... you can really see the beauty of Dali. The old town is all cobbled streets surrounded by ancient defensive walls. To the west the town is dominated by the magnificent Cang Shan mountain; to the east is a beautiful lake called Erhai.
There are certainly a lot of tourists -- including myself, of course. A fair few of them European and American, but they are greatly outnumbered by the Chinese tourists. Busloads of them arrive by the hour to take the electric "train" around the town.
We rented a scooter today to visit the lake -- they only had one left so we took turns driving. I was a bit shaky at first, but soon got into the local driving style: ignoring lanes, honking to announce my arrival at a junction, swerving on both sides of the road.
When we got to the lake we saw some fishermen who seemed to be there more for the relaxation than the bountiful catch. Mahjong was another popular activity among the more sedate inhabitants, but at least for that you have to stay awake. We watched two boys paddling quite far out in two rubber tubes, using their shoes for paddles. On the way back to town we saw a variation on the two-parents-and-child-on-a-scooter theme: the additional element being a second, older, child being towed behind on a skateboard. I hope they made it home.
There are certainly a lot of tourists -- including myself, of course. A fair few of them European and American, but they are greatly outnumbered by the Chinese tourists. Busloads of them arrive by the hour to take the electric "train" around the town.
We rented a scooter today to visit the lake -- they only had one left so we took turns driving. I was a bit shaky at first, but soon got into the local driving style: ignoring lanes, honking to announce my arrival at a junction, swerving on both sides of the road.
When we got to the lake we saw some fishermen who seemed to be there more for the relaxation than the bountiful catch. Mahjong was another popular activity among the more sedate inhabitants, but at least for that you have to stay awake. We watched two boys paddling quite far out in two rubber tubes, using their shoes for paddles. On the way back to town we saw a variation on the two-parents-and-child-on-a-scooter theme: the additional element being a second, older, child being towed behind on a skateboard. I hope they made it home.
