China – February 2026
After almost missing my train in Kunming, I’m excited for a bit of relaxation in Dali. And that’s exactly what I’m in for. But first, I have to get out of the downtown area and to the old town half-way up the large Erhai Lake. Luckily, there are not 1 but 2 direct city buses going there. I hop on number 4, pay cash (Alipay doesn’t work) and enjoy the scenic view during the 30-minute drive. Following my intuition (guided by AMAP), I get a few stops before the old town’s main pedestrian area and walk down the road to the south gate. Enjoying the blue sky and sunny weather, I walk around the town for a couple hours – with my backpack! Over the course of the morning there are a couple times when I wish I booked a guesthouse in the central area. But I HAD TO choose the one within walking distance of the lake… To ease the pain a little, I treat myself to a delicious kaki coffee at a shop with the same name. The unique drink tastes divine and the cute orange cat coming up to me for cuddles immediately make me forget the struggles of the morning.
In the afternoon I finally continue the journey to my accommodation: Mr. Fu’s Hotel. I take the trolley bus headed for Caicun wharf and get off at the final stop. From here it’s another 15 minutes’ walk to the traditional style Yunnan building. A kind neighbour helps me find the entrance of the courtyard and soon enough I’m offered tea and shown to my dorm (with a generous size upper bunk). Glad to learn that there is a washing machine available at no extra charge, I quickly gather my dirty laundry that’s been waiting to be cleaned since leaving the Andamans. While my clothes are drying in the sun on the balcony on the upper floor, I join the orange hostel cat on the sofa downstairs and call my friends in Kanazawa. After we finish watching another episode of “The Boyfriend” through TeleParty, my roommate for the night invites me for tea. The middle-aged Chinese lady introduces herself as Lily. She’s an economics professor specializing in Marxism and currently on break before the new semester starts after Lunar New Year.
Soon into our conversation, she tells me about her plan to visit Wu Wei Si temple the next day. One of her favourite novels is set there and the place offers traditional Buddhist lunch for free. Guess which point sold me on joining. Lily secures my spot by sharing my passport number through text message and we agree to meet early the next morning for breakfast. Being a northerner, Lily is not a huge fan of southern China’s noodle heavy cuisine. So the breakfast spot serving breadsticks and a creamy soup of green peas is a delight for her. After the meal, we start looking for a taxi to take us to the foot of the Cangshan mountain range. Here, Lily learns with dismay that we have to climb around 300 steps to reach the actual temple grounds. We take it slowly and stop a few times to absorb the serene forest environment. Once at the top, Lily reminds me that photography is not allowed inside the building. I nod and resort to carefully study the details of the Taoist structure and only pull out my phone to use the Google Translate camera function to translate some informational signs in Chinese.
While strolling around the premises, I stumble upon a room that looks like a classroom. On a large chalkboard, drawings of lips show how to pronounce vowels in English. On the walls around the whole room, there are flags from many countries lined up along with brown notebooks. I find the book saying “Swiss” and check the content. The first entry signed with a very Swiss-German name dates back to 2007. The person talks about how special the temple is and that everyone should cherish the time here. While I’m wondering how much time exactly this person has spent here, I continue to the next room. Here I find my answer in lots of pictures of people (Chinese, foreigners, monks) practicing Kung Fu. I somehow ended up at one of these Shaolin temples, without even looking for it. This realization prepares me somewhat for the strict rules we have to follow during lunch. Eg: keep quiet, no talking whatsoever. Wait until the prayer ends before starting to serve food. And so on.
Still excited for the free (rice based) meal, Lily and I get in line until our group of 8 people is called inside to our table. Soon, the side dishes are being served by temple staff. About 8 large bowls of tofu and vegetables prepared in many different styles take up most of the table space. There is hardly room for the enormous pot of rice coming up last. A few moments pass before suddenly a loud voice begins to recite the prayer in Chinese. Other tourists chime in, and only when the dining hall is once again filled with silence do we begin to serve each other food. Not being able to communicate with words, proactive gestures and facial expressions are the way to go. All dishes are extremely tasty, and once we’re done, I do have to agree with Lily that this is the best meal I’ve had in Dali so far. After a quick stroll through the rest of the temple grounds and a visit to the public toilet with the least amount of privacy, it’s time to head back to town. Both Lily and I are too cheap to pay the 7 Dollar entrance fee to the other famous temple with 3 pagodas. So we only stop quickly to take a picture from the parking lot.
Then Lily returns to the lake directly and I take a little detour via the ancient city and the kilometer wide fields. There are many older people harvesting cabbage and other root vegetables. Some cut the produce, others haul the goods to the street in wooden woven baskets and the last group packs them into small tricycle trucks. There is Chinese music playing on various invisible radios/phones and the scene reminds me of hiking around Jeju Island in South Korea. I soak in the joyful athmosphere while walking to Caicun wharf. Once back at the hostel, I’m offered tea by Mr. Fu’s aquaintance who then also invites Lily and me to join a homemade family dinner. Like for lunch, we are served bowls of white rice along with numerous side dishes placed in the center of the table. With the main difference that none of them are pure vegetarian. My personal favourites are the egg with tomatoes and the locally grown sauteed mushrooms! We finish the meal just in time go for a quick stroll to the lake to enjoy the peaceful sunset hour.
After a good rest in my huge dorm bed, I’m up in time to catch the sunrise the next morning. Thanks to waking up early for the week before arriving in Yunnan (Andaman dive shops open at 6am!) and the fact that in western China sunrise is at 8am. The lake shore is a little busier than during sunset, but still offers more peaceful vibes than during the day – which I’m about to find out soon. But first, Lily and I return to that small breakfast place for our last meal together. Then the kind lady helps me rent a bicycle at the best rate from a grandma at the lake. Once my cruiser is decorated with the mandatory plastic flower bouquet, Lily and I say goodbye and she leaves for the train station. While she embarks on a looong journey on the slow train to Guangdong, I am spending the day cruising along the Erhai lake shore. In the morning I follow the promenade north, passing scenic spots like Erhai Beach and many small bays. But when I reach yet another of the bustling waterfront areas, I leave the gated tourist road for the quieter village streets.
I ride through tiny alleys, passing only few local people on the way to the market and finally end up road back to the old town. For once thinking ahead, I take the opportunity to buy my ticket for the bus the next day to Shangri-La, the Tibetan paradise. Then I return to the lake side, now heading south. To my surprise, there are even more tourists here (mostly Chinese people, who seem rather unsteady on their rented bicylces / e-scooters). I do my best to dodge them left and right and finally end up taking a rest in a park a couple kilometers south from Caicun wharf. I zone out, reading the book I brought along and only look up when I suddenly feel a warm nose press agains my arm. A fluffy corgi who must have run away from his owner apparently decided to keep me company for a while. I soon locate the middle aged lady sitting nearby, with an identical dog at her side. To my surprise, neither of the dogs are wearing colars and the owner is totally unfazed when the two of them later go on a rampage around the park, barking at other dogs twice their size. Having had enough of the circus, I return my bike early and head back to the calm courtyard of Mr. Fu’s Hotel.
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