Dali, Yunnan

Sunday evenings are great, especially when you have had a fun filled busy weekend. The chance to sit, relax and think about the weekends events with a big cup of tea is so gratifying, which is what I am doing right now.

This weekend, my roommate-Whitney, myself, and three of our friends from Kunming took a trip to Dali. Dali is west of Kunming, about 5-6 hours by bus and is surrounded by a stunning mountain backdrop, the Cang Shan (Jade Green Mountains) to the west, and Erhai Hu lake (the 7^th largest lake in China) to the east. Dali is home to the Bai minority group, who have inhabited the region for thousands of years. We used this trip as a nice vacation, to get away from the buzzing city life of Kunming and breathe a breath of fresh air.

We started the weekend bright and early Saturday by taking a chair lift ride up the Jade Green Mountains. The ride up the mountain was nice and leisurely, giving us plenty of time to take in the view and snap many photos. At the top there was a Buddhist temple, as well as a hostel and plenty of tourist knick-knack souvenirs. Three of us chose to hike across the mountain to another cable car lift about 10 km away, while the other two in our group chose to go back down the mountain and explore more of Old Town Dali.

The hike was absolutely beautiful and breathe-taking. It was a paved pathway on the edge of the mountain side, fairly safe but no guard rails or fences. I’m pretty sure in America there would have to be some sort of barrier with all of our safety rules. We could see for miles and miles, taking in Dali, the lake and more mountains off in the distance. It was great to take a few hours to spend time hiking and listening to the mountains from 4000m up. The silence was one of the best parts.

After our hike, we had a wonderful lunch in Old Town Dali at a quaint café. We decided for our afternoon activity it would be worth seeing the cormorante fishing on Erhai Hu. This is a traditional fishing method where fishermen train cormorante birds to dive down into the water, catch a fish and bring it back up. The fisherman ties a string around the base of the birds throat as not to swallow the larger fish and the fisherman can pull out the fish from the birds mouth. This method is sadly used today only for tourist attractions.

The rest of our weekend was filled with shopping, relaxing and eating. I never felt rushed and was able to tune out and enjoy a new place. Our bus ride home was quite an interesting way to end a relaxful weekend. The highway to Kunming is under construction and our bus had to take an alternate route. The road was a dirt road weaving around the mountains and old villages. It was quite bumpy and I spent most the trip pr-ying to not get motion sickness. Thankfully we all made it back safe and sound.

I continue with my language classes this week. I started at a school that teaches one-on-one in a nice and slow fashion. I focused on listening and learning the sounds last week, and this week I will begin to actually speak. The entire first week is simply listening, as many of the sounds are brand new to an English speaking ear. Please pr-y that I understand the complexities of a new language and continue to learn more about getting around Kunming while meeting new faces and making new friends.