Dali Bai Nationality Autonomous Region History - Page 3

Cultural Dali

Dali is among the first group of 24 historical and culturally renowned cities containing 44 interesting tourist spots and a natural reserve. It is the home of five golden flowers. Natural scenes in Dali are very mystical and beautiful. The Nationalities styles are colorful and versatile.

Erhai Lake has been known as Bright Pearl on the Plateau. It is in the shape of a human ear and is named after that shape. It is a fresh water lake, 7500 feet above sea level. The lake is 25 miles long and ranges from 3 to 7 miles wide. The coastline of the lake is 85 miles. The deepest part of the lake is 80 feet deep. We took a boat ride on Erhai Lake. Trips begin at nine. There are numerous boats. We paid 175 yuan ($21 US) each for our ticket. The entire trip lasted for about eight hours. The boat portion was about 5 hours. We stopped and various islands for an hour or less. There we found many people selling many goods. Bernice purchased a Bai outfit. There was food aboard the boat. You can sit inside or out on the deck. After the boat reached to end of the lake our tour operator met us with a van and we visited many locations. We were treated to lunch, a 40-minute ethnic dance/food performance by a Bai group. We visited the ancient walled city of Dali with its colorful shops. We were given ample time to shop and sightseeing. At the end we were taken back to our hotel. We had hired an English-speaking guide to explain things to us. We bought many gifts. Generally we paid 1/4 to 1/3 third the price that was asked.