"Travel Notes - Yunnan Special Edition? III" ~ Dali Chapter (Part 1)

Dali, "Blissful Heart" became a hit a few years ago. I only stayed in Dali for two days this time, and it happened to be that Dali was building roads and rectifying the environment of Erhai Lake. Coupled with my confused and wrong plan, it really turned out to be a "people on the embarrassing road" Dali version.

Dali is still beautiful, the fault is my own.

Many people say that Dali is too commercialized, and it is true, especially in the ancient city of Dali, it is almost difficult to see locals, and even the merchants doing business are all outsiders.

But it does not hinder the beauty of Dali, the Cangshan Mountain and the Erhai Lake, the wind, flowers, snow and moon. After going there once, I want to go there a second or third time...

Stay there

Accommodation in Dali really requires a lot of knowledge.

I want to tell you this part in detail, thoroughly, and through my blood and tears.

Regarding Dali, I was in a state of confusion before and after I went there.

Because the tourist attractions in Dali are too scattered and Erhai Lake is too big.

There are many places to stay in Dali. Generally, tourists will choose two places: inside the ancient city of Dali and by the Erhai Lake (of course you can also stay in Dali city, but it is not recommended because it is more inconvenient).

Do you think that just by identifying one, everything will be fine? Big mistake! That’s what I thought, so I knelt down.

Because Dali Ancient City and Erhai Lake are so big and scattered, if you live in Dali Ancient City at the South Gate or Erhai Gate, you can walk 40 minutes in between (and they are all bumpy stone slabs with uphill and downhill slopes) (road); if you live by Erhai Lake, you may not be able to walk there for a day, and you will easily get lost.

If you live in the ancient city

There are 4 gates in Dali Ancient City. Each gate has unique advantages, so you must choose according to your own travel needs. Live near the city gate.

South Gate, North Gate, West Gate (Cangshan Gate), East Gate (Erhai Gate)

▲South Gate, the main gate of Dali Ancient City, is the symbol and symbol of Dali Ancient City. The word "Dali" on the city gate was written by Guo Moruo. This is not important. What is important is that this place is the tourism distribution center of the ancient city of Dali and even the entire Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture (this center will be introduced in detail later).

Living near the South Gate is simple and convenient, and there are buses to various scenic spots, but at the same time, there may be a lot of traffic and it may be noisy. I recommend staying here because there is a car right outside the door, which is the best place to travel in Dali.

▲North Gate, also called "Anyuan Tower", is characterized by the beautiful architecture of this city gate tower and nothing else. It is not recommended to live here, it is far away from anywhere.

▲The west gate faces Cangshan Mountain, so it is also called Cangshan Gate. Not recommended here either.

▲East Gate, facing Erhai Lake, is the gate closest to Erhai Lake, also known as "Erhai Gate". I live near Erhai Gate. It's relatively quiet, with not many people. It's convenient to take taxis or carpools (it's better to avoid taking taxis as much as possible). But maybe because the inn I chose was not good and I had a bad experience with illegal taxis, it was not as good as Nanmen.

To sum up, if you want to live in Dali Ancient City, I personally recommend staying near the South Gate.

If you live by the Erhai Lake

When you walk into Dali, you will see slogans all over the streets with one sentence: "The Erhai Lake is clear, Dali is prosperous." Currently, the Dali government is rectifying the ecological environment of Erhai Lake, so basically all the inns and restaurants on the seaside are closed and will not be restored until 2018 at the earliest.

Therefore, it is currently not possible to live near Erhai Lake.

What if I could live there in the future?

Two places are recommended: Caicun and Shuanglang. Because the sunrise in Caicun and the sunset in Shuanglang are the most beautiful scenery on the Erhai Lake.

You can also choose to live along the ancient city of Dali - Erhai Lake.

Don’t think that you will reach Erhai Lake when you leave the ancient city. Even the nearest gate is more than ten minutes’ drive from Erhai Lake. There are many inns along the way with good scenery, and it’s great to watch the stars at night.

But, but, but, the traffic is extremely inconvenient. I recommend staying here if you are traveling by car or renting a car.

How to choose an inn

This is a big question! ! ! I'm a loser.

Don’t believe the beautiful pictures on the Internet, and be wary of inns with extremely high reviews and low prices (for example, 10,000 reviews, 99 positive reviews, and the price during the Golden Week is only 100 yuan). You can trust Dianping.com and read more negative reviews. .

In terms of price, Dali City Area lt; Dali Ancient City lt; Erhai Lake. Sea view rooms on the Erhai Lake are the most expensive and difficult to book. If the Erhai Lake renovation is completed next year, if you want to live in a sea view room, you must book in advance.

I won’t recommend it because I failed to live there myself. Please follow your heart and explore bravely.

Summary and key points

1. Taking into account various factors, it is highly recommended to live near the south gate of Dali Ancient City.

2. There are 6,000 inns in the whole of Dali, and 3,000 inns in the ancient city. You really can be spoiled for choice, follow your heart.

3. There are many bars in the ancient city, and they will sing until after 11 o'clock. If you have trouble sleeping, be sure to avoid them.

4. Chain hotels are not necessarily worse than inns and B&Bs, it still depends on personal needs.

OK

Traveling in Dali is also full of blood and tears

Please listen to me slowly.

Dali’s public transportation is basically useless. Some buses are so terrible that they run without even closing the door; taxis are too dark, so don’t take them.

Only Didi is reliable, and you can choose from Didi Express, private cars, and ride-hailing services.

I really don’t recommend black cars, so we got scammed. It cost 50 yuan to go from Dali Ancient City to Xizhou Ancient Town. When we got to Xizhou, we were taken to a copycat attraction that required a ticket. Fortunately, we ran. quick.

In addition to the above, the most popular thing in Dali is self-driving.

Self-driving cars, motorcycles, and bicycles, you can choose according to your own needs and abilities.

▲ Car rental (car), the price is 200-400 per day. Common cars include smart, minicopper, and modified off-road vehicles (cool and handsome). Renting a car is the best, you have the freedom to park wherever you want, out of the wind and sun.

▲ Rent a motorcycle, the price is 50-80 per day. It is a very cute little motorcycle. It is actually an electric car. The big one can seat two people, while the small one can only be ridden by one person. There are places where you can charge your batteries along the Erhai Lake, so you don’t have to worry about running out of power.

▲The price of renting a bicycle is 20-40 per day. I think riding a free bicycle is the same. This method is only suitable for short distances. If you are not a professional rider, don’t take the challenge of riding around Erhai Lake.

Summary and key points

1. Before renting any car, you must carefully check the condition of the car. If the car itself has some scratches, you must make it clear to the owner of the car rental agency in time and be careful of being bumped. porcelain.

2. Students who rent a car must ensure that they are experienced drivers. The road conditions in Yunnan are complicated. Novices should not take to the road. Safety comes first.

3. Students who rent electric motorcycles should be more careful. They must have experience in riding electric motorcycles. Don’t think that being able to ride a bicycle means being able to ride an electric motorcycle. Also, drive slowly. I personally saw a man riding into a ditch, and it is said that some even rushed into the Erhai Lake.

4. For students who want to rent a bicycle, listen to me, it’s better not to rent one, and sign up for a one-day tour instead. Unless you have super physical strength and are not afraid of being exposed to the sun. I'm absolutely miserable with the bike.

5. The Huanhai Road around Erhai Lake has been under construction recently and the road conditions are poor. Please pay attention to the navigation prompts and change roads in time.

6. Renting a car in Dali requires a deposit or ID card.

7. When renting a car in Dali, you can return it from wherever you borrow it. If you want to rent a car from a store in Dali Ancient Town, drive to Shuanglang and return the car at Shuanglang, this is not allowed. You must return the car to the place where you rented it, and you cannot stay overnight in any type of car.

8. Driving (riding) a car without looking at the scenery, and looking at the scenery without driving (riding) a car.

Eating

About eating in Dali

Let’s talk about restaurants first, then snacks

Wenji Restaurant’s private cuisine

We ate at this restaurant twice. The taste is great and the portion is generous. You can buy it through group buying on Meituan, which is very good.

Dali’s spicy and sour papaya fish tastes different from Kunming’s. It is more mellow, and the sourness and spiciness are more prominent. It is said that the fish used is fish from the Erhai Lake (I don’t know if it is), and Okay, there are a lot of thorns. Fried meat with chanterelles. How can I not eat mushrooms when I come to Yunnan? I also wanted to see the legendary villain, hahahaha, but I was too timid to order wild porcini mushrooms (the legendary Jianshouqing). I was afraid of being poisoned, so I ordered chicken fat. Fungus, delicious! It certainly lives up to its reputation! No wonder so many people would rather be poisoned than eat it.

Rose omelette. It’s so delicious~~~This is the first dish made from flowers that I ate in Yunnan. It doesn’t look very fancy, but it tastes great~~~

Braised chicken. Is this dish available across the country? Dali’s braised chicken has a unique flavor. It seems to be made from black-bone chicken. It tastes particularly fresh, spicy and spicy. The food is delicious.

Lan Porridge Restaurant

It is a small shop where you can drink porridge and eat noodles.

The menu is handwritten and there are only a few dishes.

I recommend their rose porridge. The lady boss makes her own rose sauce, which is sweet but not greasy. The noodles mixed with scallion oil are also good, but the noodles are not too strong. The braised lotus root and braised eggs that go with the porridge are very delicious.

It is said that her rice balls are delicious, but the boss did not want to make them that day, so we did not eat them.

The boss and his wife are really interesting. They are from Lanzhou and live in Beijing. Because they like Dali, they left the business in Beijing to others, so they came here to open a small shop (they were rich) Willful), prepare to change places after two years.

Halfway through our meal, the proprietress suddenly took out a bottle of Maotai and said it was a gift from the boss’s student. Neither of them drank, so she gave it to the customers. While washing the dishes, the boss joked, "Look, the more expensive things are in our house, the more we give them away."

The pleasure of eating in this restaurant is more than the satisfaction of eating. It was also the first time that I felt the fun of Dali.

Sifang Street Restaurant

This store is located on Sifang Street in Xizhou Ancient Town. We ordered the sign anyway.

Braised pork. This braised pork bar is different from ordinary braised pork. It feels like it has been smoked and braised. It is served with chili dipped in water, which is not bad.

I didn’t eat the Erhai white shrimp, but my friend said it was quite delicious.

Pomegranate mashed potatoes, this is so amazing, it is the first time I know that pomegranate flowers are so delicious!

Arugula and tofu soup is refreshing and relieves tiredness.

This store has great reviews. If you go to Xizhou Ancient Town, you must try it.

Snacks

▲Grilled milk fan: It is a cheese roll wrapped in rose sauce and baked on the stove. The taste is okay, 5 yuan each, sour and sweet, not too outstanding.

▲Xizhou Baba: Only Xizhou Ancient Town is authentic. If you want to eat, go to Xizhou Ancient Town to eat. There are two kinds, one is sweet and the other is salty. I read in the guide that the sweet one is delicious, so I decided to buy the sweet one, which costs 10 yuan a piece. We didn't finish the meal because it was so sweet, sweeter than first love and sweeter than sadness.

▲Blueberry: A kind of fruit that I only saw in Dali. They are not blueberries in the conventional sense. They look like grapes. They come in bunches, weighing 20 kilograms each. They are quite delicious.

Summary and key points

1. The weight is huge, don’t waste it, CD-ROM action starts with me.

2. Eat more vegetables and fruits, order a stir-fried vegetable with each meal, buy some fruits to eat at night, and have balanced nutrition when going out to play.

3. When eating mushrooms, be sure to find a regular and reliable restaurant, because wild mushrooms are likely to be poisoned if they are not cooked properly or processed improperly. Don’t think that seeing a villain is cool. How about going to the hospital?

If you can’t finish eating the wild mushrooms, don’t pack them. Even cooked wild mushrooms will be poisonous if left to cool. Remember!

4. Wild mushrooms are very expensive, especially matsutake. Don’t be fooled, ask about the price and check the quality before eating.

5. There are many people buying snacks in the ancient city of Dali. There are snacks from all over the country, such as fried squid, kebabs, grilled durian, etc. Please choose carefully. I really don't like these, I think they ruin the original atmosphere of the ancient city.

Drinking

About drinking in Dali

Let’s talk about soft drinks first, and then alcohol.

A good place for a big haircut

MONGO CAFE

Order a drink and sit there all afternoon. There is WiFi, dogs, sunshine, and music. In fact, it doesn’t matter whether the food in this place is good or not. What’s important is that there is a place to relax.

I ordered a glass of passion fruit jam soda, which was okay, sweet and sour. My friend ordered a cappuccino, which was said to be good. Their cakes are good and the chocolate flavor is very rich.

There are many cafes in Dali Ancient Town where you can spend an afternoon in a daze.

Tangka Specialty Coffee, an internet celebrity shop, specializes in hand-brewed coffee and good cheesecake, priced at 50 yuan per person.

Persimmon Tree Cafe, the environment is very good, the coffee and fruit milkshakes are recommended, the cakes are great, 50 yuan per person.

Starbucks is located in Honglongjing Pedestrian Street. The environment is great. There are three floors on the ground floor. Starbucks fans can go and check in.

Bars

I was in Dali for two days and went to two bars.

At the Road Bar

I ordered a drink of the zodiac sign - Aries. But I'm very disappointed, it's just Baileys and water, it doesn't look like Aries at all.

My friend ordered a bottle of Fenghuaxueyue.

The food is not that good, but the singers in this store sing very well. If you order a drink (you don’t have to drink alcohol, there are also tea, juice, etc.), you can listen to it all night.

GALA Courtyard Qing Bar

This restaurant ranks first in the ancient city of Dali. The signatures are the Starry Sky and the Milky Way, and the cocktails are very good-looking, priced at 70 yuan/cup. There will be different musicians or bands performing every night, and they are all of good quality. His family has a bear version of Alaska called Fifteen, which is super cute, can sing, and can be touched casually.

Summary and key points

1. Don’t expect too much from the drinks, drinks, and desserts in Dali’s cafes and bars. They are definitely not as good as those in large and medium-sized cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou. taste.

2. There are two local beers in Dali, one is "Fenghuaxueyue" and the other is "Dali Beer". They are very cheap in supermarkets, more than 5 yuan a bottle, and the average price in bars is 40-60 yuan a bottle.

3. The bars in Dali sell songs instead of wine. So the criterion for choosing a bar is to see which singer sings well. Stand outside and listen to a piece. If you like it, go in. If you don't like it, go to another one.

4. Some bars have minimum consumption, so pay attention when choosing a seat.

5. Students who do not drink can drink tea or juice.

6. Dali’s bars open relatively early, starting at around 6pm. Generally, singers will sing until 11pm, and bars will be open until 2 or 3am.

7. I feel that most of the bars in the ancient city are for listening to music. I haven’t seen any noisy bars. You can choose according to your own preferences.

The Dali chapter contains too much content, so I decided to divide it into two chapters. The first article talked about accommodation, transportation, food, and drink, and the next article will focus on how to play. The number of words in this article is huge, and the pictures are not very good, so please bear with me.

In the next article, let us continue to walk into Dali and talk about how to play and have fun.

Thank you for your attention

See you next time

To be continued

To be continued