Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture in Yunnan is the hometown of the film "Five Golden Flowers". I remember one year when I was a child, I went to the Great Hall of the People to participate in the New Year Gala under the leadership of my parents. There were large-scale cultural performances in the Great Hall that day. I, who had loved watching movies since I was a child, went to the auditorium to watch a film that had not yet been released at that time. It was "Five Golden Flowers". Especially since then, although I have participated in many activities in the Great Hall, I have never seen a movie here. Therefore, I have a deep memory of the experience of watching "Five Golden Flowers".

Dali Ancient City Gate Building (Photo: Feng Ganyong)

At the same time, the beautiful and beautiful classic melodies of the group of songs written by the famous musician Lei Zhenbang in the film are not only passed down to this day, but also remind people of the beauty of people, songs, people, and mountains and rivers displayed in the film. Dali is full of infinite longing... Unexpectedly, many years later, the reporter came to this haunted place three times.

Scenery of Cangshan Mountain in Dali (Photo: Feng Ganyong)

Relatively speaking, this reporter's three visits to Dali is the second time that he has had the most perfect pure tourism. It was at 23:50 on October 28, 2005. The reporter set off from Kunming to Dali with the China Railway Brigade special train. After an overnight journey, he successfully arrived at Dali Railway Station at around 9 a.m. the next day, and immediately began to walk into Dali. journey.

Photo taken by Dali Three Towers (Photo: Liu Jie)

The Bai tour guide who had long been waiting outside the station warmly greeted the tourists coming from afar. Perhaps it is the charm of movies or the traditional customs of the Bai people, the names of young men and women here are Apeng and Jinhua respectively. Just as Yi girls were called Ashima in Shilin, Apeng and Jinhua became the exclusive names of young men and women in Dali.

Dali Three Pagodas (Photo: Feng Ganyong)

Dali is located in the west by central part of Yunnan Province, 396 kilometers away from Kunming, with a total area of 29459 square kilometers. It has a vast territory, rich resources, beautiful mountains and rivers, and is like spring all year round. It is a treasure land to be developed in the southwest of the motherland. Quanzhou governs one city and eleven counties. It is an area inhabited by 26 ethnic groups including Han, Bai, Yi, Hui, Lisu, Tibetan and Naxi. At the end of 1999, the total population was 3.2609 million, and the ethnic minority population accounted for about 50%. Among them, the Bai population was 1.0853 million. It was an autonomous prefecture with the Bai ethnic group as its autonomous nation.

Close view of the Three Pagodas in Dali (Photo: Feng Ganyong)

As the seat of the state capital, Dali City is also the intersection of the Yunnan-Myanmar and Yunnan-Tibet highways and the transportation hub in western Yunnan. It is an important gateway for cultural exchanges, trade and trade between my country and Southeast Asian countries in history. It is the location of the five hundred-year capital of Nanzhao in the Tang Dynasty and Dali in the Song Dynasty. It is often called a "famous country in literature."

Reflection of the Three Pagodas in Dali (Photo: Feng Ganyong)

Dali, famous for its "wind, flowers, snow, and moon", is now a national open city, one of the first batch of 24 historical and cultural cities and 44 scenic spots announced in the country, a national culturally advanced city, and an excellent tourist city in China. The Three Pagodas of Chongsheng Temple in Nanzhao in Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture, the Shibao Mountain in Jianchuan, the Jizu Mountain, the Buddhist sacred site of Binchuan, as well as the majestic and tall Cangshan Mountain, the bright and clear Erhai Lake, and the lakes and mountains of Huadi Spring constitute a beautiful and magical picture.

Nanzhao built a huge bell tower (Photo: Feng Ganyong)

The bus is driving in Dali, and the rolling Cangshan Mountains in the distance are vividly visible. The first attraction for tour groups in Dali is the Three Pagodas of Dali, known as the Three Pagodas of Chongsheng Temple.

Overlooking the Erhai Lake from the three towers (Photo: Feng Ganyong)

Dali Three Towers are located about one kilometer north of Dali. Diancang Mountain, with mountains of snow and mountains of mountains and mountains of silver and green, stands behind it, and the Erhai Lake, with waves and clouds across it, is embedded in front of it. The three towers stand tall, supporting the sky and the earth; the jade pillars mark the sky and are majestic and magnificent, making them one of the scenic spots in the Canger Mountains.

Overlooking the Three Pagodas in Dali (Photo: Feng Ganyong)

Data records: The main tower of the three pagodas is called Chihiro Tower, 69.13 meters high and is a square, 16-story dense eaves tower. Like the Big and Small Wild Goose Pagoda in Xi'an, it is a typical building in the Tang Dynasty. Looking up under the tower, I saw the tower rising above the clouds, and the clouds moving and the tower standing there, as if it was about to topple. The base of the tower is square and divided into two layers. The lower layer is 33.5 meters long, surrounded by stone railings, and the four corner capitals of the railings are carved with stone lions; the upper layer is 21 meters long, and there is a stone wall in the middle of the east. On it are the four characters "Yongzhen Mountains and Rivers" inscribed by Mu Shijie, a descendant of Mu Ying, Duke of Guizhou, are solemn and magnificent. Behind the Zhaobi is the "Notes on Rebuilding the Three Towers" established by the Provincial People's Government.

Chongsheng Temple Building Complex (Photo: Feng Ganyong)

The first level of the tower body is 13.45 meters high and is the highest level in the entire tower body. The East Tower Gate is 2 meters away from the base plane, and the West Tower Gate is nearly 6 meters away. The tower walls are 3.3 meters thick. The second to 15 floors have basically the same structure and similar size. The 16th floor is the top of the tower. Take the second floor as an example. It is about 2 meters high and 10 meters wide. The upper part is covered with stacked eaves. There are 17 layers of bricks, each layer ranging from 0.05 to 0.07 meters, and the four corners of the eaves are upturned. There are Buddhist shrines in the center of the east and west sides of the tower body, with a Buddha statue placed inside. On both sides of the shrines, there are also pavilions-style shrines, lotus seats, and a temple-style roof, with a Sanskrit scripture engraved in the middle. On the north and south sides, there is a crisis-shaped window hole in the middle, which leads directly to the center of the tower. On the third floor, there are Buddhist shrines in the north and south, and window holes in the east and west. The above layers alternate in turn. The tower body shrinks as it goes up.

Cangshan Mountain in the Clouds and Clouds (Photo: Feng Ganyong)

The top of the tower is 8 meters high, about one-seventh of the tower's body. The tall and tall towers give people the feeling of transcending the world and piercing the sky. The top is a gourd-shaped vase made of copper. Under the vase is an octagonal cover with wings spread at the four corners and equipped with wind-blowing fronts. Under it is a phase wheel made of steel and copper skin; at the bottom is a covering bowl with a lotus seat. At the four corners of the top of the tower, there were golden roc birds. It is said that "dragons respect the tower but fear the roc. Dali used to be Longze, so they were used to guard it."

Butterfly Spring Bank (Photo: Feng Ganyong)

About 70 meters away from the west of Chihiro Tower, there are two small towers in the north and south. They are octagonal 10-level dense eaves brick towers, each 42.19 meters high. The tower bodies have different layers of embossed such as Buddha statues, lotus flowers, and vases. The first to eighth floors are hollow straight walls with crosses supported inside. The base is also octagonal. The distance between the two small towers is 97 meters. The three towers form a tripod, with a unified layout, harmonious shape, and seamless integration.

Butterfly Spring under renovation (Photo: Feng Ganyong)

Next to the three towers, there is a large-scale Chongsheng Temple. According to historical records such as "Nanzhao Yeshi"(Hu Ben, Wang Ben) and "Ancient Gu Tong Ji", seven miles from the base of the temple, the saint monk Li Chengmei built three pagodas, with 890 houses, 11400 Buddhas, and 40590 kilograms of copper. It was built in Fengyou, the tenth master of Nanzhao. From the 10th year of Baohe to the first year of Tianqi (834 to 840 AD), it cost more than 70800 yuan of labor, and consumed gold, silver, cloth, silk, and brocade worth 43514 kilograms of gold. Due to its long history, most of the treasures in Chongsheng Temple have been damaged, along with the temple.

Bai compatriots in the scenic area (Photo: Feng Ganyong)

I remember that in April 1994, when the reporter came to Dali to select scenery for the TV series "The Soul Fishing City", he visited the Three Towers of Dali. I will have a different experience when I come back to sightseeing here in eleven years. What is particularly gratifying is that today's Dali Scenic Area has a new look. With the restoration and reconstruction of Chongsheng Temple in April 2005, the nearly century-old history of Chongsheng Temple's three towers with towers but no temples ended, forming a beautiful view of the tower temple.

On the bank of Erhai Lake (Photo: Feng Ganyong)

After leaving the Dali Three Towers, the reporter and his party drove to Huadian Spring Scenic Area. Butterfly Spring is located at the foot of Shenmo Mountain, Yunnong Peak, the first peak of Cangshan Mountain, and 27 kilometers away from the ancient city of Dali to the south. Butterfly Spring covers an area of more than 50 square meters and is a square spring pool. The spring water is as clear as a mirror and emerges from the bottom of the spring. The shade beside the spring is as thick as a cover. A tall ancient tree lies across the spring. This is the "Butterfly Tree".

Boat Tour in Erhai Lake (Photo: Feng Ganyong)

According to the tour guide, at the turn of spring and summer every year, especially on April 15, the fragrance of butterfly trees attracts butterflies. A large number of butterflies gathered by the spring and danced all over the sky. The strangest thing is that thousands of colorful butterflies meet each other, hanging upside down from the butterfly tree, forming countless butterfly strings that hang down to the water, making it spectacular. The strange scenery of Butterfly Spring has existed since ancient times, and it has been vividly recorded in Xu Xiake's works in the Ming Dynasty.

National song and dance performance (Photo: Feng Ganyong)

When Guo Moruo visited in 1961, he wrote the three characters "Butterfly Spring" in calligraphy and engraved them on the stone beside the spring. Unfortunately, tourists were unable to take a picture here because Butterfly Spring was under renovation.

Guests present tea (Photo: Feng Ganyong)

There are many legends among the local people about the origin of Butterfly Spring. One of the theories is that a long time ago, there was an evil python near the pond that specialized in eating animals. One day, two Bai girls were photographed by the evil python and cried bitterly. After local hunter Du Chaoxuan heard this, he killed the evil python. In return for saving their lives, the two insisted on marrying Du Chaoxuan as their wives. Du Chaoxuan politely refused, believing that he could not take credit and covet the two girls 'attachment. The two women fell into the pool and died. Du Chaoxuan was extremely regretful and immediately jumped into the pool. The three of them transformed into three colorful butterflies and danced beside the pool. Butterflies from all walks of life fly to gather together, which people call the "Butterfly Festival".

The misty Erhai Lake (Photo: Feng Ganyong)

In recent years, Huidiquan Park has been renovated and expanded, and has a series of cultural landscapes such as Butterfly Tower, Hexagon Pavilion, Big Crescent Pond, Butterfly Herbarium, Wanghai Tower and Xu Xiake Statue, making this park full of legendary stories glow with new brilliance.

Nanzhao Style Island (Photo: Feng Ganyong)

A boat tour of Erhai Lake was the last tourist event on the first day of Dali's trip. The tour group took the Universiade cruise ship to rafting the Erhai Lake. On April 23, 1994, the reporter traveled to the Erhai Lake the day after arriving in Dali with the wind gathering team from the location of the TV series "The Soul of the Fishing City". However, the first trip to the Erhai Lake felt that it was not too long, but the same sightseeing as this trip was the wonderful folk song and dance performances on board and the etiquette of Bai girls offering "tea".

Photo taken on the first trip to Erhai Lake (Photo: Kuang Yuming)

The entire trip lasted as long as three hours. Except for stopping at Nanzhao Fengqing Island for 40 minutes on the way to enjoy the beautiful scenery of Fengqing Island, the rest were all cruising on the vast Erhai Lake.

The camera crew took a photo of Erhai Lake (Photo: Kuang Yuming)

Erhai Lake was named Ye Yuze and Kunming Lake in ancient times. Because it looks like a human ear, it is also known as Erhai Lake. Erhai Lake is a plateau freshwater lake with an altitude of 1972 meters. It starts from Dengchuan, Eryuan in the north and reaches Xiaguan in the south. It is 42 kilometers long, about 8 kilometers wide from east to west, and its shoreline is 116 kilometers long. It covers an area of 250 square kilometers. The average water depth is about 11 meters. It has a water storage capacity of 2.9 billion cubic meters, making it the second largest lake in Yunnan.

Statue of Guanyin Bodhisattva (Photo: Feng Ganyong)

The Erhai Lake is rich in water, with Miju River and Mici River in the north, Boluo River in the east and Cangshan River in the west. The Xier River in the south is the outlet of the sea and flows into the Lancang River through the Yangbi River.

Photo taken during the second tour of Erhai Lake (Photo: Liu Jie)

On the Universiade cruise ship, while sightseeing the Erhai Lake, tourists also enjoyed wonderful folk song and dance programs performed by young men and women of the Bai nationality, and tasted the unique "tea" of the Bai nationality. When the Universiade cruise ship arrived at the shore, the Bai youth on board played peaceful and cheerful national music to see everyone off. It was nearly evening, and the first day of the Dali tour also came to a successful conclusion.

The ancient city has a new look (Photo: Feng Ganyong)

Sightseeing the ancient city of Dali is the last activity of your trip to Dali. In the early morning of October 30, on the motorcade's way to Lijiang, everyone stopped here for breakfast, and then visited the ancient city of Dali. This is the second time a reporter has visited Dali since April 22, 1994.

Photo taken on the first trip to Dali (Photo: Kuang Yuming)

I remember that the reporter first came with the exterior scene team of the TV series "The Soul of Fishing City". He also took a photo with Mr. Huang Jianzhong, the famous director of the Beijing Film Studio, one of the members of the exterior scene team, in front of the city gate building in Dali. Eleven years have passed in the blink of an eye, and coming to the ancient city of Dali again feels that great changes have taken place. Not only have the stone roads been resurfaced, but the streets have also become wider. In addition, cultural landscapes such as Wuhua Lou have been built.

Wuhua Building (Photo: Feng Ganyong)

The ancient city of Dali has a long history. It is referred to as Ye Yu, also known as Zicheng. Its history can be traced back to the Tianbao period of the Tang Dynasty. Yangju Miaicheng (near the three towers in the west of the city today) was built by Nanzhao Wang Ge Luo Feng. The current ancient city was built in the 15th year of Hongwu of the Ming Dynasty (AD 1382).

The trail on the city wall (Photo: Feng Ganyong)

According to documentary records, the ancient city of Dali is "magnificent", with a radius of 12 miles. The city wall is 2zhang 5 feet high and 2zhang thick. There is a gate in the east, west, north and south, and there are towers on it, called Tonghai, Cangshan, Chengen, and Anyuan respectively. There are also corner towers at the four corners of the city, which also have their own names: Yingchuan, Xiping, Kongming, and Changqing. The outer wall of the city wall is made of bricks, with columns on the upper side and the ring ditch on the lower side. The market in the city is like a chessboard, with 5 streets from south to north and 8 alleys from east to west.

Corner of the ancient city of Dali (Photo: Feng Ganyong)

Of course, most of these buildings have disappeared today, and some are still vaguely visible. Now, part of the city wall of Nanbei City is still preserved. In 1982, the South Gate was rebuilt. The word "Dali" at the head of the gate was composed of Guo Moruo's calligraphy.

Walking into the ancient city of Dali (Photo: Feng Ganyong)

Especially today's ancient city of Dali is simple and quiet. The flowing stream in the city makes people feel refreshed. The Garden Tea House hidden deep in the streets and alleys is a good place for tourists to rest, and the newly opened "Foreign Street" has become a gathering place for foreign tourists. Snacks with Bai characteristics and the famous "Choucha" all make people feel unique and interesting. (Photo and text: Feng Ganyong)