Pioneering New Paths in China: Arrival in Dali - Emerging Adventurers

      07/25/2025 - 07/25/2025

      

      

      

      

      

      

      

      

      

      

       View

      

      

       Asia 2025

      

      

       on zzlangerhans's travel map.

       As our train rushed from Lijiang to Dali, I reviewed my notes and refined our itineraries. Our error in Lijiang was attempting to do too much outside the city, causing us to overlook its essence. Dali sat on the western shore of a long lake named Erhai, surrounded by an endless array of ancient towns and tourist hotspots. We needed to resist the temptation to visit all of them. The boxy white houses visible from the train resembled those in Lijiang in some ways, but simple metal roofs appeared to be more common than traditional clay shingles. There was a substantial amount of farmland with diverse green leafy plants growing in irregular patches. The railway station was located at the southern end of Erhai, in a sprawling metropolitan area called Xiaguan. The Lonely Planet warned that this area, referred to as Dali, could be confused with the ancient town of Dali located thirty minutes north by car. Mixing the two would have been unfortunate, as Xiaguan was just an ordinary urban center without anything to set it apart from other Chinese cities. We had to haul all our luggage across an overpass to access the ground transportation area, only to find ourselves in a massive crowd vying for available buses and taxis. Thankfully, Mei Ling had her DiDi app, which spared us from competing for a taxi, although we waited nearly thirty minutes for our driver to break through the traffic. As we drove toward the ancient town, we got our first glimpse of the Cangshan mountain range, which bordered the populated area along the lake. Mei Ling rented our short-term apartment from a Chinese website. It was an unremarkable place nestled in a maze of narrow alleys in the old city, so I didn't take any photos. We quickly dropped off our bags and headed out, excited to discover a significant city in Yunnan. We walked a few blocks west to a bustling pedestrian area filled with traditionally styled buildings of questionable age. Although there hadn’t been an earthquake here to hasten reconstruction like in Lijiang, most buildings and façades were rebuilt in a historic architectural style to appeal to the growing tourism industry. The busiest commercial pedestrian streets were Fuxing and Huguo, which met at a lively square featuring a concrete pailou gate. Huguo Street, also known as Foreigner Street, used to host many hostels and guesthouses for backpackers attracted to the city’s bohemian vibe in the 1990s. That scene and the backpackers have since moved on, and I only spotted one other westerner amid the throng of thousands strolling the streets. As we made our way south through the crowds on Fuxing Street, we reached a multilevel tower that spanned the street, with a central archway allowing pedestrians to walk beneath it. Wǔhuá Lóu is a modern reconstruction of a tower originally built during the Tang dynasty in the ninth century. Over the years, the tower has been destroyed and rebuilt several times, so the current structure can be seen as part of this ongoing evolution. Historically, the tower served as a reception hall for foreign dignitaries and as a monument to the five directions and the five elements. From the upper balcony of Wǔhuá Lóu, we enjoyed a bird's eye view of Fuxing Street. The shingled roofs with overhanging eaves were reminiscent of Lijiang, but the wider streets made the crowds feel less overwhelming. To the west, fluffy clouds lingered over the imposing Cangshan range. Similar to Lijiang, careful attention had been devoted to creating picturesque spots for photography. One side street featured a tiered fountain that ended in a concrete ring, which perfectly framed the fountain and the atmospheric street beyond it. Across the street was an open square called Dali Culture Park. Within the square, a circle of women danced around a log pyre, monitored by a gold-painted statue of a soldier with a rifle. I wondered if the logs were there for the torch festival happening in Dali that weekend.

      We continued down Fuxing Street until we stumbled upon a night market filled with food stalls, clothing shops, and carnival games. We bought green juices from a stall with piles of succulent prickly pear cactus pads, along with limes, avocados, papayas, and passion fruit. Golden lanterns strung above the alleys symbolized prosperity and good luck. In a small plaza, we encountered young women in flowing silk robes performing a Han-style classical dance, their arms gracefully tracing semicircular paths as they twirled in unison. Recognizing the abundance of tourist trap restaurants, we carefully examined our apps before

Other articles