DaLi: No Starbucks Here!

Ancient Dali City - Yunnan Province

A one-hour train ride from Hong Kong to Shenzhen, followed by a one-hour train ride from Shenzhen to Guangzhou, followed by a 26-hour train ride from Guangzhou to Kunming (Yunnan's Capital City), followed by an 8-hour train ride to DaLi and now I am a happy man. This place is what I have been waiting to see my whole life.

Built in the 6th century, and rebuilt in 1382 A.D. after being conquered and destroyed by Kublai Kahn and his Mongol thugs, this city is medieval. Small, relaxed, and dirt cheap, it is surrounded by lakes, mountains and more ferrell Yunnan ganja plants than you'd care to know about. It's a stoner's paradise; comfortable are all of the loungy cafe's, beautiful are all of the willow trees that line the ancient boulevards, and soothing is the constant flow of mountain water being channeled down the sidewalks. Situated at 6500' elevation, the air is cleaner than not, yet the air temps are extremely mild thanks to the rain-shadow effect of the Cang Shan (Jade Green) Mountain range and DaLi's home in Yunnan Province, aka "The Kingdom of Plants" which is in the south of China and warm a lot. The main inhabitants here are the Bai people who settled it 3000+ years ago; they are the ones who established the Burma Road.

I have every intention of returning to DaLi and staying here awhile, to relax, hike and trek, live cheap and learn Mandarin Chinese at the University. It's a better place than most and it deserves my time.