Dali

大理 

大家好！ 

For the next two days of our study trip, we went to Dali (大理). 大理 is a city in the northwest of Yunnan Province. The Dali Old Town was the medieval capital of the Bai people’s kingdom of Nanzhao (8th century) and the Kingdom of Dali (937-1253). The Bai people originated in 大理 about 3,000 years ago. This area became significantly Muslim (Hui) during the Yuan and Ming Dynasties. 大理 has also been a center for regional commerce. It was a crossroads between Tibet, China, Burma, and Southeast Asia. In 1925, a huge earthquake damaged the area severely. Today, the city is an official tourist city along with 丽江.  

We took a 3-hour bus ride from 丽江 to 大理. Once we arrived, a group of us heading into the Old Town. The Old Town was similar to the Old Town of 丽江. However, a difference was that it was a lot smaller and it was easier to follow. There weren’t as many side alleys to get lost down. While walking around, there were these guys making candy and dancing. They invited me to try to make the candy and dance with them. I think my back up plan for the future is to return to 大理 and make candy while dancing.  

The next day we went to Erhai Lake (洱海). The name means "Ear Sea." It is an alpine fault lake in Yunnan Province and was named Erhai Lake because travelers said that it resembled an ear. We went on a cruise around the lake and stopped at two islands during our trip. On both sides of the lake, there are mountains. During the cruise, we were treated to trying three types of tea and watching the Bai people dance. I thought it was really cool watching the Bai people dance. They were so good. One of the teas was very bitter, another was too sweet, and the third one tasted like cinnamon. Out of all three, I think my favorite one was the cinnamon one although I wasn’t a big fan on any of them. The first island that we stopped at was so small. As soon as we got off, people were trying to sell us various food items and souvenirs. We quickly got back on the boat and headed to the second island. The second island was much cooler. It was really big and had several giant statues. The island didn’t feel very Chinese to me. Someone on the trip said it reminded them of Southeast Asia. I don’t know what it reminded me off, but it felt like we weren’t in China anymore. After the cruise, we went to another ancient town. There are so many ancient towns and streets in China. I think it’s cool that they’ve been preserved but they’ve all turned into tourist attractions. They really only sell souvenirs there and most local people don’t even live in the ancient cities anymore. So even though it’s cool that they’ve been preserved, I think it’s a shame that the local people don’t live there and that it has turned into more of a tourist attraction than an authentic home of the local people.  

That night, we returned to the old town near our hotel for a group dinner. This group dinner featured the Bai people who worked at the restaurant putting on another show. The show was so amazing, and I was sad that there weren’t more people in the restaurant to enjoy it. After the show, they came and toasted to friendship with us. I think my favorite food item at the group dinner were these potatoes that were kind of spicy. They were so delicious. There was also this ground pork dish with tomatoes and green peppers in it. It reminded me of my mom’s homemade salsa. It didn’t taste like it but kind of looked similar.  

The next day we took a train to our final destination, Kunming (昆明). See you there! 

再见！ 

马乐