The Dali You Don't Know

The Dali you know,

is Cangshan, is Erhai,

is the Three Pagodas, is Butterfly Spring,

is the wind, flowers, snow, and moon,

is the Foreigner Street in the ancient town.

Night at Heqing Xinhua Village Silverware Town

Bai women in festive attire at the Qifeng Mountain Pear Blossom Festival

A memorial archway made of pure silver in the silversmith town

But what you don't know is

that there are two small towns lying among crisscrossing waterways,

a land of craftsmen, a land of delicious food,

even more a highland water town.

Heqing East Caohai Wetland

Heqing Huanglongtan Park

If you don't know how beautiful life in a water town can be,

then please follow me,

push a bamboo raft,

row a small boat,

glide into Heqing's Caohai Wetland,

glide into those 108 dragon pools,

glide into Eryuan's Cibi Lake,

glide into the land of geothermal hot springs,

glide into the source of Erhai Lake.

There are pear blossoms and peach blossoms,

there are orchids and papaya flowers,

and there are also golden flowers (Bai girls).

Tourists at the Eryuan Papaya Flower Festival

Silversmith master in the silverware town

Several elderly men in long gowns playing Nanzhao ancient music in Fengyu Ancient Town

Life in the water town is long and leisurely.

A small hammer, ding-ding-dang-dang, has been striking for a thousand years,

an old tune, yi-yi-ya-ya, has been playing for a thousand years,

a small village, with curling smoke drifting through a thousand years,

an old jar of wine has intoxicated people for a thousand years,

a home-style dish has nourished people's taste buds for a thousand years...

Heqing Qianjiu liquor has a history of 600 years. Every March when peach blossoms bloom, a peach blossom wine sealing ceremony is held.

Heqing Qianjiu liquor buried under peach and osmanthus trees

There are over 600 species of birds in Caohai Wetland.

The hundreds of bird species in Heqing Water Town

have been neighbors with the people here for generations.

They do not disturb each other but coexist in harmony.

Through the changing seasons,

they meet, say goodbye, and reunite...

The local eight-bowl farmhouse meal on Qifeng Mountain is truly delicious.

The men and women of the water town

are like this bank and the opposite bank of a river,

echoing each other yet each enjoying their own scenery.

The men guard the long years with a craftsman's heart,

while the women carry an ambitious heart to venture out into the world.

The men are steady yet meticulous,

the women appear gentle but are strong inside.

In this place known as "the hometown of Chinese Jews,"

men and women each hold up half the sky.

In the silverware town, boys as young as fourteen or fifteen begin apprenticeships to learn the craft.

The water town allows people to settle down,

allowing a lifetime to focus on one craft,

passing it down through generations,

and thereby creating villages of craftsmen:

silverware village, paper-making village, blacksmith village, bronze-smith village...

Various tools for making silverware

In Eryuan, there is a "Retreat Hall,"

which offers a lifestyle that is both reclusive and not entirely withdrawn.

In a fast-paced life,

sometimes one needs to be quiet for a while,

be with their favorite circle, with their favorite people,

listen to the wind, the rain, each sound entering the ear.

"Tuibutang" Hotel—a hotel with a circle.

The two small towns of Heqing and Eryuan

support another side of Dali life,

not noisy but full of vitality,

not stunning but worthy of savoring.

Life in a water town may be like this:

neither hurried nor slow, soft and gentle.

Camping site on Qifeng Mountain

In March, Qifeng Mountain casually produces stunning photos.