Clear Skies, Gentle Breezes: Let's Meet in Dali — Go Where the Wind Takes You

Prologue: A Serendipitous Connection with the "Fairy Sister"

When I think of Dali, three images always come to mind: the Dali Duan family from Jin Yong's wuxia novels, masters of the legendary "One Yang Finger"; the mysterious and romantic ancient Nanzhao kingdom from the video game Chinese Paladin; and the hit TV drama Meet Yourself that swept social media earlier this year. Interestingly, all three of these memories are tied to one person — Liu Yifang (Crystal Liu). From Wang Yuyan to Zhao Ling'er to Xu Hongdou, this "Fairy Sister" seems to have an unbreakable bond with Dali. So, in a moment when life felt suffocating, I decided to go experience this land of "wind, flowers, snow, and moonlight" for myself.

To be honest, the trigger for this trip was those deeply healing scenes from Meet Yourself: the lullaby-like Cradle Song, the wheat fields swaying lazily in the wind, the boundless grandeur of Cangshan Mountain and Erhai Lake, and those warm-hearted locals who make you feel all fuzzy inside. If you've never been to Dali, you might wonder: is it really that beautiful in real life? With a six-day, five-night itinerary, I won't claim to have seen everything Dali has to offer. But if I told you the answer right away, wouldn't that spoil the surprise?

Pre-Trip Prep: Where to Stay, How to Get Around, What to Wear

Accommodation: From Quiet Corners in the Bustle to Lakeside Romance

I stayed at three very different hotels on this trip, each with its own charm.

Dali Ancient Town · Su Shi Ji Hotel (17th–20th)
Price: 499 yuan/night
This hotel has zero negative reviews on Ctrip, and the owner is incredibly warm. After a phone inquiry, we added each other on WeChat, and they answered every question in detail. Breakfast is a set meal with balanced nutrition — the rice noodles (mixian) were even better than the street-side stalls. The hotel's recommended driver, Master Ma, drives smoothly and is very reliable. The location inside the ancient town offers a peaceful retreat from the hustle and bustle. Only downside: the hairdryer is terrifyingly loud, and it takes forever to dry your hair.

Shuanglang · Akaitya Seaview Resort Hotel (20th–21st)
Price: 869 yuan/night
I was sold by a guest photo on Ctrip. This hotel opened in October 2022, so everything is new, and the view is spectacular. The butler service is almost embarrassingly attentive: they help with luggage at the parking lot, bring afternoon fruit and bedtime desserts, and even give you a parting gift. Breakfast is excellent too. Downside: the tatami room is a bit small, not ideal for families with kids.

Kunming · Lavande Hotel (21st–22nd)
Price: 314 yuan/night
Just 500 meters from Kunming Station — easy to find. My husband has a certain membership level on Ctrip, so we got a room upgrade. The room was surprisingly spacious.

Transportation: A Comedy of Errors

Choosing a Flight
I hadn't flown in four years, so to calm my nerves, I chose Sichuan Airlines — after all, it's the airline featured in The Captain, with plenty of experience flying over plateaus. That said, landing in Kunming was still pretty bumpy; the ladies next to me were trembling. Luckily, we made it safely. A word of advice: domestic flights are often delayed, especially during peak season. Our outbound flight was delayed because Xiaoshan Airport had a fire the day before, and our return flight was affected by bad weather in East China. Moral of the story: always leave plenty of buffer time.

Where to Fly?
If you're only visiting Dali, many people don't recommend flying directly there. First, the high altitude and strong winds make landings unstable. Second, delays are frequent. We opted to transit through Kunming: fly there, then take a train. There are plenty of trains from Kunming to Dali, with Kunming South Station being the popular choice. After landing, take Metro Line 6, then transfer to Line 4 — about 1.5 hours to Kunming South Station. Here's where our luck ran out: we booked two high-speed trains. One was delayed; the other was canceled entirely. We almost didn't make it to Dali that day. When we asked why, they said "the network went down." After arguing with the staff, we finally squeezed onto another train. On the way back, we learned our lesson and arrived in Kunming a day early.

Driving Tips
If you're driving from the Hangzhou area to Xiaoshan Airport and want to save money, you can park at a nearby lot. Use the "Xiaoqiang Parking" app — about 20 yuan/day. Most of these lots are converted farmland, basic but functional, with a shuttle service. Just note: you'll need to pay the toll for the shuttle when picking up your car.

Local Transportation in Dali
For the west side of Erhai Lake (Haixi), rent a bicycle or e-bike. For the east side (Haidong), a car or private driver is better. If you don't have a car, Didi (China's Uber) works fine, but it can be hard to get one during peak hours. For Shaxi Ancient Town, I'd recommend hiring a private driver — I'll explain why later.
As for bikes, there are plenty of rental stalls. They're cheap and photogenic: 10 yuan/day for a single bike, 25 yuan/day for a three-wheeled cart that seats two. The downside is you have to return to the same spot. Another option is app-based rentals: yellow bikes (bicycles) and blue e-bikes. The advantage is you can pick up and drop off anywhere, no need to backtrack. But they're more expensive: the first 30 minutes on a yellow bike cost 3.5 yuan, then it gets pricier. I rode for 4 hours and paid less than 40 yuan. Pro tip: yellow bikes have a "temporary lock" feature — look for it in the app. If you ride to Longkan Pier, there's no designated parking spot, so if you just leave it, someone else will take it.

Special Reminder
Dali's traffic isn't great. Dali Station is still under expansion, and many roads to the attractions are narrow. In the ancient town and Xizhou, you'll even see "pumpkin carriages" (horse-drawn tourist carts). If you're a confident driver, you can self-drive; otherwise, hire a driver or stick to cycling.

Clothing and Photoshoot: Be a "Wind" Girl

Before leaving, I followed several photography bloggers on Xiaohongshu (China's Instagram) and debated whether to book a professional shoot. Once in Dali, I realized photo studios are everywhere — you can't walk a block in the ancient town without passing one. Prices are similar: just makeup and costume rental costs 150–199 yuan; adding a photographer starts at 399 yuan. The 399 yuan package typically includes 30 raw photos plus 6 retouched ones. Raw photos are given on the spot; retouched ones depend on the studio's efficiency.

Our Two Shoot Experiences
The first was at Longkan Pier, at a studio called "Zhaoye." It opened last year, with a good selection of costumes. I chose an exotic-style outfit, and the photographer kept complimenting me non-stop — my confidence was through the roof. But the retouching was slow: they promised 7 days but took 15. I sent revision requests, got a reply 4 days later, and still hadn't received the final edited photos by the time I wrote this.
The second shoot was at "Jingpingshe" in Shaxi Ancient Town, the largest studio in town. The owner is the photographer himself, fully equipped — he brings two fill lights and two cameras for daytime shoots. He doesn't just shoot with a wide-open aperture; he composes shots that blend with the ancient town's scenery. Very artistic. Fuji cameras really do produce beautiful colors. The owner has a great sense of humor, and the retouching was fast — I got the photos the next evening. You can find their work on Xiaohongshu.

Temperature and Dressing: Sunscreen! Sunscreen! Sunscreen!

During my visit, temperatures in Dali hit nearly 30°C (86°F). Summer clothes are fine during the day. But the温差 (temperature difference) between day and night is significant, so bring a windbreaker-weight jacket. The trendy local shawls are practical, though locals told me they're not actually traditional clothing — no one knows how they became so popular.

Key point: Moisturize and protect yourself from the sun! I'm saying this from painful experience — I got sunburned. I brought two jars each of moisturizer and sunscreen, plus a sun hat, arm sleeves, sunglasses, and a sun protection mask. The one thing I skipped was a sun-protection jacket (thought it'd be inconvenient for photos), and every bit of exposed skin got burned.
If you don't want to pack a lot of clothes, both Dali Ancient Town and Shuanglang Ancient Town have plenty of clothing stores with nice styles. You can just shop when you arrive.

Day 1: Dali Ancient Town — A Nighttime Surprise

Our hotel was very close to the east gate of the ancient town, which faces Renmin Road. The hotel offers pickup service (you pay the fare — about the same as taking a taxi from Dali Station). Pickups can be arranged up to 8 PM at the latest. Since our train was delayed, we asked the hotel to send a car, which is how we met the chatty Master Ma — we later hired him to drive us to Shaxi.

The "pumpkin carriages" in the ancient town are a local specialty, but watch out for safety. Local cuisine features flowers in everything. We headed out for food around 10 PM and found a street stall at the alley entrance selling rolled rice noodles (juanfen) and grilled milk fan (kao rushan). I liked the juanfen; my husband preferred the rushan. The juanfen was sour and spicy — very appetizing. We also tried the famous "exploding tofu" (baojiang doufu), which was pretty good.

Day 2: Ecological Corridor + The Windy Courtyard — A Day of Chasing the Wind

Hotel breakfast was good. First stop: Longkan Pier, about 3 km from the ancient town by taxi. The drop-off point is surrounded by bike rental stalls and a yellow bike parking spot. We didn't want to backtrack, so we chose yellow bikes. Longkan Pier has many trees growing right in Erhai Lake — beautiful to look at, but hard to photograph well on your own. If you want to capture the sparkling lake surface, you need to be there before 10:30 AM. I had a photoshoot booked, but by the time my makeup was done, it was 11:30 — I'd missed the golden hour.

We had lunch at "Yueyue Kitchen" next to the photo studio: waterlily and taro soup (shuixing yanghua yutou tang), yellow braised chicken (zha gao — deep-fried style), tree bark stir-fried with eggs (shupi chao dan), and rose yogurt jelly (meigui suanna dong). I wanted to order "XX酿" (a type of stuffed dish), but it contained alcohol, so I had to skip it.

From Longkan Pier, we cycled north to Caicun Village, along the highly recommended Erhai Lake Ecological Corridor. We rode slowly, stopping frequently to take in the lake, the lawns, the Bai-style guesthouses, and the sightseeing carts with singers on board. This stretch is perfect for taking your time.

The Windy Courtyard (Youfeng Xiaoyuan)
Located in Fengyangyi Village, this spot now requires a reservation to enter. You can buy tickets on Dianping or Meituan. There are four time slots per day; I recommend the 4:30 PM slot, because after 6:30 PM, no new guests are allowed. We stayed a bit longer taking photos that day, and the owner didn't rush us. The later it gets, the fewer people there are — a much better experience.
Fengyangyi has been put on the map by Meet Yourself, but the courtyard is really the only attraction in the village. At the village entrance, there's a sign saying "Windy Courtyard — This Way." It's not big. There's a small wooden sign hanging on a tree inside the village. If you have time, you can wander around.
The courtyard's common areas, Xu Hongdou's room, Master Ma's meditation spot, and Da Mai's writing corner — every corner brings back scenes from the show. The tea and snacks included in the package were pretty good too.

We got back from Fengyangyi around 7 PM and rushed to the ancient town for the famous "Tree House" (Shuxia Xiaoguan) bridge-crossing rice noodles (guoqiao mixian). Even late at night, it was packed. The broth was mushroom and chicken soup — incredibly savory. The boiling hot broth in the clay pot, loaded with toppings, washed away all the fatigue of the day.

Day 3: Shaxi Ancient Town + The Windy Cafe — A Journey Through Time

We set out at 7:30 AM, but people in Dali live on a slower schedule — the hotel breakfast hadn't even started yet. We found a breakfast shop that opened at 7 AM and had rice noodles — the same kind Xie Zhiyao often invited Xu Hongdou to eat. Objectively speaking, the taste was average; nowhere near last night's guoqiao mixian.

Shaxi Ancient Town
Apparently, foreigners discovered the beauty of Shaxi before the Chinese did and funded its "restoring the old as old" renovation. The Windy Cafe from Meet Yourself, the spot where Xu Hongdou and Grandma set up their stall, Ouyang Courtyard, and the Ancient Tea Horse Road — all were filmed here. Surprised? It's over 100 km from the Windy Courtyard in Fengyangyi.
We chose to hire a private driver to Shaxi because transportation is inconvenient: there's a winding mountain road, including a short stretch of unpaved yellow dirt road, and the lanes are very narrow. Master Ma left a good impression — he knows local history and culture well, and his prices were reasonable. Along the way, we saw a highway under construction; locals said it should be open by summer at the earliest, or by the end of the year at the latest.

Shaxi in the Morning
At 9:30 AM, Shaxi was incredibly peaceful — almost no one around, and the street-facing shops were still closed. This is what an ancient town should feel like. A few art school students were scattered around, sketching. Walking to Sifang Street (the central square), you'll see the ancient stage — this is where the promotional dance for Yunmiao Village in Meet Yourself was filmed. Next to Grandma's stall spot is a big tree, where students were sitting and drawing. Yu Jin Bridge is where Xu Hongdou first arrived with her luggage to start her new life.

Jingpingshe Photoshoot
My husband strongly encouraged me to do another ethnic costume shoot — he's obsessed with the style worn by actress Yang Chaoyue. I searched Xiaohongshu late at night, found "Jingpingshe," and decided to check it out. At first, the staff seemed a bit aloof, but I soon realized that wasn't the case. When I looked cold, the receptionist auntie draped a faux fur coat over me. The makeup artist started teaching me local dialect after a few minutes. The photographer slowly asked if I wanted coffee, then made me a cup. I later learned that the receptionist, the makeup artist, and another woman are three sisters — all descendants of the Ouyang family. The photographer is the owner, an old-school artist with a dry sense of humor.
If you're used to standardized, cookie-cutter photo studios, this place might take some getting used to. But then I thought: isn't this exactly what I came to Dali looking for? Ordinary but unique people living life at their own pace, making a living with their skills, and sharing fascinating stories when you chat with them.
Of course, there were drawbacks: the makeup artist only had narrow double-eyelid tape, which wasn't great for my heavy-lidded, deep-set monolids. The photographer focused on composition, lighting, and layers — but my face has its limits; some angles had great light but didn't flatter me. Still, we agreed on 30 photos minimum, and they actually took over 100.

The Windy Cafe and Librairie Avant-Garde
After the shoot, we went to the Windy Cafe. The food was nothing special — you're really paying for the experience. This is where Nana worked as a barista, and where Xu Hongdou agreed to become the restaurant manager.
The trendy bookstore that appears multiple times in Meet Yourself is based on Librairie Avant-Garde, about a 10–15 minute drive from Shaxi. Having seen plenty of trendy bookstores in Jiangnan (the region south of the Yangtze), we found this one just okay. Transportation is also inconvenient — the road to the bookstore is a narrow village lane, barely wide enough for two cars to pass. Unless you have a special attachment to the show, you can skip it.

A Surprise on the Way Back
On the winding mountain road, Master Ma stopped at a viewpoint. There was a fully equipped RV there, owned by a guy from Guangdong who'd been parked there for three or four months. He was wearing a red armband — probably a forest protection volunteer. He'd set up a canopy, decorated the area, and even filmed a short video for me. The only regret: in all the excitement, we left my husband's sun hat behind. Whether we'll get it back is up to fate.

Day 4: Haishe Park + Xizhou + Shuanglang — The Joy of Self-Driving

Today, we started our self-driving adventure. We chose a rental shop near Dali Station that could deliver the car to the ancient town. Heads up: with so many tourists lately, the rental shops are short-staffed, and deliveries might be delayed. Book an earlier time slot to be safe.

Haishe Park
Navigation showed that the "Corridor Bridge" (a popular photo spot) was closed, so we went to Haishe Park instead. After parking, we walked along the Erhai Lake Ecological Corridor to the "Couple Trees" area, then rented the famous tourist bikes to ride into the park. These two spots are good for photos, but the UV was too strong, so we didn't linger.

Xizhou Ancient Town
On the way to the town, we grabbed the first parking spot we saw with an empty space — the roads are narrow country lanes, and you have to share them with horse-drawn carriages. The wheat fields were packed with people. Unfortunately, the wheat was in that awkward stage between green and yellow — not very photogenic. We had lunch at "Xilin Yuan · Rice Field Restaurant" inside Yangxiang Residence. I ordered "carved plum spareribs" (diaomei xiaopai), which was sweet and sour from the preserved plums — delicious, though my husband wasn't a fan.
The iconic Corner Building was insanely crowded, but once you pass the intersection, the crowds thin out. We found a milk tea shop called "Xizhou's Tea" with a charming traditional courtyard where you can sit, feel the breeze, and enjoy a drink. The Pu'er tea ice cream was fantastic. I'd been craving Xizhou flatbread (xizhou baba), so we bought one sweet and one savory — only to realize this "post-meal snack" was way too filling.
On the way back, we stopped at the trendy "Pessoa Cafe" and took a photo at the spot where Xu Hongdou buys groceries. Before leaving, we visited a local tie-dye experience center.

Coastal Self-Driving
The navigation system automatically chose the highway route to Shuanglang, but we switched to the coastal route instead. With the Meet Yourself soundtrack playing, we drove slowly and leisurely — absolutely delightful. Near Shuanglang, we saw many cars parked by the roadside, with people sitting by Erhai Lake enjoying afternoon tea, and plenty of mobile coffee vans.

Shuanglang Ancient Town
Our hotel was on Yuji Island, with a perfect location. The rooftop terrace was beautifully decorated, and our room came with complimentary afternoon tea. We sat on the terrace having tea and taking photos — not many people around, very relaxing. Directly across from the hotel was Nanzhao Customs Island. Special reminder: the rooftop is very windy; be careful not to let your belongings blow away.
Along the coastal road in the ancient town, there's a postcard shop called "Three Lives Have Letters" (Sansheng Youxin). A basic postcard costs 5 yuan to send. My best friend and I have a tradition of sending each other postcards, so I sent one.
We had no other plans for the day. We just sat on the hotel terrace, sipping afternoon tea, and waited quietly for the sunset. After sunset, we went to a famous local Western restaurant and ordered a baked rice dish and a grilled pork chop. When we returned to our room, dessert was already waiting on the table. The room had a wide selection of drinks, all refillable, and they gave us a flower-pastry gift (xianhua bing) as a parting gift.

Day 5: Wencun Village + Ideal State + Xingsheng Bridge — A Final Tour

I had planned several stops for the day: Luwo Mountain, Xiaoputuo Island, Wencun Village, Ideal State (a Mediterranean-style complex), and Xingsheng Bridge. In reality, there were plenty of unnamed spots along the coast where you could pull over and explore. We ended up skipping Luwo Mountain and Xiaoputuo for in-depth visits. Along the way, we passed a place you can navigate to by searching for "Shuangdao Wanghai Yuzhuang Homestay" — there's an archway formed by two trees, perfect for photos.

Epilogue: What Dali Taught Me

Six days, five nights. Not too long, not too short. Dali feels exactly like Meet Yourself described: time moves slowly, people are genuine, and the scenery heals your soul. Of course, it has its quirks — the sun that burns your skin, the trains that love to be late, and the little imperfections hidden in the details.

But it's precisely these imperfections that make Dali real. It's not a filtered "utopia" — it's a place with the smoke of kitchen fires, with warmth, with stories. If you ask me whether Dali is worth visiting, I'd say: go. Go to where the wind blows, and meet yourself.

Finally, a few tips for your trip: 1. Sunscreen! Sunscreen! Sunscreen! I can't say this enough. 2. Plan your transportation in advance, especially for places like Shaxi that are hard to reach. 3. Choose your accommodation wisely: a peaceful spot inside the ancient town, or a romantic sea view in Shuanglang — each has its own charm. 4. Don't stress about photoshoots — sometimes the imperfect experiences are the most memorable. 5. Slow down. Dali isn't for "checking off" attractions. It's for living.

The sky is clear, the breeze is gentle. May you, in a place where the wind blows, meet the version of yourself you've long missed.