Dali, Batik, Silversmiths and Birds

Statue outside military base in Dali

That's me standing in front of an ancient gate at Old Dali

An ad for a weight loss program

Brooms for sale - used daily by most women

Statues were beheaded during the Cultural Revolution

Garbage can for recycling

Chinese tourists get their photo taken

Local ladies sell pomegranite products on the street

A monk takes a rest

11/3
Tuesday, November 3
The next morning the weather cleared and we got a spectacular view of the nearby mountains. Cang Shan Mountain looms above Dali and David recalled that it used to be snow capped year round, but now that only occurs in the winter. Another causality of global warming.

Old Dali Goes to the Tourists
The museum in Old Dali was pretty interesting. Trade routes between India, Tibet and China sprung up about 2,000 years ago, often called the Southern Silk Road, or Tea Horse Road. A strategic spot along these routes, Dali became an important stopping place for travelers to replenish supplies and horses before they continued their journeys. When the Mongols invaded China from the north, Dali became the capital of Yunnan Province, so the city has a lot of history.

Parts of the original city wall still exist and there are many old buildings lining very narrow streets. It's very picturesque. Dali has succumbed to the tourist industry, which has been heavily invested in over the past 30 years, so along the main thoroughfares are hundreds of restaurants, bars, and shops hawking jewelry, food, souvenirs and clothing. I couldn't figure out the significance of the many drum stores blaring music that a bored shopkeeper keeps time with on the drum.

Goods are still carried in the traditional, yet,  practical way

Indigo Batik at Zhoucheng
On the way out of town we stopped at a roadside stand for a local delicacy - pancakes, either sweet and rose flavored, or onion flavored. They were delicious! Our next stop was to visit a Bai village, Zhoucheng,  known for its batik fabrics using the traditional method using dye from the indigo plant.

Dye vats of indigo - a natural dark blue plant dye

The grandmother sews intricate patterns before dyeing

We strolled through the village peering into small shops and courtyards, taking lots of photos, of course. We walked through a local market selling fruits, vegetables and meats. (No lives animals - so no poor pigs or chickens!) David led us to a local family whose business was tie dying cotton fabric creating beautifully intricate designs. A pattern is laid out onto the fabric, then small pieces of the fabric are gathered and sewed tightly before being soaked in huge vats of the dark blue liquid. We all decided to purchase a piece, so we uncomfortably bartered with the hostess until we reached an agreed price.

The Friendliest Village
Another interesting village, Songgui, we stopped in proved to be one of the friendliest that we had encountered. Surprisingly neat and clean, this village of about 1,000 people, had no piles of construction debris as in other places, the narrow cement roads were in very good condition, and the ditches along the roadsides, also cement, contained no litter. 

Incense offering at a home

The local "piggery"

The locals were friendly and cooperative as we strolled through taking photos. In fact one woman even invited us to come to her home for tea.  (We declined)  At one point we walked past a school and the children came to the second floor balcony to wave to us. Of course, we waved back and they cheered. Across the valley we heard firecrackers, which David informed us were part of a funeral.






Rice and Bark Paper Factory

The pulp is squeezed flat and each layer stacked

We continued walking until we reached a family run operation that manufactures paper from rice and tree bark. We watched as bark was soaked and churned up into a thick paste. A thin layer is sieved through a wide screen and that placed onto a block.

The tree bark on the right is made into pulp. Then each thin layer is carefully spread onto the drying racks to the left.

a thin layer of wet paper is peeled off the block and spread onto the drying wall

 The block is taken to a drying wall where each thin layer upon layer is stuck to he wall to dry for several days. I have actually used this type of paper for art projects from time to time with the kids at school.

A Little Birding to Finish the Day

The afternoon sun was getting low as we came to the Heqing Nature Reserve, a large lake near the town we were staying for the night. The lighting and the reflections were beautiful as we watched hundreds of ducks and other marsh birds just before sunset.

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!