Can it really only be day two in China?

Making taffy in Dali Old Town

Wow, so much has happened and we are taking in sights, smells, sounds, feelings we probably had no idea existed before! Breakfast was a wonderful choice of either Western style (pancakes, omelets) or Eastern (noodles with spicy vegetables, congee) and then we were off for the day. Many dancers rented electric scooters and tooled around town, unfortunately, not being successful at the ATM to change money, but having a blast. Some just had down time, leaders changing money and getting a keyboard and amp for our performances, also getting posters made to promote our residency at the Linden Centre. Afternoon saw more folks borrowing bikes and a whole troop of us, led by Michael through windy streets and tiny towns to shores of Èrhai (Ear) Lake, to join lots of domestic tourists. We strolled along a cobbled pathway to a green park, on the way stopping to see a man with cormorants, paying 1¥ (about 15 cents) to have our pictures taken holding the poor creatures, who are tethered to a perch and wait their turn to be lifted up by the neck and placed on the upturned palm, shoulder, or behind the head of the lucky tourist.

These cormorants were traditionally used for fishing in the lake, but now with pollution and changes in lifestyle, they are no longer used for that purpose. One of the Linden Centre employees, Michael, used to work in a lakeshore hotel that was closed, like many others, because they were part of the heavy pollution of the lake.

We looked at lovely handcrafts, bought small fried fish on a stick and rose petal popsicles, then Jennifer and Deborah Payne sprung for a ride in a pony cart back to our bicycle impoundment. We took another way home, Deborah Payne and Jennifer bringing up the rear on their bicycle built for two.

Riding to Èrhai (Ear) Lake