Dali Story: Summer in Dali, Just Like a Scene from a Miyazaki Animation

When the last trace of light at 8 p.m. spills over the water,

the romance of the blue hour floods the heart.

When cooking smoke drifts at the edge of the fields beneath Cangshan,

a sense of solidity and warmth hits us as we walk through the wheat fields.

When the rooftops of the ancient town sprout a patch of purple wildflowers,

even a tiny corner can be breathtakingly beautiful…

Here, the summer daylight stretches endlessly long,

as if I’m inside a scene from a Miyazaki film.

Warmth and beauty remain the melody of life;

I understand, this is summer in Dali.

Transportation: Nanjing – Kunming (direct flight, 2h); Kunming – Dali (high-speed train, 2h)

Food: Mushroom hot pot; Sour and spicy fish; Grilled milk fan; Carved plums; Yangbi rice rolls; Pounded chicken feet…

Attractions: Erhai Lake; Cangshan; Dali Ancient Town; Xizhou Ancient Town

This is what a Miyazaki summer looks like

Summer in Xizhou is just like a scene from a Miyazaki animation

Summer, rice paddies, starry skies, hillsides, blue sky, white clouds, tiled houses…

On a perfectly clear day, every frame captured by the camera can be used as a computer wallpaper.

Summer in Xizhou has a distinctly Japanese aesthetic.

If I truly lived here,

I’d probably have both the heart to watch the clouds roll over Cangshan

and the ease to stroll at my leisure.

Beside the summer fields, wearing a nice hat,

and walking with a few friends along the path,

it feels like a calm and warm Japanese film.

No wonder people in Yunnan love life.

If it were us living in concrete jungles,

who would think to paint a courtyard wall such a bright and lovely color?

Under the clear sky, it’s the beautiful fragments of life that shine.

Cangshan, visible from afar, is everywhere

The best angle to view Cangshan

is not deep within it

but on the road between the mountain and Erhai Lake,

or in the middle of the ancient town’s streets.

Cangshan differs from Lijiang’s Yulong Snow Mountain,

always draped in lush green with clouds wrapped around its waist,

lacking Yulong’s jagged edges

but gaining the softness and warmth of gentle hills.

Ride a bicycle along the road by Erhai Lake,

with the rolling Cangshan range on your left

and the shimmering waves of Erhai on your right.

Bai ethnic houses dot the roadside,

along with endless rice fields.

After rain, a rainbow often hangs over the mountains and fields,

and that’s where Dali’s romance is born.

Renmin Road in the ancient town faces a valley of Cangshan.

After rain, the misty clouds drift from the mountains

until they rest on the rooftops of the town.

Spirits dwell in the mountains, mortals in the town;

mountains and people have coexisted this way for centuries.

Viewing Cangshan from afar, travelers here can’t help but sigh:

You must walk under the sunlit foothills of Cangshan;

otherwise, the trip to this world would be in vain.

This stretch of lake is Guanyin’s blue ear, listening to the world’s affairs.

Circling Erhai Lake, you can see three pagodas standing between Cangshan and Erhai from afar.

Legend says the pagoda spires were built to suppress monstrous forces in the water.

Dali is the famous Buddhist kingdom of Miaoxiang,

and the Bai people especially revere Guanyin,

even creating their own unique Acuoye Guanyin.

Guanyin, who observes the world’s suffering

and ferries beings across sorrow,

is the deity closest to sentient beings in Buddhism.

The narrow and long Erhai Lake, like a giant ear,

hears the suffering of Dali for Bodhisattva Guanyin to save all beings,

making this land purer and more peaceful than elsewhere.

The whole city grows around Erhai Lake,

with high-rises gazing upon the sea

and ancient temples forever guarding the mountains and rivers.

Standing on the shore of Shuanglang,

across the water is Yang Liping’s residence,

which she named after the sun and moon.

A dance that captures the spirit of birds with such mastery—

only in a place so beautiful and pure

could such an earthly fairy be born.

Surely, it’s absorbing Dali’s innate spiritual energy

that nurtured a dancer like Yang Liping.

Summer Erhai has no snow, but it has clouds.

“A meter of sunshine” isn’t patented by Lijiang;

on the shimmering water, shafts of light pierce through the clouds like divine eyes,

watching over this blessed land.

And at sunset,

the whole of Erhai Lake turns exceptionally gentle in the warm hues.

- Dali Ancient Town -

The flames of history will eventually die out,

and the world that greets the dawn is so dreamlike.

Standing under the city gate, looking back at Dali Ancient Town’s early history,

the bricks and walls that survived war are still vivid.

Faces that survived the fires of war have long faded with the torrent of time,

and today, the world’s most romantic people sit beneath the city gate.

They sing of ideals in the deep night

and wander like vagabonds by day.

Dali has fostered many idealistic children,

creating those precious spiritual worlds for this era.

This city embraces what concrete jungles cannot,

teaching its children that even in pain, one must not abandon faith.

Summer is drawing to a close,

and the temperature tells us autumn is arriving at full speed.

The cold air will instantly disperse the summer mood of Xizhou during the day.

At night, the ancient town feels like a different season.

In this temperature, the best thing is to find the right friends

and gather around a stove to eat steaming food.

Fill the empty stomach with seasonal vegetables and mountain delicacies,

and fill the empty spirit with music of ideals.

So when you walk into a restaurant with such a slogan,

everything falls into place.

On the wall of this restaurant is written:

“A grand ideal far from the madding crowd.”

In this era that tries to replace humans with machines,

noise is the city’s true nature,

and chaos is a commonplace sight.

But the owner’s unconventional declaration

only makes sense—not a joke—on the streets of Dali Ancient Town.

Location: 498 Lower Renmin Road, Dali Ancient Town

Restaurant name: 我在大理等你·方舟胖子厨房

Inside the restaurant, it’s steaming hot,

and children who have struggled in concrete jungles gather under warm yellow lights,

enjoying a taste bud gift from Cangshan and Erhai.

The fresh aroma spreads over the lips and tongue, hitting the brain directly—

this is what you must not miss in Yunnan’s summer:

wild mushrooms.

Minerals and mountains, rivers and trees;

pure air, abundant nutrients—

these elements gathered in Yunnan’s pine forests

give birth to top delicacies like matsutake.

A pot of soup base with precise seasoning

perfectly blends the umami of wild mushrooms,

and with the owner’s faith detached from the world,

this night will not be cold.

Reflecting on such a day, the heart is truly happy and content.

From the summer scenes of daytime to the autumn fattening of night,

from the green trees of Cangshan to the gentle waves of Erhai;

a whole day of journeying feels so rich.

The novelty of travel still can’t ward off the fatigue of wandering.

The innkeeper invited us to sit, and hot water was poured into lidded bowls as he spoke,

letting us still feel Dali’s human warmth at night.

We talked freely about today’s experiences.

Our admiration is not the true one;

the best admiration for Dali is to stay here and become a Dali person.

So his inn is called “我在大理等你”.

Location: 545 Lower Renmin Road, Dali Ancient Town

Inn name: 我在大理等你方舟沐宅客栈

The tea’s fragrance drove away drowsiness,

and through conversation with the owner, he became even more vivid and full before us.

Such carefully arranged and diligently run little shops

are countless in Dali.

Clean and bright rooms, a quiet classical courtyard, a spacious and sunny terrace…

such a guesthouse meets all our beautiful imaginings of home.

The owner is neither proud nor exaggerating, chatting with us openly.

I think, finding the right restaurant and the right guesthouse

is sometimes much more important than finding the right scenic spot on a trip.

Dali’s vitality lies in such a group of people who stay here.

They are all children who keep their faith,

still choosing to embrace ideals in this mediocre era.

Suddenly, those songs I’ve heard have meaning.

In a city like this, walking on Renmin Road,

who wouldn’t be in a good mood?