Dali (pronounced "Dolly"... Hi mom!)

After another bus ride (during which our bus broke down and another
had to come replace it), we arrived in Dali. More tourism shopping
here, though definitely more variety than Lijiang or Shangrila. Dali
is an old walled city near a big "ear shaped" lake and is described by
guidebooks as a "backpacker hangout."

The night we got there (delayed due to the bus break-down), we ate at
a Bai restaurant. The Bai are one of the many ethnic minorities in
Yunnan province, and the ones that are most prevalent in Dali. As with
the other places we've been, the people out and about who are most
clearly the local ethnic minority are cute old ladies wearing the
traditional clothes. We saw the locals in their element when we visited
two local markets in nearby towns the next morning. There were some
souvenir vendors, but mostly people were buying and selling fruits and
vegetables, which were fun to see and very photogenic.

We visited a traditional Bai house, which is based around a central
courtyard. Three sides open to rooms and living quarters, and there
are smaller courtyards at the corners. The 4th side of the main
courtyard is a white wall that faces west and reflects the afternoon
light into the other 3 sides. Traditionally many generations shared
the house, or in some cases multiples wives with their children. Our
guide pointed out that all of carved doors and decorative woodwork had
been sanded down or chiseled off during the cultural revolution. He
thought this desecration was sad, but pointed out that at the time
poor people moved in and forced the rich owners to flee the country,
and to this day the government allows poor people to live there for
free.

Everywhere in Yunnan we had been seeing indigo tie-dyed fabrics for
sale. Outside Dali, we visited a workshop where that kind of
traditional cloth is made. (These were of higher quality that the
souvenir shops' wares.) We saw the grids of pattern laid out and
marked on the cloth, which indicates where the stitches are made. The
cloth is stitched by hand (yes, by little old ladies), dyed in vats of
indigo, and hung to dry. Then the stitches are ripped out to reveal
the white cloth.

That afternoon we had our feet massaged by deaf practitioners, who had
us examine the reflexology charts to see where all the painful parts
corresponded in our body. Walking on air, we climbed to the top of the
city wall for some good views of Dali old town, Erhai lake, and the
surrounding mountains. For dinner we ate the most famous Yunnanese
dish: Across the Bridge Noodles. Yum.

The next day we had a long bus ride back to Kunming and a farewell
dinner with our group. After dinner, our wonderful leader, Amy,
initiated us into one China's most beloved modern traditions: karaoke
at KTV. Fortunately karaoke in China is performed in private rooms
with your friends, rather than as the public humiliation we know and
love (?) in the US.