Yunnan Travel Notes · DAY1 | The blue sky I love most in Dali

Departure·Arrival

Before setting off, I was worried about the weather in Dali. The weather forecast said that it would be rainy in Dali for the past half month. At two o'clock in the afternoon, we arrived in Dali. At that moment, all doubts disappeared and we were greeted by blue sky and white clouds.

The first thing is to pick up the car. The car was booked half a month ago. When picking up the car, we mentioned the weather in Dali. The staff told us that it rained heavily last night and it started to clear up at noon. I feel more comfortable, this is Dali welcoming me. Regarding car rental and self-driving, I will talk about it in detail at the end of the article.

Tuanshan · Haixinting

After picking up the car, we went directly to Dali, the first stop of our trip - Tuanshan . Tuanshan is located in Erhai Park. Park your car in the parking lot on the mountain. Take your camera and water and take a walk to Erhai Lake. On the way, you will pass a villa area. Standing on the rooftop viewing platform, you can see the Cangshan Mountain and the Erhai Lake in the distance, as well as the blue sky and white clouds. This feeling is "I have a house, facing the sea, and the flowers are blooming in spring." This is the first meeting with Erhai Lake.

From the moment we arrived in Dali, time seemed to slow down. Walking, taking pictures and eating, it took us nearly an hour to reach the Erhai Lake. In fact, it was only a few hundred meters away. We walked along the greenway next to Erhai Lake. The sun was very bright and we were tired after walking for a few steps. We simply sat under the willow trees on the seaside to enjoy the cool air. The wind blew under the willows and we watched the waves hitting the rocks and watching them fishing and catching shrimps.

Time ticked by, but the sunlight showed no sign of weakening. Looking at the shared motorcycles on the roadside, we smiled knowingly and reached an agreement instantly. Cycling along the Erhai Lake is an extremely pleasant thing. We rode to Haixinting. If it is March, this is a good place to feed seagulls. The season for swarms of seagulls has long passed, and occasionally only one or two seagulls can be seen flying by.

"I told you, this is not a seagull, but an egret."

"But…"

"No buts, just egrets!"

"..."

Longkan Wharf · Dali Ancient Town

"What is this word?" "kan (kan), Longkan Wharf ". This is our next stop. There is a green space here. Walk along the path in the grass. You can see Cangshan Mountain on the left and Erhai Lake on the right. An old man who is over sixty years old is sitting on a chair by the roadside, smiling and watching children flying kites. Occasionally, one or two butterflies float gently by you. A few bees are collecting nectar in the flowers. The sunset is setting little by little. A large cloud on the horizon turned red. This is the first sunset at the foot of Cangshan Mountain in Dali.

When we left Longkan Pier, it was already close to eight o'clock. After time slowed down, the day also lengthened, and the concept of time was slowly fading away. After arriving at the inn and simply packing their luggage, the two of them went hungry to look for food in Dali Ancient City. We thought that the first meal in Dali must be a local delicacy, of course Cross-Bridge Rice Noodles. When the food was served, what I never expected was that they crossed two bridges for us. It turned out that this was the authentic "crossing bridge rice noodles", haha!

Dali Ancient City is very lively at night. If you walk into a flower and wine shop, the lady boss will warmly invite you to taste it. If you like it, you will buy it. If you don't like it, you will turn around and leave. We found a small open-air bar and ordered a drink. The folk singer next to us was singing "A Diao". We sang along softly, completely unaware of the passage of time.

Travel Advice · Forecast

·About departure

Book your flight tickets at least two weeks in advance. Direct flights to Dali and Lijiang will be much more expensive than connecting in Kunming, so taking the high-speed rail to Kunming is a very cost-effective option. If you're not short of money, just pretend I didn't say anything.

·About car rental

The earlier the car rental time is, the better. The closer the time is, the more expensive the car rental will be. We rented the car half a month in advance, and the total cost for 7 days was about 1,200, which saved nearly half of the cost compared to temporary rental. Try to choose a big company to help you avoid many pitfalls. We chose EHI Car Rental, but the return time was half an hour late. There were a few small scratches on the door handle, so the store waived the responsibility. Remember to refuel when you return the car. We added a small amount of gas and received a direct cash refund. I am very satisfied with this car rental experience and highly recommend eHi Car Rental.

·About food and accommodation

It is a good choice to stay in Dali Ancient City on the first day. Find a B&B or inn with a higher rating, at least you will not be in trouble. It’s also very convenient to go out for food and visit the ancient city at night, so you don’t have to worry about time.

When eating, you might as well use Meituan and Dianping to save money and worry. Generally, the ones with high ratings are good. The Guoqiao rice noodle restaurant we ate at was the one with the highest rating, so I recommend giving it a try.

·other

Sun protection is really important. Even though we brought a small gold bottle, crystal spray, and sun protection sleeves, it was obvious that our whole body turned darker at the end of the day. So, bring whatever preparation you can, otherwise you will regret it.

·Preview

Today is just the beginning, let’s continue on to Huanhai West Road, Cangshan Mountain, Majiuyi Village, Haiji Park, Shuanglang Ancient Town... What scenery did we see along the way, what stories happened, and what interesting people did we meet? I will tell you about it in my next Dali travel note "Hello, Nice to Meet You".