Real Review of Dali, Yunnan

This summer vacation in June, we traveled to Dali, Yunnan by high-speed train. Upon arriving at Dali Station, we took a bus with a guide who gave us an overview of Dali's attractions and shared some tips to avoid tourist traps. We then arrived at the Erhai Lake Tour Service Center, where we joined a local one-day tour around Erhai Lake. We stayed inside Dali Ancient Town, just a few minutes' walk from the main street, which is lined with shops selling silver jewelry, jade, and spatholobus stems. I highly recommend a liquor store called "Peach Blossom in Dali"—we bought four bottles on the first day, kept one to enjoy, and shipped the rest back to Chongqing. The taste was truly excellent, so we went back the next day to buy another bottle. The one-day Erhai Lake tour included shuttle bus transfers, with about two hours at each stop: - **Ecological Corridor** (bike rentals were covered by the tour, and the route was very close to the lake). - **Tie-Dye Workshop** (a fun hands-on experience with semi-finished products; lunch here was average). - **Xizhou Ancient Town** (a favorite among locals with minimal commercialization; our guide recommended authentic Yunnan snacks and a silver shop called "Da Chang He Yin Fu," where I bought a piece for ¥988). - **Shuanglang Ancient Town** (we skipped the front streets, which felt like a typical market, and took a shuttle directly to the scenic spots—plenty of photo opportunities). - **Santorini** (we didn’t enter but enjoyed the lakeside, where the strong wind was surprisingly refreshing). The next day, we visited Cangshan Mountain. I recommend renting a winter jacket at the base and considering an oxygen bottle based on your needs. It was rainy, foggy, and windy during our visit, limiting visibility, but the views would likely be stunning on a clear day. These are my genuine impressions of Yunnan—photos are unedited, straight from the camera. 😄