A Soggy Day in Dali

While the musician plays, his pal collects donations

Washing vegetables at the side of the road

11/2
Monday, November 2

A Soggy Beginning in Dali
Since we had gone to bed early and skipped dinner we woke up before dawn, had Chinese breakfast at the hotel, then went out to explore.

Women on the street wearing traditional headwear

Fried cheese for sale, mmmmmm!

Even here....Mickey Dee's is alive and well!

A group of young men try out their drone along the main road 

A "Hello Kitty" scooter

A steady rain dampened our enthusiasm as we wandered down the almost deserted street. Although very touristy, many of the shop buildings were quite old, with ridged tile roofs, often with lavish carvings and white walls decorated with brush paintings of nature. The cobblestoned main streets have a gravity fed open sluiceway bringing clear mountain water flowing through the town.  People can still be seen washing clothes and produce at the roadside. Trees line the streets on both sides, and many benches under them gave off a pleasant ambiance. However, we were getting soaked, so we returned to the hotel.


Boat Tour of Erlhai Lake
Despite the rain and fog, we boarded the sightseeing boat that goes across the lake to several scenic fishing villages, our destinations for the morning. One of the larger lakes in China, the lake is assumed tourist destination as well as the main livelihood for local villages.  As we waited for the boat to startup, we watched several families of least grebes on the water. The babies were quite big, and very vocal as they followed the parents, still getting fed from time to time.

An innovative catamaran made from small chunks of styrofoam in mesh bags.

Off in the distance were mountains shrouded in clouds. Small narrow boats propelled by either rowing or small outboard engines carried a crew of usually husband and wife who throw out large nets by hand.
 

The bow of a ferry boat on the Lake

Tiny live eels for sale

Along the shore of the small villages we visited were stalls selling fish as well as local fruits and vegetables, and the inevitable souvenirs. A large ethnic population in Yunnan Province, the Yi people inhabit these villages. The women are often very colorfully dressed, with elaborate headwear.

We spent the afternoon walking along part of the city wall, which once surrounded the entire city and wandering around the streets and shops.










Buddhism and Economics
A Buddhist temple often dominates the center of a town, and there is a town square where markets and community events are held. Buddhist temples have different deities, as well as different prayers to hang on trees. One had red hearts on a ribbon that you purchase from the temple shop.  You then either say it to yourself, or write down the prayer, before hanging it on a tree or a wooden stand.

The "wheel of life"

Prayers hang on trees outside a Buddhist temple

Nasty looking deities guard temple gates

Prayer flags adorn the grounds of many temple entrances

Anatomically correct elephants bring good luck to the temple

David, Kathy and Edie on the ancient city wall of Dali

A gate in the Dali city wall shows how thick that wall is

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These little shops are an important source of revenue for many temples.
They are often maintained and staffed by older women who volunteer their time.
A monastery we visited some days later required the student monks to pay their own way, which is another way of support for temples with a monastery. Also, people come to pray, and drop money in the box, buy candles and incense, and I’m sure wealthy donors contribute as well. In England the National Trust may provide a little support for old buildings like this as well, but I don’t know about this for China. There are some temples we visited, however, that are very touristy, so I would imagine that some of these receive government support.

Plumbing 101
We have stayed in very beautiful hotels, many of them fairly modern, but built to look traditional, with sloping tile roofs, lots of ornate woodwork, water features in lavish courtyards, beautiful furniture, etc. BUT, the plumbing in just about all of them had some issues, to say the least!  Many had a pervasive sewer gas smell in the bathroom, and we noticed rarely were there U shaped pipes under the sinks. In one case Kathy was washing out a few clothes, and decided to see if she could close off the gap  in the waste pipe under the sink creating the smell. As she moved it the whole thing came off in her hand, creating a flood, of course. We had several toilet clogs, one truly hilarious.  Some toilet paper had been flushed down previously, so when we called over the maid she scolded Kathy in Chinese. Kathy, being the good doobie, actually fished out the poo. In hindsight, that wasn't really what the maid had demanded, at all. So we all got a laugh about that one. Other incidents included a shower head that sprayed up and all over the bathroom, shower heads that didn't work at all, lots of sinks and toilets that drained slowly, and of course, we were always running out of toilet paper because they give you these tiny rolls.

The beautiful hotel/resort that we stayed in at the Old City of Dali

A sea of umbrellas as everyone watches a double rainbow in Dali

Squat Toilets
I must admit, with the exception of a few, most of the toilets we used were an improvement over the first China trips'. In some rural areas there are still just a tiled trough in the floor that may or may not have a flush to wash away the offerings. You can imagine the smell on these ones! But even at airport, museums and the like, the actual design of the ceramic toilets invites splatter - from those with bad aim, or bad knees so they can't squat. Furthermore, when they are flushed there's usually splash, so you're always standing in liquid, or worse. You ALWAYS bring your own toilet paper, as there is almost never any.  The actual standing to squat area is ceramic, but it is very narrow, so all the splash goes into the grout around the toilet, and onto the nearby floor, as well, so it can never be thoroughly cleaned. So there's always a pervasive smell of old urine. Gross!  In airports, and new public buildings where foreign tourists may be present, there are often Western style toilets, still with no TP, and usually splattered with urine on the seat and the floor.

So give me a bush outdoors,   and  I'll bring my own TP!