sagesex

Dali is a small town in Yunnan, China. Actually, it is three towns: When we arrived at the Dali bus station in the evening we consulted the Lonely Planet and found out that we were supposed to be right next to the city walls of this enchanting little old town. So we ignored the waiting taxis and started to walk. Unfortunately, nothing here looked similar to our map, and after half an hour of wandering about we had to admit to ourselves that we had no clue where we were. Everything here looked so typically newly Chinese and modern, not a hint of old town.

Expecting the city walls somewhere just around the corner – only we didn’t know where – we started looking for a taxi. The first few drivers couldn’t make heads or tails of our destination of choice (Which is perfectly normal in China). The next few asked fantastical prices and refused to use the taximeter. Enraged, and almost using force, we finally got a driver to do his job. Behold – just around the corner quickly turned into 15 km! We hadn’t known that there is Dali old town and Dali new town, and these towns are not direct neighbors. On the other hand it turned out to be so much prettier than we had become used to in China – old houses, small streets, no stress, few people – that we were reconciled with the world when on top of all that we also found a charming guesthouse. Even more so when on the next morning our room afforded the view depicted above.

The greater was our surprise when we started out to discover the town – we hadn’t even been within the city walls! Which, however, turned out to be situated a few hundred meters from our dwelling, and there we found the third Dali, the one that we had heard about: A huge, and a little too picturesque, old town, which has mostly been newly rebuilt for (mainly Chinese) tourists.

Popularity: 14% [?]

Be Sociable, Share!

• 

Dali is a small town in Yunnan, China. Actually, it is three towns: When we arrived at the Dali bus station in the evening we consulted the Lonely Planet and...