Dali Favorites

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Favorite thing: For our Dutch and Belgian friends: Brussels' Waffels!

Dali heeft de eerste echte Brusselse Wafels. ' De Hoop' gaat van start in 2008, maar draait al proef. En de wafles vallen in de smaak bij de chinezen. Ze zijn in verhouding duur: 10 Rmb. Maar, zoals Jan zei, 'ik verkoop niet aan alle chinezen, alleen aan de chinezen die het kunnen betalen om hier als tourist te komen. En dan kan je deze prijs gemakkelijk betalen.'

Address: Renmin Lu 241, Dali Old Town 671003 (the other end of the street with the Tibet cafe; in the direction of the Catholic Church) Tel: 159-72068604

Fondest memory: We had a nice long chat with this enterpreneur: leaving Belgium and starting anew at an age where most of us would consider retyring. His Chinese wife is learning Dutch and he just talks Dutch to the Chinese. Through body language and tone of voice the message comes across.

He can tell you some interesting tips and details about Dali and environment. If you go and visit him, please say hello from Jan Lelie, the family that ordered one waffle and wanted it in four parts: like the chinese.

He said that the climate here was the most important reason for him to come Dali: not too hot and not too cold.

Favorite thing: 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.

Favorite thing: Yunnan is famous for its exotic vegetation, medicinal herbs, and tobacco. You'll see a lot of stands selling Yunnan cigarettes. Beware some of it real, others are fake. How do you tell? I don't know cause I am not a smoker.

I bought a pack of Red Pagoda Mountain (Hong Ta Shan) brand for my boyfriend who is also not a smoker to try. He said it was really strong.

Favorite thing: I'm just back from a short trip round Yunnan which included Dali Old City. Old? Nothing I saw inside the walls pre-dated about 1950, apart from some relics in the museum (5Y I think, worth it).

The bus to the three pagodas costs .5 Y (5 jiao); entrance to the three pagodas complex was 52Y. The new temple behind, Ching Sheng, is completely artificial.

The bus (no. 4) to Dali New City (Xia Guan) costs 1Y.

Dali Old City, particularly "Foreigners Street" (Huguo Lu) is like West Street Yangshuo writ large. Don't bother.

Fondest memory: For "western breakfast" I ordered muesli with fruit in yoghurt, and a cheese omelette. It all came on the same plate!

Fondest memory: Couldn't sleep, I woke up early and hope to pick up some breakfast in the town. Itwas 8am in the morning, and I was surprised that people in this town came out quite late. As you can see, only a few locals walking on the streets, and most shops did not opened yet, even breakfast place! But then, this is another feel of the quiet side of Dali.

Fondest memory: Now, I take out my LP book, very last minute. But it didn't help. Checked out some places recommended, there're either full; dirty/smelly; or out of budget. As when I was terribly hungry and tired, I walked pass this Jim's Peace Cafe, asked if they have room available. It was Jim himself talking to me. At first he said no, then when he looked at my desperate look and keep asking if he know any place to where I can stay, I think he realized by Chinese not very local. He asked: where're you from? I said from Hong Kong. Then he showed me the room. I must say, the dorm was empty with only one Japanese girl staying there. He said he rent his place local mainland Chinese before, and the place got robbed, and it just happened the day before another hostels' guests were robbed inside the room.

Fondest memory: Arriving Xia-Kuan at night (I think it's around 7/8pm). Without reading my LP in advance, the only thing I knew was that I want to stay in Dali old town, where's all the backpackers' hostels located. I asked around, and the last shuttle bus was gone, so, I took a taxi there. It took me about 30 mins, forgot how much I paid, but not that expensive as I remembered.

Fondest memory: I took a mini bus, left Kunming at 4pm (delayed one hour), arriving Dali new town (this place is called Xia-Kuan) at around 8pm. The woman stting next to me was nice, offered me mandarin (orange), sweets, biscuits and nuts. The road was very bumpy, she actually felt car-sick thus keep eating, and keep offering me her food. I also offered her my car-sick pill which she rejected at first, but finally have to swallow one. There're 2 more people vomiting behind me in the bus, I gave away 3 pills in total.