Delightful Dali

Between the old cobblestone roads, the Naxi women offering you "smoke" and the oodles and oodles of cheap shopping, how can one not love Dali? Lauren and I spent the most gorgeous day lollygagging about Dali's old town, which ruled the Yunnan province for over five centuries and is walled off, with only four entry gates! The skies were bright blue, the temps were mild and the Chinese yuan were burning a hold in our pockets.


Since I was feeling oh so good, what is a girl to do but indulge...in white carbs that is! For breakfast I had the most delicious Chinese sticky bun thing - which was pretty much steamed white bread (I think!). Here is me chowing the thing down...dee-lish! For lunch, I had Gongbao chicken with peanuts and white rice, which was also very enjoyable. Then I just scarfed down a bit piece of white, chewy pita-like bread, made by an old Naxi elder, who thankfully didn't offer me "smoke" with the bread.


Dali is known for its beautiful batiks, so I spent the afternoon browsing gorgeous batik fabrics in classic navy blue, green, red, purple, orange - they are stunning! If you peer close enough, you can even see women hand-dying these fabrics in the back of alleyways and shops. They also have lots of jewelry (much of it hand pounded silver), cheap knick knacks and lots of food stands - selling local delicacies like "er kuai" - flattened, toasted rice cakes!

These Naxi women are vicious though I tell you. After looking at a cool turquiose necklace, this lady - complete with her multi-colored headdress and skirt - chased after me down the street after I refused her offer of 25 yuan. She cornered me in the alleyway, playing a game of "Which way are you gonna go?", and I had to shuffle from one side to the other before finally pulling a 360 degree turn on her and ran away! Haha!


Although I am becoming quite the bargainer. The trick is to look completely disinterested and walk away even if you are not getting the right price. Then they will usher you back, ask you to write down your price and voila! Deal made. Today I talked a lady down from 25 yuan (about 4$) for a red beaded necklace to 6 yuan (less than 1$!) using these exact tactics. She even called me a "clever girl!"

So, now we are calling it a day in Dali and heading out for yet another bus ride (this one is only three hours - a breeze!) to get to Lijiang. It should be another fun town as its on the list of World Heritage sights. Not much more time left in China...off to make the most of it!