The pattering light rain, the deep alleys, and the dark brown stone roads are the Dali we are familiar with, but the deep blue sky, the continuous mountains form a dam, and the daily life of the Bai people on a lake in the dam will make you think that this is not the real Dali, because everything here brings a little softness of the Jiangnan water town.

This is Dali Eryuan West Lake, a "plateau Jiangnan Water Town" not far from the ancient city of Dali.

From the name,"Eryuan West Lake" hides infinite secrets and a sense of familiarity.

"Eryuan" is a county under the jurisdiction of Dali Prefecture. Because it is the head of the water source of the Erhai Lake, it is named Eryuan.

At this point, people can't help but want to ask: Why can a county town on the plateau and the West Lake in the Jiangnan area be connected?

The answers to this question are all in the article. If you want to know, please continue reading!

Erhai Lake and West Lake is an attraction, but it does not look like an attraction because it is not crowded with people or crowded with people. The Bai people here still maintain their original simple and peaceful lifestyle.

As tourists, we need to keep our curiosity at all times to enjoy a journey, because every trip is a new start. Only by keeping our curiosity at all times can we discover the highlights of the journey.

It was autumn at this time, and the characteristics of Yunnan's rainy season were no longer obvious. There was no summer heat and there was a slight coolness in the autumn wind. With questions, we went to the Erhai Lake and West Lake to visit this exotic landscape.

If we rely solely on natural scenery in Dali, we seem to be unable to distinguish the four seasons, because the four seasons here are not much different. The top of Cangshan Mountain is covered with snow not only in winter, but also in spring. The continuous rain may be summer or autumn.

This phenomenon is the same throughout Yunnan, as is the Eryuan West Lake, which is part of Dali. It does not have four seasons, but only dry periods and wet periods.

Passing through the narrow door and walking through the not-so-wide path, it suddenly became clear. The distant mountains were far away, the peaks were piled with green mountains, the blue sky and white clouds were very close, clear and distant. The lake under this sky was peaceful, soft, shining with warmth. Light.

In autumn, Eryuan West Lake is still in the wet season. After drinking enough water, the Eryuan West Lake is round and slowly approaching. The boat stops on the shore. The lotus flowers in the lotus pond on the bank have long since blossomed, leaving only leaves. The ospreys are lounging in the sun by the wooden boat.

The scenery of Eryuan West Lake is similar to that of Erhai Lake. The water surface is calm and the breeze is warm. The low local houses where the water banks meet each other are connected one after another, gathering into a piece. The majestic peaks in the distance are like a broad embrace. Everything here is in your arms.

Leisure, tranquility, green, color, scenery, life, everything is charming!

Choose a wooden boat with local characteristics, follow boaters dressed in Bai costumes, and sail slowly in the lake road to watch the water and grass swaying, watch lake ducks fighting, watch waterbirds flying low and circling, watch the green grass, and a breeze. Ripples in circles.

Boats and people quietly passed in front of people's houses in the West Lake, startled the "recluses" in the reed swamps, listened to a natural symphony, and then followed the boat to deeper into the West Lake...

Tall reed swamps block the wide waterway, hidden houses are close at hand, and the taste of Jiangnan water town is like the old wine of Kaifeng.

The boat approached a little and suddenly saw a thin boy fishing for water plants. Not far away, houses after houses on the shore were also connected through alleys.

The residential buildings in Eryuan West Lake are not high-rise buildings. They are all two-story courtyards made of red walls and black tiles or white walls and black tiles. They are Yunnan's unique architectural method and Dali's unique architectural color. From a distance, they are integrated into the same whole and can be called "floating people".

The half-dead branches beside the house are immersed in the water, and vitality and depression coexist, becoming a unique landscape.

For two hours, wandering around the Eryuan West Lake, you don't need to identify the direction, you just need to slowly put in all the scenery. The journey at this time is slow and quiet. This kind of journey atmosphere is something everyone who likes Dali likes it.

It is essential to visit the Eryuan West Lake, but it is also essential to eat local specialties. The food here has local characteristics of Eryuan or Dali and is very authentic. Both the method and taste are different from other places.

There are three most famous and popular local specialties in Eryuan and even Dali: rawhide, sea vegetables (water-flavored poplar flowers), and hot and sour fish. These three dishes are also Dali's signature delicacies.

Almost every household in Dali can cook these three dishes. Among them, hot and sour fish is the most common dish, with hundreds of flavors, but almost all of them are mainly sour and spicy.

Among the three dishes, the most unique ones are "sea vegetables" and "rawhide". The uniqueness of sea vegetables lies in their scarcity of raw materials, their pure wild nature cannot be planted, and their seasonality is very obvious.

The biggest characteristics of rawhide are the difficulty of making and selecting materials. Although it is also a representative dish, it is not a home-cooked dish. However, this dish can be tasted in most restaurants in Dali, but the authenticity of the dip in water determines the taste of this dish, so you must choose an authentic local Bai restaurant.

The water of Eryuan West Lake, the unique wooden boat of Eryuan West Lake, the peaceful environment of Eryuan West Lake, the authentic local food of Eryuan West Lake, the entire West Lake has a comfortable atmosphere of Jiangnan. It is also a veritable "West Lake" on the plateau, and it has also become another leisure lake in Dali after the Erhai Lake!

Text typesetting: Reading Yunnan Yijing

Picture: Some pictures are provided by Dali Tourism Group. If there is any infringement, please contact and delete them.

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