TRIP DAILY DIARY: ASIAN-AMERICAN CULTURAL EXCHANGE

04/24/04-FRIDAY and 04/25/04 SATURDAY - DALI - fly to Dali and spend a packed 24 hours

We flew to Dali Saturday afternoon and arrived to find our accommodations were in this quaint Inn.	The Bai minority peoples live in Dali and are an agricultural culture so even in the towns one will see flowers everywhere.
Right outside our hotel (and until 10pm) this amazing town square was under construction. It is being made of bronze posts (which are shaped like poles) applicaed with metal dragons and surrounded by carved stonework. The designs you see on the post on the right were being carved by hand.	Dali has always been a village with unique architecture. Because of its remote location in the mountains and its natural beauty it is considered a great place to visit, but a new road and small airport in the past three years have made its tourist industry rival that of the local agriculture.
It still retains its old town flavor with side street filled with tailors, cafes, and Bai handcrafted souvenirs. We saw more Westerners here then anywhere except maybe Beijing.	Meals in Dali were especially interesting because of their renowned use of fresh local ingredients. This display was outside the restaurant where we ate breakfast and dinner.
A local delicacy, fried goat cheese was a favorite of Sarah and Steve.	This restaurant, where we ate lunch on Sunday, although new construction, was in the old style with a courtyard surrounded by rooms.
Steve and Sarah trying on clothes to be tailored overnight. Maybe red isn't your color Steve?	Sunday morning we visited the three pagodas of Dali. They were partially damaged during the Cultural Revolution, but are still standing. This one is the largest.
Taylor and Joey in front of the pagodas.	This statue of Kuan Yin, the Chinese goddess of mercy, was housed in a temple at the site of the three pagodas and destroyed in the Cultural Revolution. It was recast and installed in a new building in 1998. Do you see Lisa between her fingers?
Later on Sunday we drove to Lake Erhi, and on the way came upon a local technique for threshing beans. The stalks are placed in the road where traffic breaks the stems and pods. These are gathered, taken back to the village,e and winnowed with an electric fan.	Bai (pronounced "buy") farmers
Shopping is a big industry in Dali, here Bridget is buying jewelry from Bai women at Lake Erhi.	Fishing Lake Erhi is another Bai industry. Next to the fishing boats are pleasure cruise boats for tourists.
The chaperones plus Tienming (center), our wonderful guide (Dali is his home town, although he now works for Yunnan Normal University in Kunming), and our bus driver (left) who speaks Bai as well as Mandarin.	Tienming insisted we take a buggy ride through a little Bai village on the shores of Lake Erhi. The van would have been too large to traverse its narrow streets and so we took two buggies for our group.
Our buggy drive took us past the elementary school. It was Sunday so we couldn't visit.	This market stall is very small but served up noodles and tofu for its customers.
Our group of Western teens was the main attraction for the quiet village. This man brought his son out to check us out.	An alfresco lunch for this mother and daughter.