Erhai lake in Dali, Yunnan

Early morning run

It was due to rain all day but as it did not rain at night I was hopeful to get a run in. It started raining when I wanted to begin but tapered off enough to run 7k. I came close to the lake we were visiting today.

We had breakfast and then rented a car to take us to the lake and be at our disposal. For 300 rmb ($42.50), we could go anywhere and he would pick us up for 8 hours. That is for four of us. He drove us to the other side of the lake which is 72 miles (116 km) around it. The west side had many flower and vegetable farms but the east side is where there are villages and better photos.

Shangluang ancient town

We had coffee and cheesecake at a little cafe.

Denied Nanzhou Island tour to foreigners

Bai families live here on this island. We went to buy tickets but they would not sell to foreigners claiming that it wasn’t open fully. I used my translator to inform them that I would be sure to tell tour groups that they were not welcome here in Dali. He looked surprised and I was pretty upset about the interchange as so many others were glad to see us due to lack of tourist money.

Instead we started walking a section around the lake to see other villages. Along the way we were met by police who were obviously looking for the foreigners on the road. They asked us many questions and wanted to see the health code that is standard for moving between places. We cobbled together enough Chinese to answer their questions.

Crane in the water.

Little Putuo Island 小普陀岛 Xiao Putuo Dao

We called the driver to come get us and we drove to the next island we could visit. Here they sold us tickets as it is manned by locals. On this smallest island in the lake, there is Little Putuo Temple, which was built in the 15th century, and originally devoted to Bodhisattva Kwanyin (the female Chinese Bodhisattva of compassion, Guanyin).

They use a rope to pull the boat to the other shore.

We drove to another island we could visit that is a fishing village. We decided not to go on it and instead walked along the road to try to take a photo of Dali old town from across the lake.

The fishing village
Dali city
Dali old town is just across the water and slightly hidden from view of the island.

We had the driver pick us up and take us to Dali city. There we were dropped off on the lake front and what looked like a Thai restaurant was there. It wasn’t Thai. We were not sure what cuisine it was but it was more Thai than anything. The food was delicious.

Sticky rice, peanuts, whole fish, some other meat, pickled fish, and lots of vegetables.

The view right before sundown was gorgeous as well.

The lake looks like glass.

A very tiring day but beautiful and… Without rain!