Cangshan Mountain, Dali

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Dali is surrounded by beautiful mountain ranges - Cangshan and one range that I don't know the name of. Our driver told us it was nicknamed "Chicken Feet Mountain". Who knows.

Cangshan is on the west side of Erhai Lake. There are two "summit" areas. I only went to the top of the first area (2450 m). From the mountain top, you can see all of Dali and Erhai. Anyway, I rode a horse up Cangshan today. The trail was very muddy and steep. The poor horse. The ride up took about 1.5 hours. The views were so-so. The trees were nice, but some of the hillside has graves/tombstones. A bit eerie if you think too hard.

I'm glad I didn't hike up. It would have been too steep for me. It's basically straight up. There is a chairlift that you can take for Y60 as well. Horsey costs Y50 round trip. The entrance to the mountain is Y30. Half off if you use your expired student ID.

I got to the top of the mountain and the horse and guide was going to wait for me while I hiked around the summit area. There are temples, waterfalls, pools, etc. around the top. I decided that the ride down might be unpleasant and too steep/slippery on horseback, so I told the guide I'd get down via chairlift.

The summit area is very quiet. Lots of pine trees, mini-waterfalls, fresh air, nice walking path, etc. It was very relaxing. It would be a perfect spot for a picnic! I bumped into another solo American traveler on the mountain - he was from the Bay Area, studied Chinese philosphy and was in China visiting Buddhist and Taoist temples. He is going back to Marin to teach Tai Chi. I walked with him for a few minutes and he stopped at a nice vista point to do some qi gong, and he showed me his taichi moves, which basically consisted of a series of deep breathing exercises. It was pretty ironic - a white guy from the Bay Area teaching SF Chinese girl Taichi in China. Haha. Anyway, I went on my way and enjoyed the nice walking path on Cangshan. I recommend going up here for a relaxing day.

The chairlift down takes 25 minutes (Y30 - one way).

Other Dali info:
Tibetan Lodge: OK hostel. I stayed there the entire time in Dali. Dingy single rooms - Y60. Noisy, but centrally located, popular, travel services, free internet, restaurant downstairs is pretty good.
Tibetan Cafe: Inside Tibetan Lodge. Pretty good, cheap food.
Jim's Tibetan Guesthouse - I checked out their rooms - clean and simple, but overpriced. Y180 for a single that should cost Y100. Good Tibetan food at their restaurant. I had their yak/veggies/cheese dish that was surprisingly tasty.
MCA Guesthouse: not centrally located - outside city gate, run-down seeming, overpriced for what it is. Y120 for a yukky single (or at least the ones I saw).
Yunnan Cafe: good banana pancake, good Yunnan coffee, so-so breakfast.

Back to Kunming tomorrow!

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Comments

[ellie]

"He showed me his taichi moves..." hahahaha. Gee, you're becoming quite the equestrian!