Dali Off The Beaten Path

This is the special architercture from Dali. Many local people like to paint their house. The beautiful eaves seem have special lucky meaning.

Just the harmonious colors show the talent of local people.

Most local people in Dali make a living by tourism. They sell handicraft products, wax printing cloth or special local products. The life of local people is satisfied and slow. Hanging around the old town , you can forget of fast life of big city.

The white thing which women sell is called ' ru shan'. They can make of milk, taste like cheese.

Dali can appear to be a little touristy, especially since many of the restored Oriental buildings are now converted to Western cafes and souvenir shops.

Take the minibuses to head down to smaller towns 20-30 minutes away, like Zhoucheng and Xizhou. You have nothing to do there except walk around and soak in the atmosphere. Those still retained their authentic Bai architecture and tranquil charm.

Old men play Chinese chess by the doorsteps. Elderly folks listen to operas on the radio at the square. Shop-keepers play ‘mahjong’ to while away the time. Others sit and drink their tea under the shade…

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!)

Everyone who is travelling around Southwest China seems to be going to Dali sooner or later, but it can get surprisingly off the beaten path just by taking a bicycle and heading to Erhai lake and its nearby villages.

When the bus driving on the road, i took this pic of Dali field. Different from north China.
The weather is not very good at that day.