Yunnan · The Dream Path

In the morning, head up to Cangshan Mountain — the spine of Dali, with nineteen peaks and eighteen streams cascading down its ridges. You can take the Ximatan Cable Car to the summit (about 40 minutes, climbing over 1,500 meters in elevation) and look down at Erhai Lake spread out like a blue silk ribbon beneath you. If you prefer not to go all the way up, walk the Yudai Yunyou Road — an 11.5-kilometer path that cuts across the mountainside, with pine forests above and cliffs below.

In the afternoon, visit the Chongsheng Temple Three Pagodas — Dali's oldest standing structures. The main pagoda, Qianxun Pagoda, rises 69.6 meters and was built during the Nanzhao Kingdom; the two smaller pagodas date back to the Dali Kingdom. The three have stood together for over a thousand years, surviving more than 40 earthquakes. Behind them lies the vast Chongsheng Temple complex, where nine Nanzhao kings are said to have taken monastic vows.

When night falls, Dali Old Town lights up. Stroll down Renmin Road — canal water glides past red lanterns, street-side bars and grill stalls hum with warmth. For dinner, wild mushroom hotpot is a meal you simply can't skip: a slow-simmered broth of free-range chicken and pork bones becomes the base for fresh seasonal mushrooms — matsutake, porcini, termite mushrooms, bamboo fungus. The first spoonful is always the broth, dissolving the day's fatigue in a single sip.