Yunnan Tour - A pictorial essay of Shaxi ancient town in Dali

 I was on a 8 day tour of 4 cities in Yunnan, Kunming, Dali, Lijiang and Shangri La, visiting the touristy sites and taking a peek into the lives of the minority tribes in this mountainous southwestern province of China. There are many minority tribes here. Our guides were from the Yi, Naxi and Tibetan tribes, driver from the Hui tribe. Many of the businesses were owned by the minority tribes with some earning the stature of being among the top few richest and prominent players in the economy of Yunnan.

The people here are very busy doing their businesses and participating in the growth of Yunnan's economy and in the growth of China's economy in general. China is spending a lot of effort and resources to promote tourism by upgrading the infrastructure in anticipation of a boom in the tourist industry. The transportation, accommodation and associated facilities are adequate and very well organised and professional. The toilet facilities are expansive, clean and well designed, modern and could handle a hundred tourists at one time. 

38 countries have been granted 30 days visa free to enter China. This is going to be another big source of revenue for China where tourists can get real value for money in safe and enchanting China with thousands of years of history.

The people in Yunnan are participating in the booming tourist industry in particular and the province's economic development in general, and getting wealthier and comfortable in their way of life. I will post more pics of the places visited. Below are some pics of a pictorial essay of a little town called Shaxi,沙溪古城,  made famous in a TV series called, To a windy place, 去有风的地方, starring Liu Yifei and Li Jian, 刘亦菲和李现 .  Shaxi, an ancient town of a few hundred year, in Dali, is one of the few Horseback Tea Road still standing. Here is the first installment of my tour.

 

Entrance to Shaxi ancient town of a few hundred years. The horseback tea trade had a stop in this town. Click to enlarge pics.

 

View of the river and mountain from entrance of Shaxi Town.

Street of Shaxi. The Cafe/home of the TV serial was a short distance from here. A wet day when we visited.

 

This is the Cafe/home in the TV serial. Tourists gathered to take photos.

 

Open air theatre stage in the town square.