Dian-Qian Road Trip (8) One of the Three Islands of Erhai Lake - Nanzhao Style Island

Dian-Qian Road Trip (8) One of the Three Islands of Erhai Lake - Nanzhao Style Island March 6 (Sunday) Dali Weather: Clear, 5-20°C; today's highest altitude is the same as yesterday. Last night, the guesthouse was not well chosen. The location was great, convenient for coming and going, and the commercial area was bustling, but since it was the weekend, there were many tourists and noisy voices, making it hard to sleep. Fortunately, today we only toured locally, no long-distance travel. This area belongs to the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, with a temperature difference of more than 15 degrees between morning and evening, a very obvious temperature variation, like two seasons. At 9 a.m., we caught the first boat to visit the nearby Nanzhao Style Island. Nanzhao Style Island (4A) is one of the three islands of Erhai Lake, located in the prime area of the Cang-Er National Scenic Area—Shuanglang Town at the northeast end of Erhai Lake. It is a must-visit place when touring around Erhai Lake (Photo 1). The island is surrounded by water and faces Cangshan Mountain (Photos 2, 3). Cangshan Mountain is located on the west side of Erhai Lake. Viewed from the east side of Erhai Lake, Cangshan and Erhai Lake are like a pair of siblings, inseparable. At this time, there were few tourists on the island. The island is not large; it takes about fifteen minutes to walk around it. We looked out at Cangshan from several viewing platforms on the island, with excellent views, but the distance was too far. Even with a drone flying out 1200 meters, it was still out of reach. The white building on the island was originally a hotel but has been abandoned for many years. Such a prime location now serves only as a prop in photos (Photos 4, 5). After lunch, we drove counterclockwise along the lakeside road to visit Dali Ancient City on the west side of Erhai Lake. Dali Ancient City (4A) is located under Cangshan Mountain and beside Erhai Lake. The ancient city is square-shaped with walls around it, featuring four gates and four gate towers. Since its construction in the Ming Dynasty, it has lasted more than 600 years, with its scale and layout basically unchanged (Photos 6-8). In the evening, we stopped by the famous "Three Pagodas of Dali." Chongsheng Temple Three Pagodas (5A) are the symbol and emblem of Dali. The main pagoda is called Qianxun Pagoda, standing 69.13 meters tall, built during the Tang Dynasty Nanzhao Kingdom period (833-840 AD); the two smaller pagodas to the north and south are both 42.19 meters tall, built during the Dali Kingdom (1108-1172 AD). The Three Pagodas of Chongsheng Temple combine the functions of promoting Buddhism, warding off disasters and evil, and sightseeing, possessing extremely high historical, cultural, and architectural value. The scenic area was already closed when we arrived, so we viewed and photographed it from outside, fulfilling our wish (Photo 9). We returned to Shuanglang Town at 8 p.m. After a day and a half of brief touring, we gained a deeper impression of "Dali’s scenery lies in Cangshan and Erhai, and Cangshan and Erhai’s scenery lies in Shuanglang," which condenses thousands of years of Dali’s cultural heritage and fully displays the imperial capital style of the Nanzhao and Dali dynasties spanning six hundred years. Tomorrow, see you in Lijiang.