Goodbye Kunming, Hello Dali

Our next stop out of Kunming was Dali.  Dali is an old walled city in western China.  It sits on the edge of Erhai Lake at an altitude of around 5500ft. surrounded by the 12,000ft Jade Green Mountains.  Yunnan was at one time independent and Dali was the main center.  The majority of the inhabitants are (were?) the Bai people who number about 1.5 million.  They have lived for centuries - maybe back 3000 years - and were rulers of the Nanzhao kingdom.  The Bai are one of the 56 minority groups in China, most of which are in Yunnan province and rapidly becoming more "minority" in their own lands.

We were headed to this old walled city, famed for its beautiful architecture, but first arrived at Dali City on the bus.  A real shocker eye-opener.  The Chinese are busy building and paving and lighting everywhere we looked on a massive, explosive scale.  Lighting up things in ways that don't make much sense.  In las Vegas maybe, but Dali City in southern Yunnan?  The west here is being developed at a pace that seems unprecedented in human history.  I guess it's getting crowded in eastern China and the government is doing everything to create a glittering brand spanking new place to catch the overflow.  We came into the old Dali form Dali City about 20 minutes away on an 8 lane, mostly empty, overly-lit highway, passing huge multi-story building after building each lit from top to bottom outlining the edges with moving multi-colored neon lights.  Insanity?  I'll let you decide.  No wonder the Chinese are having to dam their magnificent rivers - where is all this electricity going to come from?

We get into Dali at dark, find a room at the MCA Guesthouse ($24./night for a double) and venture out.  What is that huge and guadily lit-up monstrous structure we see looking down our street?  There is a carnival atmosphere.  What in the world is that glowing behemouth?  We thought we were coming here  to visit an ancient and preserved walled city. On closer inspection we see it is actually the South Gate of the old city of Dali, all jazzed up and bedecked in lights on every level.  Kind of takes away the romance and mystery of seeing an ancient place. Out in front are Chinese dressed up in kitchy versions of  traditional Bai costumes, unrecognizable in their guadiness.  And hoards of Chinese tourists.  I've been in a lot of crowds in my life - think Carnival in Rio, peak time in Las Vegas, etc - but never have I seen such masses of people.  And all shopping, shopping, shopping.  Old Dali - the once magnificent center of the proud and noble Bai people - is now a huge shopping center.  And the Chinese are into it big time - it's like all those years of pent-up desires under theCommunist rule has exploded in this new ecomony and its huge new middleclass can't get enough.

To their credit the Chinese tourists in mass are really well-behaved - no drunks and vulgar clothing and loud behaviour.  They all just seemed too intoxicated with buying things.