Erhai Lake is the largest highland lake next to Dianchi and one of the seven biggest fresh water lakes in China. It means, 'sea shaped like an ear', in Chinese. Implying that the lake is ear shaped and as large as a sea, hence it was so named. The Erhai Lake covers an area of 250 square kilometers (96 square miles) and is located about two kilometers (1.2 miles) east of Dali. It is like a crescent lying between Cangshan and Dali city as seen from Cangshan Mountain. In a sunny day, the crystal waters of Erhai Lake and the snow mantled Cangshan Mount radiate with each other. Thus the scene was commonly described as 'Silver Cangshan and Jade Erhai'.
There are a lot of ways to tour around the Erhai Lake but I suggested you the best two ways.
Cycling/Sightseeing Car/Electric Bike/Electric Car - No matter which type of transportation you are using, you need 2 days to complete the tour around the lake. The total distance is 128km. My suggestion is you leave your big luggage at the hotel you stay near Dali Ancient City and you travel light to Shuanglang Village to overnight. The next day, you continue your journey back to your hotel.
Cruise Tour - If you have limited days like I do, just take a cruise tour. The ticket price starts at CNY142/pax. They have a lot of private rooms for you to choose from. There are karaoke system in the room too. Additional charges will be imposed depending on the size of the room. Otherwise, just find a seat under the sun which is free.
There are 3 piers departing from for Erhai Lake cruise. All 3 piers with different route. If you know where you wish to go, just make sure you go to the pier where I will be listed it below:
From Erhai Lake Pier (Xiaguan Pier) around 8.00am - 9.00am, visit Nanzhao Folk Island and enjoy Bai People's Three Courses of Tea and arrive at Taoyuan Pier.
From Longkan Pier around 9.00am - 10.00am, visit Longquan Peninsula or Jinsuo Island, enjoy Bai's three Courses of Tea and arrive at Taoyuan Pier around 12.30pm - 1.00pm
From Taoyuan Pier around 1.30pm - 2.00pm, visit Nanzhao Folk Island and enjoy Bai's Three Courses of Tea and arrive at Longkan Pier around 5.30 - 6.00pm.
I took the cruise from Taoyuan Pier which is just opposite road of Butterfly Spring. Our first stop was at Nanzhao Folk Island. We were given a very limited time to stop by which is only 1 hour. That's how inflexible it is if you are joining a group tour.
Before you get to the Nanzhao Castle, you will see this big Bodhisattva Kwan-yin where you can say your prayer.
This is the Nanzhao Kingdom's castle which is now a 4-star hotel. Honestly, this hotel is badly managed. What a pity! They could have maintain it well with such a historical site. It is now looks like a ghost castle more than a hotel. The worst part is the hotel is not cheap at all.
In order to know more about Dali, you need to the whole history of it but I don't worry, I won't give you the history lesson here. I believe Master Google will help you more with that. All I can give is just a brief timeline of the Dali history.
The History of Dali
In 738, the Nanzhao Kingdom was established with Dali as its capital.
In 937, the Kingdom of Dali emerged.
By 1000, Dali was one of the 13 largest cities in the world.
In 1253, the Mongols conquered the city and ended the Kingdom of Dali.
In the early 1400s, the old Dali City was rebuilt by the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644), and it still stands in a similar layout today.
Nanzhao Folk Island, also called Nanzhao Love Island, is one of the three islands in Erhai Lake. It is about five minutes from Shuanglang by cruise. Besides the hills, threes, beach, there are eight man-made sights to see - the Statues of "Mother Shayi", the Seascape Villas, the Guanyin Acuoye Statue on the Luck of Yunnan Square (Fuxing Square), the big hotel called the Nanzhao Summer Palace, the Square of the Patron Gods, a small amusement part on the beach, the Taihu Rocks and a View of Fishing Families. Travelers who visit Nanzhao Folk Island need to pay 50 Yuan and you'd better spend about 2 hours there. Since, I am joining the cruise tour, this fee has been included in.
Since there is still some time left, the cruise gave us a stopover for 30 minutes at Shuanglang Town. As I have mentioned before, if you are travelling using other transportation, it is recommended to stay a night at this town.
Shuanglang, the most scenic town around Erhai Lake, is located in the north of Dali and the northeast of Erhai Lake. For over a thousand years, the local Bai ethnic people here made their living fishing in the lake. And now the small tranquil village is popular with visitors unwinding and enjoying a slower tempo. Enjoy several hours or a peaceful night here to explore among the old alleys and traditional architecture or take a boat out on Erhai Lake or kick back and do very little.
For your information, the mountain behind this Shuanglang town is a graveyard for the locals here. It is kinda spooky if you think of it.
Another weird about this town there is a Jimsonweed tree which is also known as the Devil's Trumpet. Usually use in traditional medicine to relieve asthma symptoms and as an analgesic during surgery or bonesetting. All parts of Jimsonweed contain dangerous levels of the tropane alkaloids atropine, hyoscyamine, and scopolamine, which are classified as deliriants, or anticholinergics. The risk of fatal overdose is high among uninformed users, and many hospitalizations occur amongst recreational users who ingest the plant for its psychoactive effects
Dali is famous with a celebrity named Yang Liping. She is the director, choreographer and star of a performance art show called "Dynamic Yunnan" that has drawn sellout crowds all over China. She is currently a judge on So You Think You Can Dance China. Basically you will see her face all around Dali especially at Dali Ancient Town. And the picture above was her home and now is a hotel.
30 minutes is really not enough for us to do anything here. We didn't fully explore the entire place. It was a pity.
So I would highly recommend you to travel by yourself around the lake. You can see more things and will not miss all the tourist spots such as Little Putuo Island, Jinsuo Island, Luoquan Peninsula, Erhai Park, Xizhou Ancient Town and Zhoucheng.
The only advantage I can think of for taking the cruise tour is able to see the performance of Ba's Three Courses of Tea. While you were watching their dance performance, you will be served 3 cups of tea by the Bai's tribe. The teas are salty, bitter and sweet. I have editing some of their performance in the video clip below. Do enjoy.
After the show, you can take picture with the dancers there and also watching the seagulls following the cruise all the way to the Longkan pier. It was an amazing sight which I have captured them and included in this post below.
Overall, the Erhai Lake is awesome. However, the best way to enjoy this lake is not via cruise tour. You have to travel all by yourself. So if you have more people in your trip, it will be more fun!
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