Drinking Tea in Dali Ancient Town 大理古城
If any of you have been following my blog, you would notice that I tend to run from one city to another during my trips. Some of you might think that this isn’t really the way to enjoy a place and I wholeheartedly agree. You get to understand a place much more if you take the time to explore the stories behind the buildings and pictures and the people. This probably more poignant in China where stories go back hundreds or even thousands of years. I have spent a relatively long time here in Lijiang and it was time for me to go. Lijiang is every bit the ancient town it was touted to be. And it is little wonder most ancient towns in China try to emulate its beauty and also its commercial success.
Restaurant in Dali Ancient Town 大理古城
My next destination is the ancient town of Dali. It seems that Yunnan has quite a few of these ancient towns. If you look at their history, the tea horse trade was well entrenched for centuries and thus the presence of these ancient towns are no longer a mystery. I took a bus from the Lijiang Bus Terminal to the city of Dali. There are a few buses which go there everyday so getting there should not be a problem. The way to Dali is not surprisingly mountainous and there were a lot of beautiful mountain scenery but I couldn’t get off the bus to take photos. I was surprised to see a group of cyclists trying to make their way to presumably Dali. I can’t imagine how difficult this would be given that large parts of the highway are mountainous.
Rushan 乳扇 at Dali Ancient Town 大理古城
I first caught sight of Dali just as our bus emerged from a mountain to what appeared to be a vast valley. The most prominent landmark here is the Erhai 洱海 where Dali Ancient Town is. On its shores you can see the old town of Dali and also the new town. I am pleased to see that the old town is kept intact while a totally new city was built away from it. I got off at one of the gates of the ancient town and went in. It was past lunch time and I was hungry I saw an eatery nearby and just had a little snack of rushan, a Yunnan specialty, before heading out again.
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