Kunming And Dali

Next was Kunming. A short 18 hour train ride to the capital in Yunnan province. We spent a couple days here, most of it in rain which inhibited the site seeing a fair bit. Kunming itself though was an great city as it had a definite 'laid back' feeling to it, and was really quite for a city of several million people. There never seemed to be any traffic, or may cars at all on the road for that matter.

Kunming: Your typical Chinese city, very modern...

One of the few sights we did manage to see in Kunming was the Bamboo Temple. We had some fun getting there, and we got a bit soggy throughout the whole ordeal, but well worth the trip.One of the many sights at Bamboo temple were the statues such as below. This is just one of many, all of them leaving us saying under our breath "What the hell...". Pretty strange things to make, but we've seen may of them in other temples as well around China. Some temples having hundreds of them all equally or even more wierd than the ones found at Bamboo Temple.

Well it seemed the rain followed us from Kunming to Dali. Normally we don't mind the rain - in tropical climates - but here it was cold. Dali was again, another site to see for the Chinese and we were out number by the local tourists. Dali itself is composed of an Old Town (which all towns seem to have) where traditional architecture and historic buildings have been preserved. The end result is a pleasant place to wander the streets and take in Chinese culture.

One North Gate - I think - in Dali

A view overlooking Dali and onto the lake beyond.

The 3 Pagoda in Dali. Their signature landmark.

There were a number of things we had hoped to do in Dali which included bicycle rides around a lake, walking up a hill/mountain for some nice views, and taking in the local attractions - the 3 Pagodas. Well the insistent rain kept us from doing most of these things, and the hefty admission fee to the 3 Pagodas kept us from entering in the grounds. It didn't however stop us from walking around the site and seeing the place from a distance. We spent 2 full days in Dali and managed to still see quite a bit before the rain chased us away to Lijiang.