Dali

We got up early to fly to Dali. There is a huge lake that the town sits on - as well as many other towns!
This is Dali "New City". We were happy to not be staying here. We made our way around the bottom of the lake and then up north about 30 minutes.
A wonderful shot of a plastic bottle recycler.
One of many 3 wheeled vehicles that we saw everywhere.
Making our way to the lake for a boat ride to an island fishing village.
The lovely boat.
The first mate!
Michael, our first guide.
Clear skies and clean air was a very nice change.


The village.
Another temple! This, of course, to pray for good fishing.

A beautiful, colorful town.
Dried fish that tour boats with Asian tourists who came after us, swamped.

Paige and Storey each found a shell mobile that they had to take home!

The vendor who laughed at their tough bargaining.
Our Naxi courtyard hotel in the old town of Dali.


We took a lift up the mountain for a view of the area and yet another temple. All along the mountain were tombstones. They face east, the rising sun, and there were guards along the way standing watch over them. QingMing, tomb sweeping day is coming up, and people were already cleaning out some areas around the tombs. We saw these on all the hillsides as we drove north the next day.

A little hazy in the afternoon. The lake is in the background with old town Dali and some other small villages around.
Ridley and Paige sitting out the temple viewing. Actually, France, Christophe and I were the only ones heading up those stairs!

In the street behind our hotel, these restaurants were everywhere displaying their fresh produce. Pick what you want to eat and they cook it up! The little bridge in the foreground goes over the water that runs through town and is used for washing clothes, drinking, and animal watering. They have different times for different acitivities!

A better shot of the irrigation system.
A sneak peak at a local barber.
Another lovely park in the middle of town. It was a charming village.

Dad and Susie are here!

Well, it's been awhile. Believe it or not Dad and Susie have come and gone and we have had adventures aplenty! What fun we have had.

They joined me their first day here on my Art Class tour. It was down at the Bund which was really fun. We had lunch out on the terrace of New Heights, looking out over the river and the incredible architecture of Pudong.The next adventure was the glasses building - yes, a building with every kind of glasses (eye ware) you could ever desire. Storey was in need of new eye ware, and she had fun getting her eyes "tested"! 30 minutes later she had two new pairs of glasses. Of course, there was lots of agonizing over which frames to choose with so many to decide from.
A shoe salesman going down the street. He went by me too quickly to get a good shot, but I captured his departure. This while we were waiting for a taxi in front of our lane.
Another Shanghai adventure - the north market. This is where we have sheets made, and dad and Susie are having a silk quilt made. Really fun to watch the process as they stretch out the silk, cover it with the cotton cover.....
and then quilt, sew it all together. This is a family run operation, and I have gotten the low down that it is the best value and quality in the building. They are right across from my favorite sheet makers, so it must be!
It is now spring break, and we have flown to Kunming, Storey's birth place. The city of flowers and eternal spring. These flowered pillars greet us. We met France and Christophe in the airport, who had just finished their Beijing and Xi'an tours.
We are so excited to be here after 10 years, and Ridley, Paige, and I head off with Storey to see where she was living before coming home with us. We got the coolest taxi and driver. Ridley had me take pictures of this DVD player in the taxi. It holds two different movies it can switch between, has a TV and a radio. We were just counting on him looking at the road more than the screen!


We met up with the others at Green Lake, and had a great walk around.

A warm beautiful sunny day with musicians out serending the strolling passersby.

Mmmmm. Love that popcorn! Even the semi sweet stuff.
There was even a brass band playing!
As we strolled around to the other side of the lake we saw the hotel where we had stayed 10 years ago! The front part is new. We were in the tall building in the back. Green Lake Hotel.
Our guide then dropped us off in "old town" after we had repeatedly told her we were interested in the older parts of town - older buildings. Well, we got it! It is really hard for the Chinese to understand that we are not interested in all the new stuff.
I will spare you all the photos of us wading through mud holes and construction zones - with a wheel chair! - as we zigzagged through the old section. It was definitely not new!
Some street cooking in beautiful earthen pots, and on the right something that resembled brains. We did not stop here to dine!
I just can't resist these shots of bikes and motorcycles lined up. There were many more behind me that I couldn't get in the picture. Many of the bikes have electric motors on them. It is really the way to travel. I think we will be bike people when we return to the States. Better in all ways.
I loved this shot of the dishwasher of a restaurant. I didn't realize at the time that it would be our restaurant of choice that night! This was the back alley. We walked around front, through old stone arches and a historic plaque, and found this courtyard.
We wanted to eat here because of the beauty and old feel, but the food was, of course, every bit as good as the ambiance.
Keep your eye on the gentleman to the right of France in the back. That is a pipe he is holding! A water pipe.
Duck. I bet you could have guessed!
Puffing away - inbetween France and Christophe.
Being in a courtyard we were not subject to the fumes, but I was fascinated by the device. Does the smoke really taste different??? Better???
Looking a little worn out at the end of the day!

Dad and Susie who didn't seem to suffer any jet lag at all. They got up and kept going every day!

Some shots from Paige capturing the interior courtyard.
The first of many memorable, wonderful meals together. Kunming is in Yunnan Province in the southwest of China. It borders on Vietnam. We are heading to Dali tomorrow, then Lijiang and Shangri-la.
Stay tuned!