Dali - Part 1

In short, we had a wonderful respite. Dali is a four hour bus ride west of Kunming. It's a popular vacation spot; it offers mountains, lakes, warm sunny weather and delicious food. I was mistaken about the snow-capped mountains. One needs to travel to Lijiang - four hours further to higher elevation to see snow.

This is a typical 3 star Chinese hotel room. It's very clean, comfortable, and includes breakfast. At breakfast, we shared a table with a Russian couple and their two young daughters who were touring southern China during their Orthodox Christmas holiday. Depending on the season and location, this type of hotel runs from $20-$50 per night. A comparable Western name hotel goes for 5 times the cost!


One of the views from the hotel we enjoyed. The building is one of three of the hotel complex. That's Changshan Mountain (4000 meters) facing west and facing east was the vast Erhai Lake.


We were also located next to the Qianxun Pagodas and Chongsheng Temple which were built in the mid 9th century.


The main inhabitants of the region are the Bai, who number about 1.5 million. This lovely lady checked us in.


These young Bai women are dressed in the traditonal formal style: