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Hotel Class: 
3 Stars
Mingzhu Square, Economic Development District, Dali, Yunnan, 671000, China
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Church in Dali old town
old town
a typical local restaurant
Cangshan Mountain
hi there, just want to check with you, so you liked everything about the place except the bathrooms were dirty/smelly? thinking of staying there next week but very worried about dirty bathrooms... thanks
I stayed in Jims guesthouse when very few chinese even knew where Dali was!!! This was back in 1999 and it was really only foreign backpackers in those parts..lots of fun. Back then it was beautiful and the toilets were fine apart from a big rat coming up one of them (the one next to me) as I was squatting over the other one!!! Fright of my life!!!
I went back to Dali two years ago and Jims had changed..far more people staying there now but I just popped my head around the door, cant tell you about the toilets..but they were all oudoor ones when i was there with no partitions between them..dont know what they are like now.
I think Tibetan Lodge might be cheaper & nicer. The cafe was great & it has free internet access (fast). Their room & bathroom was good. I didn't stay there but did take a look at their room. Well......I just ate at their cafe while surfing the net. Have a good trip!!
come on guys you have to read before you post a comment! they say that YEARS ago toilets in Dali were ratty that means probably 15 years ago as that was the time when chinese didn't even know where dali was...all toilets in china were ratty then...most guesthouses and hotels who cater to foreigners have clean toilets, trust me! i stayed at jim's tibetan hotel, very clean and visited their other place jim's guesthouse for a meal and used their toilet: also very clean. warning: the cafes in the so called 'foreigner street' usually don't have own toilets (you have to find a public one!)and if they do soso clean. also the toilet in tibetan lodge was soso. so far about toilets, there is so much more to traveling in china besides toilet stories...
Im sorry, but whats your point here 'Marthainchina'..i DID read the post before putting up a comment.
Dali has a few choices when it comes to the local brew. I drank them all but have trouble remembering all the names. There's Lan cang and Geng Hua Xue Yue (English name is Rose Love) beer. And then there was some rose flavored beer. It was a little too aromatic for my taste. Anyhoo, they are all worth trying.
We came upon a local wedding with people busy preparing food and setting tables. From what I could see, the meal wasn't too extravagant as it was only dumplings and a sausage dish, maybe there were more later.
I don't know the name, but it was even more authentic than Dali, and it is at walking distance.
The rain caught me here and I had to take shelter under a half-built house. A local child stayed by my side for 30 min. or so until the rain stopped, and we had a very interesting, silent conversation.
("How's that", you ask? Well, with good will, a notebook and a pen, everything is possible!)
Cangshan Mountains. Take the chairlift up to Zhong He Temple (worth it as the hike up is not that great, the paths hard to find and rather painful). Entrance to the Mountain Park cost RMB30 and the chairlift RMB60 return or 30RMB one way. Budget conscious travellers can enter the park (student ID gets you half price RMB15) and take the chairlift up for 30RMB, then walk down.
From Zhong He Temple you have a choice of paths running North or South, with each offering equally spectacular views of the mountains, valley and lake. You can head South along good paths for up to 11 kms towards the Gantong Temple (with several early exit points down the mountain) and enjoy the view. From an altitude of 2500m you can view both the peaks which range up to 4100m and the valley and Erhai lake below. The 7 Dragon Maidens pool, 6 kms from the Zhong He temple are a stunning set of mountain stream pools of varying colors and one of the highlights of the walk.
The Northern route of 6kms of path offers one of the sharpest cliff views of the entire Dali valley, and on a clear day you can see Jizu Mountain (one of the most famous Buddhist mountains in China) well beyond the Erhai lake. The route, at the bend in the main valley, also offers a path up the mountains for 2 kms which ends at a mountain pool where you can take a swim on a warm day.
A suggested route would be to take the chairlift up to Zhonghe temple, take the Northern path for 3 kms enjoying the clearest view of the entire valley, then head back South past Zhonghe temple towards Gantong temple. Good coffee is available at cafes behind the temple, so take a break, then keep walking the full 11kms until you reach Gangtong. If you are not up to the full walk, you can exit the mountain about 3kms past Zhonghe temple down a well made stairway behind the Dali Tianlongbabu TV City. The signage along the path is very good with regular updates in English on just how far you have to go.
Erhai Lake is the largest highland lake next to Dianchi and one of the seven biggest fresh water lakes in China. It means, "sea shaped like an ear", in Chinese. To give the people and tourists alike the convenience of watching the lake, Erhai Lake Park was built.
If you would like to make a trip to the island of Erhai Lake or go the the other shore, look out for travel agencies and ticket touts in Dali, who will often advertise in English and offer economic tours with older boats.
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