Exploring China’s Fairytale Towns 🏯 | Kunming, Dali & Lijiang | Yunnan Travel Vlog

0:34 Hey everyone:) this week we are heading to China's

0:40 Yunnan province This area is known for its charming,

0:45 fairytale-like old towns and stunning landscapes

0:56 We arrived in the evening so we're

1:00 on the lookout for dinner The city is very modern While in Yunnan,

1:18 you have to try their fresh flower

1:22 cakes They’re flaky pastries filled with sweet

1:27 rose jam The rose jam are made from the province's fresh Damask rose petals

1:36 Got a bunch of different flavours Ooh wow they taste better than expected It's

1:48 delicately sweet and floral with a buttery

1:52 crust Stumbled across a food court Hmmm...

1:58 no thank you I got a braised chicken noodle dish instead

2:15 Let's do a quick accomodation tour (my mum booked this place,

2:20 well done mum!) It's modern and clean with lots

2:27 of great amenities Like a water dispenser where you can

2:32 control the temperature The hairdryer feels just like a Dyson

2:41 It's going to be a comfortable stay tonight Good morning,

2:49 our first full day looks like a rainy day We decided

2:56 to check out this city park that's about an 18 min

3:00 drive from the hotel I'll link each location that I visit

3:09 in my description box This park has an extensive lotus pond What

3:37 a lovely park in the middle of the city It's

3:42 a different kind of beauty seeing it in the rain Our next

3:54 location is a bus trip up to 'Longmen' which translates to Dragon

4:01 Gate Longmen is one of the most scenic sites in Kunming,

4:10 famous for its cliffside views From here,

4:14 you can either hike up or take the cable car

4:18 to the Dragon Gate Let's take the easy way up& off we go!

4:41 We are being lifted pretty high up There are no seatbelts so I feel

4:55 like I could just slip off and roll down the mountain Let's not do that...

5:08 It only took a few minutes to get to the peak The mist today adds

5:20 a mystical charm to the scenery The main sites to see are down these narrow

5:37 steps You’ll find temples and grottoes carved

5:41 into the very face of the mountain It's

5:46 said that a single Taoist devotee began carving

5:51 these walkways and shrines from 1781 The work

5:56 was then continued by artisans for over 72 years You get a panoramic view

6:04 of Dianchi Lake from up here too It's

6:14 really cool to walk through these carved narrow

6:21 paths We've finally reached the Dragon Gate

6:31 I think they say alot of students come

6:36 here to pray for good results These paths are all hand carved That was cool,

7:15 let's head back to Kunming for a traditional lunch We're

7:27 going to have a dish called 'Crossing‑the‑Bridge Noodles' It consists

7:36 of many small plates filled with raw or lightly cooked

7:42 ingredients There's so many different types of mushrooms To eat them,

7:51 you get a hot bowl of hearty chicken and pork

7:56 bone broth All the ingredients from the small plates

8:01 are added into the hot broth This looks incredibly

8:09 nutritious& finishing off with a chicken herbal soup Day 2:

8:25 We'll be taking a train from Kunming to Dali Dali is a peaceful lakeside

8:35 town nestled among mountains The train journey

8:40 from Kunming takes about 2 hours At first,

8:54 the view was all city streets and buildings Then gradually,

9:03 the landscape opened up into rolling countryside This is our hotel room in Dali,

9:36 it's bright and clean Love the aesthetics of the place,

9:50 another great booking by mum!

9:52 It has a Japanese-style toilet Bathroom looking

10:00 great too They also provide free unlimited teas,

10:11 coffees and soft drinks I got one of these flower teas that bloom in the water

10:26 A short walk from the hotel will lead you to the edge of Dali Ancient City Dali

10:43 Ancient City is a well-preserved historical town

10:48 The current city walls and architecture mainly dates back

10:53 to the Ming dynasty But its roots stretch back

10:58 to the 8th century during the Nanzhao Kingdom Today,

11:10 it’s been restored into a lively shopping street It's

11:25 a beautiful blend of old and new The mountainous

11:39 backdrop makes the townscape even more charming There's something

11:52 to see in every corner Before we knew it,

12:08 it was getting dark Let's find a place for dinner For dinner,

12:32 we ordered a variety of dishes recommended

12:36 by the waiter Yunnan is famous for its

12:46 incredible range of wild mushrooms So you’ll be

12:52 seeing lots of mushroom dishes from here on!

13:08 The hotel breakfast consists of steamed buns,

13:12 soft-boiled eggs, sweet potatoes, warm rice porridge,

13:16 and milk Not a breakfast I'm used to but I really enjoyed it,

13:24 especially the black sugar steamed buns Today we will

13:36 be visiting the famous 'Three Pagodas' As apparently it could

13:43 trap your spirit or luck After all pagodas are symbolically

13:48 meant to contain spiritual energy

13:49 0:13:53.235,1193:02:47.295 According to our driver,

13:51 you shouldn't take a photo with the pagodas

13:53 Behind the pagodas stands Chongsheng Temple It was

14:01 once the royal temple of the Dali Kingdom The complex is said to be in prime

14:22 Fengshui location with Cangshan Mountain as its

14:27 backdrop and Erhai Lake stretching out in front

14:52 There's a beautiful cycling route along Erhai Lake

15:06 This specific spot is called 'S-curve' and is

15:13 famous on Chinese social media You can hire

15:31 colourful bikes and cycle along the river You’ll

15:36 also find plenty of charming cafés and restaurants

15:41 along the street Xizhou Town is another historic

16:27 gem near Dali It has a beautiful lotus

16:32 lake that blooms during early September It's known

16:44 as the heart of the Bai ethnic minority

16:49 culture& you'll be able to spot some old,

16:55 historical buildings Their markets are also a great

17:11 place to get some street food Look at all

17:18 these mushrooms You can choose your ingredients and they

17:25 will stir fry it for you, smells amazing!

17:31 They're making the rose petal pastries we tried

17:38 on the first day Let's get some Chinese

17:51 pancakes because they smell so good It's really

18:09 good Finishing off with a salted plum kumquat juice!

18:17 Dinner time Wow their plates and cutleries are sterilised

18:30 in a bag We are having mushroom hotpot I've

18:47 never seen so many different types of mushrooms

18:52 in a dish There's also a hot plate to grill

18:59 your meats and vegetables Our plate is getting full

19:18 This has to be my favourite meal of the trip

19:23 so far It's day 4 and we are leaving Dali for Lijiang We’ve been hiring a driver

19:36 daily since Dali and now he’s taking us

19:40 around Lijiang as well I think its the best

19:43 way to travel in this area especially if you

19:47 have a group as public transport isn't the best

19:52 in these smaller towns Made a brief stop

19:57 by the roadside to check out the view The clouds are

20:05 so low down It's probably because we are

20:12 at a higher elevation There are so many spiders here though...

20:35 The main reason we're here is to visit

20:39 a cafe that's built into a cliffside For that we

20:51 have to head further into the old town

21:11 This used to be the private residence of Yang Liping,

21:16 a famous Chinese dancer It has now been opened to the public

21:25 as an artspace and cafe There are several different floors

21:34 and rooms you can explore or relax in It's amazing to think

21:55 that this used to be someone's home Being on the cliffside,

22:02 it reminds me of a fancy bond villain lair You can

22:08 freely roam the whole place and choose your favourite seat& they

22:15 will bring your order to you Got ourselves a cake and tea

22:34 set Enroute to Lijiang All the dishes here were so delicious,

23:09 I would recommend this place!

23:24 So this place is a bit of a curveball from the historical

23:35 sites we’ve been visiting How do I even begin to describe this place?

23:53 It's like a whimsical junkyard It's like you

24:16 stepped into Miyazaki's Howl's Moving Castle But there’s

24:33 a slightly eerie side to it Almost like

24:42 a post-apocalyptic fairytale It feels like I'm walking through

24:55 someone's dream You can also hire these 'cars'

25:11 to go around You can spend hours here if you're not careful Yet another old town

25:59 but this one’s ideal if you’re after a more peaceful,

26:05 less touristy vibe There's definitely less crowds

26:33 with this one Stopping by a cafe for a coffee This is the prettiest old town so

26:52 far With the willow trees and cobbled-stone streets,

26:57 I feel like I'm back in ancient China 'I

27:08 miss you alot in Lijiang' It seems like locals still

27:16 live here too You can catch glimpses of every

27:23 day life We're here at 'Chama Old Town' Unlike others,

27:39 this old town has tons of live shows

27:43 happening all around I can just about hear one,

27:49 let's go check it out Looks like a re-creation of a traditional wedding

27:59 ceremony We're going to catch 2 bigger shows next The first one is

28:20 outdoors (but the seats are shaded) It's a love story between 2 different

28:42 ethnic minority clans I wasn't expecting

28:47 the stage to start flowing water Overall it

28:54 was pretty grand and entertaining The next show is indoors It's a series

29:20 of stories about the different ethnic minority groups in Lijiang Lijiang is home

29:30 to over 20 ethnic groups The stage extends all around you They even

29:44 brought in live horses at one point This one was about the Mosuo people,

29:56 China’s last matriarchal society Honestly the whole set

30:04 up was amazing The stories were really engaging,

30:12 I’d definitely recommend catching this show We're here at the main

30:37 old town of Lijiang This is a UNESCO World Heritage

30:47 Site We found a random restaurant for dinner I hope you've

31:29 enjoyed seeing these wonderful towns See you in the next one