Today was scheduled as a full day of interesting activities in and around Dali.
Our local guide named Rivers collected our group at 08:30 and we drove in three quite new vans a distance of about a kilometre north to the San Ti Si, more popularly known as the Three Pagodas.
In the guide books this site is regarded as Dali’s most spectacular and famous attraction. The three towers are known to be over twelve hundred years old and are arranged at the three corners of an equilateral triangle. They are of the Tang Dynasty/Nanzhao provenance.
The central tower (Qianxunta) is 69 m tall and has 16 tiers while the two towers on either side are just 43 m tall and have only 10 tiers.
The towers were restored in 1979 after an earthquake that has left the two smaller towers leaning inwards very slightly. The taller central pagoda tower miraculously survived the earthquake. In a nearby square there is a large golden eagle sculpture positioned high on a marble plinth. The eagle is supposedly protecting the Buddha in the central pagoda.
Three pagodas, Dali
Central Pagoda, Dali
Golden eagle, Dali
We then ventured further north and down towards Er Hai Lake into a Bai village called Xizhou just in time for the opening of the local market. The Bai people have their own language and traditions and exist as a separate enclave within the wider Dali community.
Building in Bai village, Dali
The market was in full swing when we arrived selling everything imaginable from meats, vegetables, fabrics and live animals such as chickens, ducks, fish and ponies. There were also some very interesting antique shops with a fascinating array of objects for sale. We sampled some local pizza bread that was freshly baked on a charcoal heated hot plate while we waited.
Cooking local pizza bread, Bai village, Dali
Antique shop, Bai village, Dali
Ladies in market, Bai village, Dali
Raw sugar in market, Bai village
Lady in market, Bai village, Dali
Man cutting grass in rice paddy, Bai village, Dali
We then strolled around the local village and observed the different styles of architecture that the Bai people have in their buildings. In a grouping of the old homes with a central courtyard we were given a demonstration of cheese making by hand and some of our group including Corinne participated. The freshly prepared cheese is then dried in the sun before eating although we all tried some whilst still soft and fresh.
Street scene, Bai village, Dali
Corinne making cheese, Bai village, Dali
We then visited an embroidery factory where highly elaborate and beautiful pictures were being made by use of incredibly fine threads of coloured silk. Some of the larger pictures on display were reputedly the work of a single seamstress over a period of nearly a year. Not surprisingly, the cost of the more elaborate pieces was usually in the order of US$500 or even more.
Silk cocoons, Embroidery factory, Bai village, Dali
Girl embroidering, Embroidery school, Bai village, Dali
Our next little jaunt was in horse drawn carts as we headed towards lunch. The neatly painted carts each held six people and had a canvas roof and awnings. The ponies pulling the carts had a flat section of road of about 4 km and didn’t seem too puffed when we alighted.
Drying silver fish, Bai village, Dali
Tony & driver with horse & carriage, Bai village, Dali
After our lunch we visited another ‘cottage industry’ for which the Bai people are renowned, namely tie dyeing of fabrics. The materials on display were intricate in their patterns and very colourful with indigo blue being the dominant dye used. Indigo plants were growing in pots next to a very large barrel of indigo blue dye. A number of purchases were made by members of our group and we bought a square of tie dyed material for making a cushion cover.
Woman with cloth after dyeing, Tie-dyeing factory, Bai village, Dali
Tie-dyeing factory, Bai village, Dali
Dali’s most obviously compelling natural attraction is Er Hai Lake, a 250 square kilometre expanse of water that was a profound shade of aquamarine in the sunny and hot conditions we encountered. Er Hai translates to mean Ear Sea because of the ear shape of the lake.
We had heard of the traditional fishing method using tame cormorants with their throats restricted with a band and in the mid-afternoon we had the opportunity of seeing this in action. We were rowed out into the lake in long steel boats and upon arrival at a designated point, the cormorants were released into the water and encouraged to dive by the boatmen throwing food into the water. Within minutes, two cormorants had caught fish and brought them to the surface only to be scooped up by the fishermen using nets on the end of long poles. The fish were removed from the bird’s gullet and then they were rewarded with fish morsels and cast back into the water to try again!
This was a fascinating process and the cormorants were certainly well versed in the whole process and knew precisely what the task at hand entailed. The birds appeared in very good health and despite the restricted throat they could eat small pieces of fish but not large ones.
Cormorant with fish, Cormorant fishing, Bai village, Dali
Tony, Cormorant fishing, Bai village, Dali
Man & cormorant with fish, Cormorant fishing, Bai village, Dali
Corinne on jetty, Cormorant fishing, Bai village, Dali
Lake Er Hai, Dali
Our finale for the day was to ride the 28 km back to our MCA Hotel in central Dali.
We had well serviced mountain bikes and the path we followed was mostly flat along the lake’s edge. Our only problems were where traffic jams occurred in the narrow street section within the villages along the way. There were also road restrictions caused by the locals who use large stretches of half the road to set out mats on which they dry fish caught in the lake. The tiny fish are called silver fish and are somewhat like whitebait.
We peddled merrily along at a relaxed pace with the highly scenic lake on our left side complemented by rich green agricultural areas on our right. The main crops grown in this highly fertile area are rice, corn and tobacco. The nearby lake provides for ample irrigation supplies.
We stopped at a few spots along the way for photos and ice-creams as the conditions were still hot with blue skies even in the late afternoon.
Tony & Corinne on bike ride, Dali
Group, bike ride, Dali
RIding by fish drying on road, bike ride, Dali
Boat on road, bike ride, Dali
On arrival back in Dali we returned our bikes and ventured back to our hotel to prepare for tomorrow’s trip to Kunming, the capital of Yunnan Province.