The BEST Place to Visit in China | Dali, Yunnan Travel Film

The BEST Place to Visit in China | Dali, Yunnan Travel Film

Hello everyone, JHMedium here. Today, I am in Dali Prefecture in Yunnan Province, China. I love Dali, not only because it’s such a beautiful place, but also because it’s very special for this channel. Because back in 2021, this was the very first travel vlog I ever posted on YouTube. After a couple of years, we are back. Join me on this trip to one of the most beautiful places in China. We’ll revisit some of our favorite spots in the ancient city and along Erhai, explore the lush fields near Xizhou, and head further north to one of the best ancient towns in all of Yunnan, Shaxi. Along the way, of course we’ll also feast on some mouthwatering Yunnan cuisine, and experience the local arts and crafts of this unique region. Let me show you why Dali should be at the top of your China travel list. On this trip to Dali, we’re staying in a very small village next to Erhai called Xia Ji Yi Cun. It’s around five kilometers away from the Dali Ancient City, so it’s still quite convenient to go there if you have a scooter. I feel like there’s barely any tourists inside this village. It seems like these are all local buildings. But of course, there are some small guest houses as well. Since this is our second time in Dali, we want to stay in a slightly less touristy area, but the plus side is that it’s only like a two-minute to Erhai. So it’s so easy for us to just go have a walk by the lake anytime we want. This right here is the main street of the village. Even though it is quite small, it has everything you need. Convenience stores, eateries, even a pharmacy as well. We’re gonna go have breakfast in this little store, bian ming shi tang. For breakfast here in Dali, there’s two typical dishes you gotta eat, Mixian and ersi. I got a bowl of ersi, and here you can add all the different toppings by yourself. Originally, it just comes with the meat and the red sauce, and then you can add like cilantro, green onions, the pickled vegetables, bean sprouts, depending on if you like them or not. Ersi is a specialty of Yunnan Province and is essentially rice cakes in noodle form. You can enjoy it stir-fried or in a soup like we did. Mixian is the more well-known noodle dish in Yunnan and across China. It’s round, somewhat like a thicker vermicelli noodle. Okay, let’s dig in. The ersi is actually very soft and gooey. The texture kind of reminds me of a mochi. It sticks together like you would expect of a rice cake. It’s very different from the mixian that we’re used to. In comparison, the mixian is very soft, very slippery, and it sort of falls off the chopsticks because it’s so slippery. I think overall I still prefer the mixian. So yeah, if you want a lighter meal, mixian is definitely the way to go. But if you want something more special in this region, then try the ersi. Ersi is probably only commonly found here in Yunnan. It’s hard to find outside of Yunnan. After lunch, it’s time to head to Erhai. The weather in Dali is always so nice. There’s not a single cloud in the sky, so be sure to wear sun protection. There are way more transportation options now than when we last visited. For example, these electric scooters. One of the best activities to do in Dali is the cycle around Erhai. Around Erhai right now, there are lots of these shared bikes and scooters. Unfortunately, you must have a Chinese ID card in order to rent them, so I can’t even rent them myself. In the end, I had to borrow Rika’s friend’s ID card in order to rent a bike for me. So if you’re a foreigner and you want to cycle around Erhai, there many guest houses and hotels around here that can rent you bikes for around 20 RMB per day. Okay, let’s go. Erhai really is like the perfect place for cycling. You get the beautiful mountains and the towns on one side, the lake on the other side. It’s really so scenic here. It’s around noon right now, so there are very few people. And it’s the low season in Dali right now, too. So it’s really comfortable riding on this spacious bike path. The Ecological Corridor is a 129-kilometer loop around Erhai, and it’s absolutely a must-visit spot in Dali. If you’re staying in the Ancient City, the closest entry point is Caicun Wharf, about three kilometers away. The main cycling path runs along the west side of the lake, and you can easily spend an entire day cruising up and down the winding route. When cycling Erhai, there’s just so many places where you can stop and enjoy the view. My goodness, it’s so beautiful here. We reached a section of the lake where there are thousands of seagulls. It’s like a buffet for the seagulls right here. There are these aunties selling snacks for the seagulls. Since we’ve never done this before, we’re gonna go try feed the seagulls just for the experience. These seagulls migrate to Dali from Siberia during the winter months, around October to March. Since we’re here in early March, it’s the last month they’ll be around before making their long journey back north. These shared bikes, it’s just more convenient because you get to park them wherever you want. But if you don’t have a Chinese ID card, you can only rent from one of the hotels, which I think might be better because those bikes are in better condition. These shared bikes are like falling apart. After a whole afternoon of cycling, it’s time to enjoy the sunset by Erhai. This side of the lake is actually better for watching the sunrise, which we’ll come back to see another day. But as the sun dips behind Cangshan, we can still watch the sky gradually turn a soft shade of pink. This place is blessed with both natural splendor and cultural richness. Dali is always beautiful in such an effortlessly charming way. It’s easy to understand why so many people are drawn to this place. I guess the slight downside to living in such a calm village, less touristy village, is that there are fewer food options as well. So tonight for dinner, we ordered some takeout. And there’s a very nice little balcony here at our guest house. So we’re gonna have dinner on the balcony. There’s some lights, it’s nice. Here’s a quick room tour of our guest house. It’s great value for money. We booked it on Trip.com and paid 115 Yuan per night. Keep in mind though, it’s low season between Chinese New Year and Labor Day, which is why we got such a good deal. Day two in Dali, and this morning we found a small bakery to grab some bread for breakfast since we can’t have mixian every day. Today, we’re renting a scooter and heading to the Ancient City. It’s a short trip, so the rental only costs 30 Yuan for the day. We made it over near the Ancient City of Dali. This morning, our first stop is Sanyuejie. There’s this huge street market here. I’ve never seen a Chinese street market this crazy before. There’s food vendors, vendors selling souvenirs, snacks, fresh juice. There’s all sorts of things. There’s no space at all to vlog when walking on that street. It’s so cramped right now. I can’t imagine what high season is like at this place. It’s incredible. Sanyuejie, or Third Month Street, is named after the biggest festival of the Bai people, the predominant ethnic minority in Dali. The festival takes place during the third month of the Chinese lunar calendar and is a grand celebration of Bai culture. Even if you’re not here during the festival, there’s a daytime market held about once a week, which is what we’re here to explore today. The market schedule also follows the lunar calendar, so I recommend checking with your hotel. They’ll definitely know the exact dates it’s open. It’s so hectic on the street that we have to come into a little alleyway to eat. The first street food item we got is erkuai. It’s like a giant dumpling, but instead of using normal flour dough on the outside, they use this rice cake as the dough. Inside it looks like there’s some potatoes, bean sprouts, a giant oil stick, and of course some chili as well. It looks really good. This is one dish that we didn’t try last time we came to Dali, so I’m really excited to have it right now. Even after they cut it in half, the portion size still looks quite large. It’s sort of like a savory mochi. You get this very soft gooey skin, but then inside it’s crunchy because of the bean sprouts. It’s spicy because of the chili peppers. It’s such an interesting combination of textures and flavors. I really like this snack. It’s quite fun to eat as well, like a mochi dumpling. Another thing really popular on this street is their yogurt. They say it’s their handmade yogurt. I got one with rose flavor. Let’s try it. It has such a floral taste to it. It’s really smooth and not too sweet either. I prefer yogurt that’s less thick, the type we’re supposed to drink with a straw instead of the ones that you eat with a spoon. Such a wonderfully fragrant rose-flavored yogurt. It tastes just like the filling of a flower cake. I feel like there are many vendors along this market who sell all kinds of beaded accessories and some knitted crafts. I feel like maybe I could make these too. Even though I’m just getting started myself, but I think the ones I make myself are pretty good too. It’s pretty cute, right? My latest creation is a little pine tree. If I don’t know what to do in the future, maybe I’ll come to Dali and set up a stall. This is absolutely insane. It’s so difficult to even walk through this market street. Which one should I choose? They are all beautiful. I think this tie-dye one is pretty nice. This watercolor postcard is quite unique. This artwork is very typical Dali. You see the blue dyes, the old buildings. The artist’s name is called “Alone.” I really like that name. Since the sun is so blazing hot in Dali, I decided to get a hat. I almost never wear hats, but I think this one looks pretty good. And it’s only 15 RMB, so even if I don’t like it later, I think it’s worth it. There are also many fruit vendors along this street. We picked out two mangoes that looked pretty small. But in the end… How did we end up buying one kilogram of mangos? Looks like we’re having a mango feast today. More street food. This time I got a chicken leg. It looks pretty good. This one is cumin flavored. I’m gonna try it. Yeah, that’s really good. The glaze on the outside is still a little bit sweet. The skin is crispy. The meat is soft. Delicious little chicken leg. While this market is fun to visit. It can get a bit hectic and overwhelming after a while. It’s super bustling. There’s so many people around here. It’s also very loud because all the vendors have their speaker on selling their items. So yeah, just walk to the end, walk back, have some street food, do some shopping. Maybe one or two hours is enough to explore this market. So now I think we’re gonna go back into the Ancient City and maybe look for a slightly calmer market. A real man rides a pink scooter. Let’s go. Since we have the scooter for the entire day, let’s make good use of it. We’re gonna head out to some nearby fields before going to the ancient city later for another charming market and of course dinner. After spending the morning in the hectic Sanyuejie, it’ll be nice to escape the crowds for a while. Other than the super strong wind that can knock you over, this is still quite a peaceful place to be at. Three, two one. Start the ride. After a short scooter ride, we’re here at another market. This one is inside an old bed sheet factory but of course now there are lots of arts and crafts stalls. Once a bed sheet factory in the 1990s and later abandoned, this area was transformed into a large creative hub in 2014. It still retains its old factory style architecture but is now home to artists studios and cafes. On weekends, there’s an arts and crafts market featuring artists from all over Dali. You can find things from jewelry to hand-knitted hats. But one stall in particular really attracted Rika. The bread-lover picked out the necklace that suits her very well, a bread necklace. The owner said this was made with real bread. But she applied a layer of nail polish-like sealing coat on it, so it can last longer. The owner said she is also from Guangdong. So she also understands that in the humid climate of Guangdong, it might be more difficult to preserve. But in a dry place like Yunnan, it can last a long time. It’s so cute, I’m very satisfied. And it’s not very expensive either, just 22 yuan. And now, it’s time for dinner. We’re gonna head to a restaurant about a 5 minute walk from the bed sheet factory to eat a dish everyone must have here in Dali. For dinner today, we’re gonna have arguably the most famous dish in Yunnan, jun gu huo guo, mushroom hot pot. Just then the staff already put the mushrooms into the pot for us and it has to boil for 20 minutes before we can eat it. This restaurant has barbecue and hot pot together so we can also barbecue some pork belly and some potatoes. Last time when we had this in Lijiang, it was super delicious, the barbecue. So hopefully it will taste just as good this time. After being in that super strong wind for one whole day, I think we gotta have some warm soup. Over here there’s also a sauce station where you can make your own sauce. I’m not 100% sure what all of these ingredients are but I mean it smells really good so I’m just gonna get some of each. This is the sauce I got in the end. Sesame paste, sesame oil, spring onions, soy sauce, their secret sauce, and lots of garlic. Alright, 20 minutes has passed and the soup is ready. So of course the first thing we gotta try is this warm chicken mushroom soup. It really is so good, so heavenly. There’s a natural sweetness to it as well. Chicken and mushrooms really is one of the best combinations. It’s so smooth. The mushrooms give the soup a deep umami taste and even though they are wild mushrooms, it’s not that earthy. There are six types of mushrooms in the soup. The staff quickly told me earlier what each of these is called. Yellow Bolete 黄牛肝菌 Lyophyllum Decastes 鹿茸菇 Cordyceps Militaris 虫草花 Agaricus Blazei 姬松茸 Chanterelle 鸡油菌 Yellow Parasol 黄落伞 This is not a biology class so I’m not going to go into detail. Just know they are edible and delicious. My favorite one is probably this mushroom right here. A bowl of this soup really warms your soul up completely. It feels so good. It’s really nice that you get to eat hot pot and barbecue in the same meal, but the barbecue definitely comes second. There’s not a lot of meat. There’s only some pork belly and some potatoes. So I think next time we gotta have barbecue by itself. They added some more soup to the pot so the second round is probably a little bit more diluted but it should still taste pretty good. What a wonderful meal, wonderful atmosphere as well. I highly recommend coming to this restaurant when you’re in Dali and if you want to try the mushroom hot pot. It’s right next to the old bed sheet factory where we went to see the market earlier, so you can go to that in the afternoon and then come here for dinner. Awesome meal here in Dali Ancient City. I mean I like the place that we’re staying at. But if you want good food you still have to come to this area. I’ll be honest, the main streets of the Ancient City are probably my least favorite areas in Dali. This includes streets like Fuxinglu and Yangrenjie. When we visited a few years ago, it already felt very commercialized and crowded. Now even more so. Unlike Sanyuejie from earlier, all the shops here are selling more or less the same thing. It’s not unique anymore. If I have to recommend a time of day to come and explore, it’s right now at night when all the lanterns and lights are lit up. The ambience is still very pretty. If you want some more unique shops, wander around the smaller alleyways and you can find some cute cafes and bookstores. Today is our last full day in this part of Dali City before heading north to explore the rest of the prefecture. First things first, gotta get some more mixian for breakfast. This time we got a chicken mixian and a fried mixian. Mixian is so slippery and not mushy at all. It’s actually a great noodle for frying. Really delicious. Other than cycling or using an electric scooter, there’s another great way to cruise around Erhai, and that’s with a skateboard. In Caicun, there’s a skate shop where you can rent boards by the hour. So that’s what we’re gonna do this morning. Obviously we’re still both beginners. Hopefully we didn’t forget what we learned. Today this little scooter will be my camera car and I’m gonna chase after Rika while she is skateboarding. I can mount the camera in front. I can mount the camera at the back. It’s quite cold right now in March so wearing a big coat while skateboarding limits our mobility. but at least we’re moving forward. Even though we’re both not very good at it, this is still a perfect place for surfskating. Such a wide road, behind us is Cangshan, and beside us is Erhai. It really feels like I’m flying. Take a short break. Haven’t exercised in a while, so I’m a bit out of breath. Unfortunately it started raining in the afternoon so we had to cancel the rest of the day’s plans. Tomorrow before we leave, there’s one last activity that I think everyone must do when visiting Dali. Watch the sunrise at Erhai. Good morning from Dali. It’s around 7AM right now and still quite dark. It’s so peaceful right now. You can hear the crickets chirping. You can hear the roosters welcoming the morning. Dali is such a gorgeous city. During sunrise, I don’t even know which direction I’m supposed to point my camera. You gotta come watch the sunrise at least once. I kind of want to do it again on this trip. Maybe from a different angle from a different part of Dali. The sunrise here really is so spectacular. There’s no words for it. And this area around Erhai is actually very well maintained. Every morning there’s people here mowing the grass, picking the weeds out of the water to make the water crystal clear. So I guess for a few hours in the morning, the serenity is disturbed. But it’s all to make this place even better. The Ancient City and Erhai are two of the most popular destinations in Dali. But they are only a small part of this vast city and prefecture. Today we are heading to the second region of this trip, about twenty kilometers north of Dali Ancient City, to the town of Xizhou. It’s easily reachable by taxi. We will use Xizhou as our base to explore the nearby fields, and of course, the ancient town itself. We have made it over to our second stop on our Dali trip, Xizhou, and we just checked into our guesthouse. Originally, I booked a 180 RMB per night standard room, but since this is low season, the owner decided to upgrade us to a two-bedroom apartment. This one is supposed to cost 450 RMB per night. It’s so nice in here. It’s really, really spacious. You get this living room, tea set. This whole decor is made out of wood, so it looks quite old, quite vintage, but you still get all the amenities and facilities that you could possibly want, and breakfast is also included, which is definitely a plus. It’s already late in the afternoon, so we’re going to explore the ancient town tomorrow. Right now, we’re going to grab some dinner. Xizhou is probably the second most popular ancient town in the Dali area, but we are staying a little bit further away from the center. So this part of the village is very quiet. Plus it’s low season right now, so most of the places are empty, which is perfect for us. We got two different types of mixian. Zhajiang mixian, which is the fried sauce mixian. It has some minced pork on top, I believe. And then this is what I came here for, douhua mixian, the bean curd tofu pudding mixian. Two of my favorite things into one dish. That just sounds amazing. The mixian sauce soaked into the tofu gives it this silky and savory taste. There really are so many different types of mixian to try in Yunnan. After dinner, we’re going to go for a short walk near the village just to check out the area. But tomorrow we’ll head into town and really explore Xizhou. Good morning. Today there’s a blue sky and lush green rice fields. We’re going to explore the central area of Xizhou Ancient Town. It’s also an area we didn’t seem to explore very thoroughly last time we came. Once a bustling hub on the Ancient Tea Horse Road, Xizhou flourished as a center of trade, agriculture, and architecture. The town is renowned for its beautifully preserved Bai-style courtyard homes. The historical home of the largest family, Yanjia Dayuan, the Yan Family Courtyard, is now a museum that you can visit. The ticket price is only 18 Yuan, so be sure to check it out if you want to learn about Bai architecture. Since we already went the last time we came, we’ll skip it on this trip. Today, Xizhou Ancient Town is still a living museum of Bai culture and history. The streets are filled with stunning old buildings, vibrant tie-dye creations, and of course, delicious street food. Let’s go check out this ancient town. One of the most popular street food in Dali is baojiang doufu, this custardy tofu. When you bite into it, the inside is supposed to be this smooth custard-like texture. You get this crispy golden exterior with an almost melted cheese-like texture inside. There’s also a bit of natural sweetness, which balances well with the chili flakes on top. You can find vendors selling this all over Xizhou, and it usually costs 10 Yuan per bowl. Ever since we had baojiang doufu once in Xishuangbanna. Every time we come to Yunnan, we always look for this street snack. But none of them compare to that first one we had, which was truly unforgettable. Since the weather is perfect today, Xizhou is just as crowded as Dali Ancient City. Looking for some crochet inspiration. Hope I can crochet something like this too. It’s so cute. We got two more street food dishes, some pork skewers and this juanfen, which is basically a cold rice roll. First, I’m going to try the juanfen. When they make it, they have this pre-cooked rice roll. They roll it out and they stuff all the ingredients inside. There’s some cucumber, some wood ear mushrooms, some chili, I think also some peanuts. So this is the vegetarian type. There’s also a meat one as well. The flavor is similar to a liangpi, or maybe like a cold Cantonese rice roll. It’s really good. It’s crunchy inside because of the peanuts and the wood ear mushrooms. Very refreshing. It really is just like a rolled up version of liangpi. And now I’m going to try one of the skewers. These are pork skewers. It looks like it’s half fat and half meat. Really tender meat, and the fat just completely bursts in your mouth. It becomes a liquid. Super delicious. After all these savory snacks, it’s time for something sweet. Arguably the most famous dessert in Yunnan is xianhuabing, the flower cake. Traditionally, the filling is made with edible rose petals like these. We had flower pastry xianhuabing many times in Yunnan already, but this time we decided to get two different flavors that are not the traditional type. Mine is the white peach flavor. And they even have a different packaging for each flavor, which is a very nice touch. Visually from the outside, this is not the flaky type of xianhuabing that we’re used to. It looks more like a little cake. I’m gonna try it. The dough here is a bit more firm. It definitely tastes more like a cookie rather than like a flaky pastry. But yeah, I cannot taste the white peach flavor. It really is just the rose flavor. It’s delicious. Maybe I’m just not that picky. I think as long as you can taste the rose flavor, it’s delicious. Other than the countless different types of street food here, another thing you’ll see everywhere in Xizhou are these beautiful tie-dye pieces. Zharan, tie-dye is a very important art form in Bai culture. These blue sheets add a vibrant look to this ancient town. You can also experience tie-dye yourself, but we’ll save that for our next stop in Shaxi. We saw this drink kaonai at so many little stalls around these streets. They bake the milk in this clay pot, and inside there’s like rose petals and different herbs as well. It looks a lot smaller after they put it in the cup. I’ll be honest, out of everything we ate today, this is probably the least exciting. It’s just warm milk with a faint floral taste. The herbs and tea don’t seem to add any extra flavor to it. Well… It’s alright, just okay. Even though Xizhou is without a doubt still very commercialized, I feel like it’s a smaller, more intimate version of Dali Ancient City. So walking around here, there are still some small alleyways that are more quiet, that feels more like the Yunnan I’m looking for. Other than the ancient town itself, the biggest attraction in Xizhou is the rice field. However, this area right outside the ancient town is not really farmland anymore. It’s now completely transformed into a tourist attraction. They even built a train track here with very vintage looking locomotives that you can actually take. 100% a gimmick, but honestly it looks quite pretty from afar. It is quite beautiful, but It’s not quite the idyllic, peaceful countryside scene I had imagined. So tomorrow we’ll head out of the ancient town and explore farther areas. We found this small hidden cafe with a secret entrance right next to the field. It’s part of this tofu pudding shop. So we got a bowl of tofu pudding and now we’re just sitting here. Nobody else is here. Everybody else is on the other side and they cannot come in. You can easily spend an entire day exploring Xizhou Ancient Town. Many people choose to come here as a day trip from Dali Ancient City, which is definitely enough for the ancient town itself, but there’s still so much more to see within a few kilometers from the town center. So that’s what we’re going to explore tomorrow. Back at our guest house, they provide one free afternoon tea set for each stay. Since we ate so many snacks already today, we asked them to save ours for a light dinner instead. They prepared for us some Xizhou baba, which is probably the most famous pastry in the Xizhou area. It kind of just looks like a pancake. They have the savory type and the sweet type. Cheers! The savory version is filled with ham, pickled vegetables, green onions, and lots of spices. While the sweet one has brown sugar and sesame seeds. Both are hearty, fluffy, and a great snack or meal. You can find them everywhere in the ancient town. A new day here in Dali and today we’re renting a scooter to explore the area surrounding Xizhou. Our first stop is Haishe Park next to Erhai. Haishe literally means the “tongue of Erhai.” This refers to the narrow peninsula with a tongue-like shape that extends into the lake. Since it’s still winter right now in March, the park is quite barren. I’m sure it would look even more stunning in the spring or autumn, like the painting on this postcard. But either way, it’s still a great place to have a morning stroll. Unfortunately, after a while, the serenity was ruined by the loud music of a group having a team building event. That’s our cue to move on to the next spot. We’re at this field next to Zhongzhuang and look at all these canola flowers. It just goes on and on forever. We’re gonna take some pictures inside. Mid-February through mid-March is peak canola flower season in Dali. It gives the villages a bright yellow hue. You can see these flowers everywhere along Erhai and in the surrounding villages. By April, all these flowers will be gone and the pods will start to dry. So we’re here at the perfect time to catch the bloom. Further north near Langqiao are some more stunning fields. On the map, this field is called “wo zai Erhai you kuai tian,” literally meaning “I have a field by Erhai.” Whether it’s wheat in the spring or rice in the autumn, when the wind blows through the field, it’s like an ocean wave of green dancing in the breeze. After a day of exploring the fields, there’s one more that we have to look for. Before we return our bike today, we found one of our favorite roads in Dali. Last time we came here in Xizhou, this is where we shot some of our favorite shots of our entire trip. But now the field is completely gone. And they put this small train track here probably for the tourist trains. This area is completely different from when we came here in 2021. Hopefully, this field is only barren because we’re not here in the right season. Maybe it will once again be flourishing in the autumn. Let me cut to what it looked like back in 2021. So confused. So to cheer ourselves up after finding out our favorite field doesn’t exist anymore, we’re here to eat some shouzhuafan. This is very similar to the peacock feast, kongque shengyan, we had last time in Dali, but like a smaller version of it since this is only for two people. Looks like there’s some grilled fish, grilled pork belly, papaya salad, grilled chicken, some spicy beef, and of course sticky rice, the shouzhuafan, with the coconut milk. Just as the name suggests, we’re eating everything with our hands. Shouzhuafan, “hand grabbing rice.” I think that’s how you can translate it. I’m not going to review every single dish because there’s just too many, but I think my favorites are the grilled chicken and the grilled pork belly. The sticky rice is also pretty good with the coconut milk. So we’re going to enjoy our shouzhuafan and I’ll see you guys in the morning. Today is our last day in Xizhou, and this morning we woke up early to catch the sunrise when nobody else is here. But before I show you Xizhou at dawn, we’ll jump forward to later in the day to share with you one more unique restaurant to eat at, or to stay at. We were wandering around the Xizhou area and we walked a little bit outside of the ancient town area and we found this tapas place. It’s sort of a fusion food tapas restaurant. We ordered one of their afternoon tea sets. They have some pancakes, croissant, hummus I think, garlic shrimp, and this is the thing that looks the most interesting to me, pad kra pao in a hot dog bun. The whole set looks very elegant and there’s a lot of variety as well. So let’s dig in and try all of these dishes. Now time to try the craziest dish inside this set. The pad kra pao hot dog bun. Thai people, look away. A little bit spicy. It’s definitely a very interesting idea. Pad kra pao, instead of using rice, you put it with bread. I mean it’s fusion food, but pad kra pao is actually really delicious. It kind of reminds me of like the yakisoba hot dog bun you have in Japan convenience stores. So yeah, I think overall this is a very nice afternoon tea spot. It’s actually located inside a hostel, a car hostel. All the rooms inside this hostel are built in RVs, trucks, or vans. We couldn’t look at the interior because people are staying there, but the idea is really cool. So if you’re looking for some food that’s not Yunnan cuisine, which honestly is quite hard to find here, or if you want a unique hotel experience, come and check out Nuannuan Hostel. Now let’s rewind back to earlier this morning to enjoy the sunrise at Xizhou. This is why you gotta wake up early. You get the whole landscape to yourself. Whether you want to immerse yourself in the lush emerald green rice fields, have an endless feast of delicious Yunnan street food, or learn about traditional Bai culture, Xizhou is a perfect destination on your Dali trip. If you’re staying in the ancient city and want to visit as a day trip, Xizhou is just a short taxi ride away. But if you have the time, I highly recommend staying overnight and exploring the town early in the day. You can see the locals going about their morning routine. You can hear the soothing soundscape of rural China. And in moments like these, you truly appreciate why Dali is a place beloved by so many. In the evening, we are leaving Dali City and heading about 100km north in Dali Prefecture to Jianchuan County. Here at the midpoint between Dali City and Lijiang lies the ancient town of Shaxi, the final stop of this Dali trip. And I think we saved the best for last. Continuing our trip in Dali Prefecture, we made it over to Shaxi. Shaxi was a very important stop on the Tea Horse Road, which was a network of paths and caravans ranging from Sichuan to Yunnan to Tibet. Right now, we are in front of the guxitai, the ancient theater stage on Sideng Street. This is the most iconic landmark in the entire ancient town. This stage was used for ethnic celebrations and performances, while the square around it was a spot for social gatherings. The stage structure itself is simply gorgeous. Just look at all these detailed patterns and colors that cover the entire structure. Behind this stage, there is also a small exhibition hall about the caravans of the Ancient Tea Horse Road. It’s quite interesting here, with many of the tools they used in the past. Tea bowls, tea boxes, teapots, and all kinds of tea-related tools. Even though their journeys were rough, they were still quite particular about the art of drinking tea. Today, this square is surrounded by many cafes, artist studios, and workshops. You can even attend some of these workshops yourself. Right now, Rika is going to go experience something that’s very popular and a very traditional practice here in Yunnan, zaran, tie-dye. If you go to any ancient city, any ancient town here in Yunnan, you’ll see a lot of these blue blankets, t-shirts, and dresses. Those are all made from tie-dyeing. Rika is going to go tie-dye a dress. There’s so many dresses to choose from. Rika is taking quite a long time to decide which one she wants. The design looks quite distinctive. And I don’t have this style of dress. I’m excited to see what it looks like after dyeing. Butterflies in large, medium, and small sizes, they look quite beautiful. It seems very beautiful in my mind, but I’m not sure what it’s like in reality. The process is to clamp these wooden shapes tightly onto the dress. So when you dye it, the color wouldn’t soak through that area, and it’ll make an outline of the shape. The front has already been clamped, now it’s time to start clamping the back. The ideal look is that this dress has a ring of small butterflies. This whole tie-dye process, when they first explained it to us, it seemed really simple. They said we can do it in 20 minutes. But after working on it, Rika has been here for almost one hour already, and she’s still at the part where she’s trying to put the little butterflies onto the dress. It really is a lot more complicated than it seems. And now, it’s finally time to dye the dress. Here in Yunnan, the blue dye is a natural color from a plant called banlangen. The dye is extracted through fermentation, and the fabric is dipped into the dye multiple times to give it different color intensities. So the first layer is the lightest, and she’s going to give it three different shades of blue. The final step is to rinse off all the excess dye and remove the clamps. Once the fabric dries, the vibrant blue will stay. The dyeing process was much faster than I expected. I feel like it we finished it in less than ten minutes. Maybe the dyeing method I used was also relatively simple. I just wanted a gradient effect. It gives a feeling of blue sky and white clouds. For now, I am quite satisfied with this color. But I think after drying in the sun, the color will fade and become a little lighter. There are some faint butterfly patterns at the bottom of my dress. During the entire process, the dyeing step was actually very simple. I spent more time choosing the dress and designing the pattern in the beginning. It’s quite fun. This is actually our third day here in Shaxi already, but for the previous two days, we got a terrible stomach bug that’s been going around Yunnan. And honestly, it’s very uncomfortable. We literally just stayed in a hotel and didn’t do anything at all. Now we’re finally feeling better, so we can get out of bed and explore Shaxi. Luckily there’s still so much to do around this area. Right across the old theater stage is the Xingjiao Temple. Built during the Ming Dynasty, this temple is over 600 years old. When you head inside, you’ll enter a beautiful courtyard with these majestic old trees. With the leaves creating shade and patches of light on the ground, this temple is a tranquil escape from the busy town center. Some believe the theater stage was built across from the temple, so that the gods can enjoy the performances along with the people. And now it’s time to explore the alleyways and all the little shops in Shaxi. Unlike the white color scheme of Dali, Shaxi features a more wooden and earthy tone. These wooden buildings give the town a natural and grounded atmosphere. Flowers, plants, and trees can be found at every single corner. And a small stream flows gently alongside the street. Everywhere you go, you can hear the birds chirping and the wind rustling through the leaves. Even though this ancient town is vibrant and busy, walking through these streets still feels peaceful and relaxing. Around Shaxi, there’s a lot of little artists’ workshops, arts and crafts stores. And just so we walked into one store, the owner is actually from Beijing. A couple years ago, she backpacked all the way to Yunnan. And then because COVID started, she got stuck here. And then she decided to open a store here in Shaxi and stayed here ever since because she just fell in love with this place. She really is quite a character. She does arts and crafts. She does painting. She does sewing. As you can see, one of the columns on the building, she put a knitted cover around it. It’s really cute. And since Rika just recently started getting into knitting and sewing, they were exchanging ideas and having a short chat as well. It’s a really interesting store. So when you’re here in Shaxi, you gotta go check it out and support her business. Why does this dog look like he’s about to cry? Around the outside of the old town, we reached the xi part of Shaxi, the little river, the little stream. The leaves are starting to grow from the trees already. So look at this willow behind me. It’s really beautiful, flowing in the wind. Here by the river stands the iconic Yujin Bridge, a historical landmark of the Tea Horse Road legacy. Back in the day, this stone bridge served as the most crucial link connecting both sides of the Heihui River, enabling the passage of horses, traders, and caravans. Though it collapsed and was rebuilt many times through the centuries, it still remains a symbol of the region’s trade history. The river here is actually really peaceful and since the water is shallow right now, we can walk down here. And behind me, you can see that bridge form a perfect circle with the reflection. And the cutest thing is, there’s so many ducks here. It’s so funny when they dip their head under the water and stick their butt out. Ducks are such amazing little creatures. The late afternoon is a great time to stroll along the riverbank and enjoy all the nature around Shaxi. Another popular time to photograph or visit the bridge is early in the morning during sunrise. So tomorrow morning, I’ll show you what that’s like. I like to buy Caishen (god of wealth) souvenirs wherever I go. But this Jiama is probably a local god of wealth in Yunnan. It smells quite nice, with a hint of woody fragrance. I think even just after being in Shaxi for one day, I can already confidently say, this is my favorite ancient town in Yunnan. Yes, it is commercialized, but I think it’s commercialized in a good way because every single store, it’s not selling exactly the same thing. If you go to like Dali Ancient City or even Xizhou, you’ll find the stores are selling more or less the same items, the same dishes. But here, the little different artist stores, artist workshops, they all have their own unique style. And unlike places like Dali Ancient City, you don’t get those super loud speakers blasting in your ear. Here in Shaxi, the community feels very tight-knit. It feels peaceful. I think pre-COVID, Shaxi was a very unknown place. But then a Chinese TV show came here to shoot and it completely blew up this town. Of course, this transformation might feel drastic for people who are living here, for local people here, but at least for someone who’s just visiting for the very first time, the vibe, the atmosphere still feels elegant and tranquil. I almost forgot the most important thing of today. I need to pick up my little dress. This is the result after drying. This blue is indeed much lighter than when it was still wet. There’s also a bit of teal color. It’s more or less what I imagined. It would be even better if the color transition here were a bit more natural. Since our stomachs are still recovering, we’re not a hundred percent yet. We can’t have the most spicy or super salty Bai dishes that’s very famous here. So instead, we got some more vegetarian dishes. But we still managed to order one of their specialty dishes. This one’s called shuhua chaodan. I honestly have no idea what shuhua is. Literally, it means “tree flower.” This little plant, you can eat it in a stir fry. You can eat it in a cold dish. It really looks quite strange. It looks like some roots, but apparently it’s like some sort of moss. I think that’s the sort of family it’s in. Let’s try it. It has a natural saltiness to it. It’s a little bit chewy, a little bit crunchy. I feel like the thing that it reminds me of the most in terms of texture is jellyfish. And it’s also a little bit salty, like the seawaterness of the jellyfish. I don’t know, it’s really hard to describe. But it’s not bad. And mixed with the soft egg, it’s a great combination, actually. Just like everywhere we go in Yunnan, we’re once again here to see the sunrise, to try and avoid the crowd. We’re going to go up to that bridge. But before then, we’re here at this field. Ah, it looks like it’s harvested already. Otherwise, this place would also be so green like the place we saw in Xizhou. This field is completely barren. I think it used to have lots of canola flowers on here. But it’s okay, this is not the reason why we came to Shaxi. Let’s go over to check out the bridge. Every morning here in the ancient town, there’s this small street food breakfast street. They have all sorts of things from mixian, ersi, the typical Yunnan food. But we’ve had that too many times already. So I got some wontons, some dry mixed wontons. It actually looks pretty good. It smells really good from that sesame oil. Other than tie-dyeing, another common workshop you’ll find in Dali and Shaxi is for Jiama woodblock prints. Jiama is a religious paper that the Bai people used to communicate with the gods. Traditionally, the artwork is printed onto paper with carved out wooden blocks like these. Each store has its own unique Jiama designs. Even though we didn’t take this workshop on our trip, we still got some more contemporary Jiama style stamps. So we can take a bit of that luck with us on our trip. We turned into this street full of little stalls. There’s not a single shopkeeper here. Everything is self-service with QR code payment. Of course, they’ve still installed some surveillance cameras. You can’t help but feel that the people here are just way too chill. All the shops are just left open like this for everyone. Then you can freely choose whatever you want. It’s actually getting really cold here in Yunnan. So after watching the sun rise and strolling the old town for a little bit, we’re here to have lunch. We’re gonna have some mushroom hotpot to warm ourselves up a bit, warm up our stomachs. Mushroom hotpot is always such a great thing to have in Yunnan. The wild mushrooms here in Yunnan are world-famous, and mix that with a chicken broth, it really is heavenly. Now we have to wait for this to boil until the sand timer runs out and then it’s safe to eat. We’re gonna add some potatoes into the broth to make it cook a little bit longer. The timer has finished I’m not sure how long it is. Maybe like 15 or 20 minutes. Okay, try some of this mushroom chicken hotpot. This makes me so happy. The chicken broth with that rich earthy mushroom taste, it’s just so good. I feel like Rika found a new obsession. She wants to do another tie-dye. But this time not a dress, she wants to tie-dye one of these little headbands. Here in Yunnan The most traditional tie-dye color is blue. But now she wants to go do a tie-dye that’s a different color. She wants to do a green one. You can tie-dye into different colors. They’re just less common. What plant is usually used for the yellow dye? Gardenia flower. If it turns too green, you can soak it in yellow one more time. It’s a bit darker than before, but still quite beautiful. It kind of looks like a spinach color. Is it okay? Yes it is. It looks like the texture and pattern of some sort of plant. Even though the twisting method is very simple. But I think this pattern is quite interesting. It actually took us quite a while to find a nice cafe here in Shaxi even though there are so many of them. I guess maybe our standards are a little bit too high. But in the end we were wandering around a little bit outside of the old town, and we found this tree house looking cafe. As you can see, we’re surrounded by trees surrounded by nature. I love the atmosphere and decor of this place. We ordered two teas since we cannot drink coffee right now. I got a date and longan tea and Rika got a lemon tea. Cheers! Tastes really healthy. Before coming here, I thought Shaxi was going to be a place that’s similar to the other ancient towns in China, similar to Dali Ancient City, similar to Xizhou, similar to Shuhe. But this old town completely blew my expectations away. We had such a wonderful time here. I mean obviously for the first two days, we were really sick and we couldn’t do anything at all. But everything else we got to experience here made up for those two sick days. If you come to Yunnan, a typical itinerary definitely includes Dali and Lijiang. So if you’re gonna go from Dali to Lijiang or vice versa, you gotta stop in Shaxi. Because Shaxi is literally in the midpoint of those two cities. It’s really easy to get to by bus or by car. So we’re gonna spend the rest of the day chilling at this cafe, chilling in Shaxi, enjoying this perfect weather. If you ask me where’s a city I would consider living in long term, my top answer has always been Chiang Mai, Thailand. But after a second visit to Dali, I’m starting to think this city in Yunnan Province might have a place on that podium as well. Dali is a city that lets you slow down. With Cangshan on one side and Erhai on the other, you are always immersed in nature and its beauty. If you want to experience the hustle and bustle, Dali can give you that as well. This trip back to Dali felt like revisiting an old friend we haven’t seen in years. From the moment we were reunited, we were immediately embraced by a feeling of warmth, familiarity, and comfort. At the same time, there are so many new things to discover about each other, things that we never knew before. Dali will always be one of my favorite places in China, and in the world. If you’re loving this video and this entire China travel series be sure to give it a thumbs up and subscribe to JHMedium if you haven’t done so already, for more China travel videos coming soon. Thank you guys so much for watching, and see you guys next time. Bye bye.

Dali, Yunnan Province is one of the best places to travel to in China. In this video, we’ll revisit some of our favorite spots in the Ancient City and along Erhai, explore the lush fields near Xizhou, and head further north to one of the best ancient towns in all of Yunnan, Shaxi. Along the way, of course, we’ll also feast on some mouthwatering Yunnan cuisine and experience the local arts and crafts of this unique region. Let me show you why Dali should be at the top of your China travel list.

Visited During: March 2025

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