary and accommodation, minimum three months', then a girl came by the door and invited us in hope of customers.
When Angie asked if she knew about Chinese teachers she promptly said 'I can teach you'.
So we spent the morning in Clandestino, a nice little bar/restaurant with a backyard where Angie had a first lesson.
Chinese is a language with a large number of words with the same pronunciation but a different meaning, what distinguishes these 'homophones' is their 'tonal' quality - the raising and lowering of pitch on certain syllables. For example ma can mean mother, numb, horse or swear, so just a little variation on the pitch can change the meaning of the world completely.
One remarkable thing was when the girl was trying to teach Angie the four different tons for saying ma and corrected Angie saying: 'No, repeat ma, like ma in that plant', pointing to a plant just next to us. We had not noticed but it was a huge bush of Marijuana. Look the picture again more carefully and you will see it.
She explained to us that Bai people have used it for ages and it is growing everywhere around Dali. That also made me understand why in every corner of Dali there is a nice old lady in her Bai costume offering some.
After the class we went back to our hotel and rented bikes to visit the three pagodas, San Ta Si, 2,5 kilometers north of the town.
San Ta Si is among the oldest structure in south-western China; the biggest one is 70 meters high.
From there we went down to Erhai Hu where we sat in the garden of a nice tea house by the lake.
The mixture of cultures is such a great thing; after the lake we went biking inside Dali and came across this catholic church.
Dali is a popular domestic tourist destination, so there are plenty of restaurants not aimed at the foreigner, the food is almost free. We had a nice freshly cooked dinner for two for about 10 yuan (1 $USD = 8.2 Yuan).
There was no English menu, but they were happy to help us choose something. In those restaurants you never order a dish for yourself, but a couple of dishes that are shared among the ones at the table. It was a nice experience. Bai people pick lots of different kinds of mushrooms in the surrounding moutains, so we ate several dishes with tasteful brown, black, yellow and white mushrooms. It was delicious!
At night the walls are illuminated.
7/6/05
Another morning with Chinese class and relaxation, then we spent the rest of the day biking. This time to Xizhou, 18 kilometers north of Dali.
On the way we passed by a beautiful pagoda by a lake.
Xizhou has even better preserved architecture than Dali, it is not renovated and not full of tourists. We biked slowly in its streets looking at the past before our eyes.
There we visited the Bai Culture House, watched folkloric dances, visited art galleries, traditional clothes shops and met more nice people.
There are lots of people on the streets using their local costums. We stole this picture when a Chinese tourist posed for his own camera with the girls.
Then 18 kilometers back to the guesthouse, it was a long biking day.
At night, we went back to Clandestino for another Chinese class.
posted by Adriano and Angie | 5:02 AM
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