14-Sep-2025
Having experienced a sinking of our spirits on arriving in the historic bit of Dali, which is now almost entirely given over to the tourist market, we felt we needed to figure out a plan for the weekend that would allow us to remain sane.
"Sights" seemed better postponed until the Saturday/Sunday rush was over. But we're always happy to just walk.
And the best time to walk is early in the morning, when our fellow-tourists are mostly still abed, and "ordinary" people are getting ready for the day's onslaught: Swilling down pavements, setting up stalls, scarfing down a bowl of noodles in preparation for standing with legions of flower-crowned colleagues in one of the many jewellery shops...
The door of our abode is still shut when we make our escape
Looking up our lane
The earliness of the hour does make it possible to actually see stuff without the impediment of selfie-seekers
Dali, like Kunming, has an altitude of 2,000 metres, so the big mountains that it backs onto are really quite substantial
Once the capital of the Nanzhao kingdom, it still retains much of its surrounding wall and a number of gates
Fortunately, it's not just tourists... Slightly away from the absolute core, there's plenty of street-marketing happening
Still loving these painted walls and gables...
Another gate
One of the problems with the early hours, though, is that they tend to be wet...
Sheltering in the park while we wait for the rain to ease
But then, when the sun comes out, you get spectacular cloud effects:
If you think Dali will quieten down after sunset, you'll be mistaken. On evening walks, you just have to go with the flow. The touts are still active, armed with microphones; people offering samples of their wares line the streets. Crowds throng the pavements and the restaurants.
An illuminated gate
Blue and white clothing is on sale everywhere
But the quieter side-streets yield plenty of photo-opportunities:
Meanwhile, our favourite coffee-shop continues to turn up trumps:
The tea in Yunnan is fantastic (Pu'er is the big focus), and we relish our daily tea-drinking ritual (we have to remember to unplug the boiler, though -- otherwise it greets you, VERY LOUDLY, when you come back in the room).
And the supermarket is keeping us well supplied with yogurt, nuts, and spectacularly good (and very reasonably priced) fruit (we particularly rave about the blueberries and plums).
So..., Dali is not quite all that we would have wanted it to be, but I think we're making a reasonably good job of managing it.