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!
I have been always wanted to get hold of a real gun and shoot like James Bond, Neo in Matrix and Max Payne. I have invited my buddy, Suyin who is very interested in it as well to accompany me. Thanks to ILoveDiscounts , this dream is no longer a dream and it is made possible and affordable to everyone. The link of the deal as follows: RM105 for a handgun experience + 25 Rounds of Ammo Before we attend, we are required to submit our passport photo, photocopy of our IC and filling up their Vetting form. The documents are required for a background check to eliminate those who has criminal record especially related to gun. 14 working days are required to run the check. After that, it is compulsory to attend their briefing which is lasting at most 2 hours to learn and understand the safety rules. At the same time, to learn the basic techniques in shooting. Since this is a real gun and it is not a gun we are playing in a fun fair, we must adhere to their strict rules not just for prot...
Here I am back again to Pulau Mabul after 3 years, a place where I was born to be a submarine boy a.k.a diver, Uncle Chang. This is the link to Uncle Chang from 3 years ago. Many things have changed in this 3 years...undeniably, myself too. And so did Uncle Chang. Let's see their changes... Their chalet has gotten bigger and more beautiful...In conclusion, his business got bigger. New diving center and also the docking point. Far away from the original ones because was hit by a horrible storm. He is lucky to got away with minor diving equipment lost. They are going to move back to the original diving center once the renovation completed which I believe by now it should be done. New chalets facing the sunset. It is a beautiful scenery to stay in but the sun has made every single chalets here like a microwave. Especially when they still cutting out power supply from 8.00am - 5.00pm. Now, a very long walk from the dive center to the gathering place. The...
Continuing from my previous post ...This is the second part of my Jungle Trekking adventure. The route is from Perhentian Island Resort to Teluk Dalam. There is a junction like this to direct you to Teluk Dalam. Jungle trekking started! Let's finish this adventure! A lot of monitor lizards in this island. Please do not feel afraid to see them because they are more afraid that you are. Here is the Teluk Dalam and as you can see the beach is very small. Not much spaces for you to do any beach activities here. So you can only sunbathing in front of your own chalet. Please watch out anchors like this when you walk along this beach. It is like a booby trap and you might get a deep cut on your leg. You do not want this to spoil your holiday mood. Actually not the boatmen to be blamed for this. This beach is really really small. No choice that this anchor is appearing everywhere along the beach. Water Taxi here are very expensive. Here are the destinations liste...
The most basic thing a godfather got to do is to celebrate his god daughter's birthday every year. That's one thing I will make sure I will not fail doing it. This year I had the celebration held at 5.1 Cafe Gallery. Normally, a restaurant owner will try to fully utilized the shop space with more tables and chairs to accommodate more customers. However, he chose to have this special section which can put 2 tables at least to put his photograph and some antiques. From here, you should have able to guess that the owner has a strong passion in photography too. There are a lot of cute and small stuffs which you can't resist not to feed into your instagram. Most of the cafes that I have been will only put smaller tables which only can fit 2 pax and barely can make it four because they want to maximize the space with customers. However for this cafe, they tend to put have more big tables for big group to avoid their own privacy coffee session at the corner. It is r...
Now we have came to the 5th post about my Sandakan food adventure trip. This time I will bring you something which is very locally made and will not find at KL. The place is called Sing Yi Food Centre which their pork dumpling contain century egg inside. Maybe some of you might have tried it before at some place at KL. But I can tell you this is totally different. You need to taste it for yourself only you will realized. 皮蛋刀麻切 + 猪肉丸+鱼付 @RM5.50 Outlook: 3/5 Creativity: 4/5 Taste: 4/5 Price: 3/5 Overall: 3/5 - 刀麻切 is the name of the noodle. Not really sure how to translate that into English thou but it is a pretty unique noodle which I have never taste it before. Even the 鱼付 as well! Why they did not bring this specialty to KL? Surely is a hit! 皮蛋刀麻切 @RM3.50 - This is a plain one with nothing extra added inside like the above. Close shot on the pork dumpling with century egg. The Teh-C here is not bad too! It is really a recommended ...
Have you ever stay in a Durian Farm before? No? At Bao Sheng Durian Farm, you can do it! This 6.7 acres durian farm has been established in Balik Pulau since 1959. It really took them full 60 years to get the fruit of their hard work. Their villa is well equipped with air-con, hot shower and LCD TV with hundreds of Blu-Ray quality movies in it! They have existing queen size or king size bed and extra bed can be requested. To get close and personal with the King of Fruit...the accommodation charges will be Deluxe Villa is charged at RM280/night and standard villa will cost you RM180/night. They only have 1 Deluxe Villa and 2 Standard Villa only. So it is very easy to be fully booked during the durian season. Advance booking is greatly recommended for at least 3 months ahead so that you will be able to choose the right schedule for the durian you wish to taste. Why stay in a durian farm? This is what you see when you open the window with all the durian trees around you. The fre...
How many of you know Pulau Bidong? Do you know it was once known as the Hell Island? To be honest, I never know until I was browsing through the google map to find out the islands that I haven't been yet in Malaysia. Pulau Bidong was once a refugee camp for the Vietnamese refugees after the Vietnam War ended in 1975. If you not know where it is located, you can click to enlarge the picture above. Pulau Bidong is located at Terengganu and the jetty that access to Pulau Bidong is from Merang Jetty. It is also the jetty to get you to Pulau Redang and Lang Tengah Island . From Merang Jetty, it just takes about 30 minutes to reach. Alternatively, you can stay at Lang Tengah Island with Summerbay Resorts to join their boat trip to this island. They have a minimum requirement which is must have at least 4 persons to join. There is a toilet and shower area provided here with minimum maintenance done. On the opposite of the restrooms, there is a bridge which leads you to...
Never know about this place until I watched Ah Xian from the TV Programme which is known as "Taste with Jason". This restaurant is known as Chong Siew Lam Restaurant. No signboard to show this place but this is the only the crowded place in the whole street. They only serve for lunch so do expect great crowd roaming to this place between 12.00pm to 2.00pm. Steamed Tilapia Fish Head @RM20.00 Outlook: 4/5 Creativity: 5/5 Taste: 5/5 Price: 4/5 Overall: 4/5 - Tilapia is a freshwater fish and the best is to steam it. Without a doubt, they did it very well. The meat is so fresh but what is the best part is the gravy. Not sure how they made it but it brings a little wine taste in it with spicy kick. Absolutely uniquely delicious! Steam Salted Chicken @RM22.00 Outlook: 4/5 Creativity: 4/5 Taste: 4/5 Price: 3/5 Overall: 3/5 - By steaming the chicken like that, the gravy has already penetrated the entire chicken meat. If you just eat the chicken itself, it i...
Boracay is a small island in the Philippines located approximately 315 km (196 mi) south of Manila and 2 km off the northwest tip of Panay Island in the Western Visayas region of the Philippines. Boracay Island and its beaches have received awards from numerous travel publications and agencies. The island comprises the barangays of Manoc-Manoc, Balabag, and Yapak in the municipality of Malay, in Aklan Province. The island is administered by the Philippine Tourism Authority and the provincial government of Aklan. Apart from its white sand beaches, Boracay is also famous for being one of the world's top destinations for relaxation. It is also emerging among the top destinations for tranquility and nightlife. Please take note that the currency that I will use is in Philippine Peso. So you just convert it to your own currency at the time you are reading this article. The low season in Boracay is between early June to end of October. The chances of raining during the low season is...
Restoran Soon Sin is one of the biggest chain bakuteh restaurant in Johor Bahru. They have quite a lot of branches in Johor Bahru. I made my visit here to understand why it is so famous in Johor Bahru. Besides selling just Bakuteh, they do sell Lei Cha too. Not having a great start as the boss is so rude and impolite as I taking my photos in his premises. Yes, the chef is the boss for this branch. The bakuteh itself is not include all these internal parts and pork balls. If you want them, you need to pay an extra on top of your existing order. You may want to skip it as you can see they do not cover it and the flies are everywhere. It was really a disgusting scene. They serve their bakuteh according to the pax you have on the table and the price is RM10.00++/pax with just the lean meat and the broth itself only. The broth is delicious for the when you had a few sip in the beginning. After you almost finish the food, you will feel the extreme thirst inside your throat. You...
Comments
Post a Comment