But where do you live? I am looking between Cangshan Lake and Erhai Lake.
The plane circled and landed, and Dali outside the porthole became bigger and bigger, circling Erhai Lake, and the leucorrhea became wider and wider, which was the reflection of the dense roof. B&Bs are mainly distributed in the ancient city of Dali sandwiched between Cangshan Mountain and the west bank of Erhai Lake, and the double corridors in the northeast of Erhai Lake. Entering the city from the airport, the journey to the south will inevitably reach Xiaguan Town, the southernmost part of Erhai Lake. Dali ancient city and double corridors are the choices to go left and right.
"Shimonoseki wind, flowers, Shimonoseki wind blows flowers. Cangshan Snow, Erhai Moon, Erhai Moon reflects Cangshan Snow. " This is a famous sentence written by the writer Cao Jinghua describing the beautiful scenery of Dali. But in Xiaguan Town, which has become the center of Dali, and it is winter, the wind can only blow the cement forest. The towering and sharp architectural shapes in urban areas always make people feel that man-made houses are not mistakes, but like bumps left by smearing mistakes on paper.
Maybe it's the same in the ancient city? So I ran east to the double gallery, where the scenery was the best. In the plateau area, clouds generally travel very fast, and there is often a pool of green lake at the foot of the mountain. The clouds between Cangshan Lake and Erhai Lake are particularly diverse, especially in the wide Erhai Lake, and the double corridors opposite Cangshan Mountain are the best places to watch. JASON ZHANG, the director who filmed Living Elsewhere, was one of the first strangers to notice the beauty of the Double Gallery. He once recalled that at the beginning of this century, he would always go to the artist Zhao Qing's home on Yuji Island in Shuanglang, facing Erhai Lake, and spend an afternoon watching the clouds and the sunset. "It's raining here in the ancient city, but it's sunny in Haidong, and as long as it rains in the ancient city, the clouds seen from the double gallery are particularly spectacular. When the rain stops, you can see the clouds spread slightly and shed huge Jesus light from the hole. "
"Go through a narrow alley leading to the seaside, no matter how broken the alley is, you will understand at the end." My mind is haunted by the feeling that a designer has built a house in Shuanglang for more than ten years when he first came. I went down to Erhai Lake by the Double Gallery, but I couldn't understand his shock. Tourists are weaving, shops occupy almost all the open spaces by the sea, and the huge cruise ship on the water can't even see the size of half Nanzhao Island on the shore. There are more than 400 inns all over the narrow hutong. I shuttled among them, looking for those inns whose swimming pools can lead to the sea, only to find that the long arm of the excavator reached into the sea. Due to ecological management, the part outside the ecological blue line of Erhai Lake was demolished.
There is also an inn overlooking Erhai Lake halfway up the mountain, and there is a pond parallel to Erhai Lake at the entrance of the inn. Taking a step back from the pond, you can always find the feeling of being in the same strain as Erhai Lake. But the more you face the beautiful scenery, the more you reflect on the essence of the hotel. Compared with hotels, the standard of comfort cannot be lowered. Apart from hardware facilities, it seems particularly important whether the host is interesting or not. Even if the host can take the guests to play, that would be great. Dali is famous for gathering all kinds of people from all over the world. Dali ancient city should be a well-deserved gathering place for these people. As early as 1980s, when Shuanglang was a fishing village, hippies from Europe and America came to this ancient city from Thailand and Myanmar.
Go west to the ancient city. Hyperopia and myopia are different. The low gray-topped white wall does not set off the light blue Erhai Lake. The homestays in the ancient city are all small and medium-sized scenes in the courtyard, and a tree or even a potted flower shows the ingenuity of the people. I came to the ancient city to visit JASON ZHANG and learn what the New Dali Circle is.
"In the 1980s, MCA in Nimakai was the most famous. At that time, many foreign hippies came to Dali. Nima catered to their needs and opened a bar on the street first. Later, cafes and bakeries appeared one after another, becoming a foreigner's street, and Renmin Road was another scene. Nima himself is a painter. MCA will be a gallery at first, and part of the space will be an exhibition hall. Artists like Ye Yongqing and Han Xiangning will hold exhibitions here, and sometimes even paint together. Later, when more people came, Nima turned the three exhibition halls into Datong stores. Many people like it very much. Men and women live together, which is very relaxed and free. " JASON ZHANG came to Dali from 1998, and was the first foreigner from China to come to Dali. Later, several people simply partnered to open their own inn behind MCA as their own "manuscript room". At that time, what he missed most was a large group of people sitting on the people's roadside, drinking a glass of orange juice or coffee and basking in the sun all day. All the people passing by are acquaintances, nodding and greeting, just like the Beijing Painting Academy where he lived as a child. "When you walk in the street, your mobile phone can automatically connect to Wi-Fi. Eating or having a party at night is on call. At first, it was just the idea of two or three people. Finally, hula can come to a dozen. "
As long as these people are in Dali, the community lifestyle will not disappear as soon as their mobile phones ring, but JASON ZHANG said that because people's road is not allowed to sit in chairs, he has almost no place to stay in the ancient city. 20 16 is the turning point of the ancient city. At that time, the landmark Dolphin Ade Bookstore moved away from Renmin Road because it could not afford the rent, which marked the increasingly serious commercialization of the ancient city. At that time, MCA Inn was transformed into a high-end hotel by foreign capital, and JASON ZHANG's inn there also disappeared.
When I met JASON ZHANG, he closed his house in Shuanglang and was busy decorating his new home near the ancient city. I walked to Renmin Road, where they once basked in the sun, and clothing stores and snack bars could no longer see which city they were born in. Only the bride who stood in the middle of the street and took pictures attracted people to recite the poem of Bian Zhilin: "You watch the scenery on the bridge, and the people who watch the scenery look at you upstairs."
Although there are exquisite homestays in the ancient city, the most important scenery is gone. I heard that all the idle people have moved to the periphery of the ancient town. I went north to Yinqiao Town, which is close to the ancient city, and found Ryotaro, a Japanese with long hair and beard, with radishes on his back. But I didn't find a homestay where his master was waiting for guests to visit at home. Following Taro's route of selling carrots every month, I finally found my master and his home called "the happiest person in Dali" at the foot of the mountain in a rice field not far from Erhai Lake.
"They say I am the happiest person in Dali." When 40-year-old Pan met me, he had just returned from swimming in Erhai Lake, and his hair had not been taken care of. Although Dali is sunny in winter, we basically wear sweaters and jackets, but he wears a leather jacket with a tight fitness vest inside, with tendons faintly. "I loved swimming when I didn't come to Dali. I have been swimming in the outdoor swimming pool for more than ten years. The air here is so good that it will be wasted if you don't exercise. "
He came back in a hurry because we had eaten and rested in his yard, fearing that we would not take care of ourselves. His host family has only one house. There is a pomegranate tree in the yard. A small building with two floors and a tea table at the door. The first floor is a living room except the guest room. On the second floor above the living room is a bamboo kang with a small coffee table and two futons on it; Separated by a Chinese sliding door, the other side is the guest room. The side facing the courtyard is full of glass windows, showing the fields outside the courtyard and Cangshan Mountain in the distance. The beams and wooden doors of the small building have been polished and painted with wood wax oil. The wall of the living room is the original appearance after the stone scraped off the soil. You can tell at a glance that it is a remodeled old house.
"I have been thinking about every detail. The bed is customized by me, the bed board is made of local wood, the fabric of bedding comes from the local area, and the handicrafts in the living room are tie-dyed in Zhoucheng. I hope that guests can feel the local characteristics in the room, and some guests will feel good and buy from us. " Pan counted from hardware to software. "Pay special attention to the water temperature when taking a shower. When I used it in Hangzhou, I found that three or four people can wash the same brand of water heater continuously. It's hot and cold here. I hired a worker to repair the pipeline, but it was no problem. Later, it was found that because the voltage in the plateau and the village was unstable, we had to put more water in advance. "
Pan talked to us as if he were entertaining guests every day. Although he doesn't live in a shop, he comes here every day. He confessed that he was originally brought to Dali by his family from Hangzhou.
"At that time, my wife was coming to Dali to be the younger brother of the inn with her." Pan is from Yangzhou. He used to do clothing wholesale business. He and his wife bought two suites in Hangzhou, and their children can go to a good local primary school with hukou. He called his brother-in-law "elder brother". He remembers that in 20 12, his brother "encouraged" him to squeeze out 20 days to accompany his wife to Yunnan to visit all the famous cities around Dali. He thought it was just a trip, but his wife moved the idea of settling in Dali. "She told me at the time that in Hangzhou, it was nothing more than making more money, taking care of the children, buying a house, and making life easier in the future. But this idea is wrong. I can still enjoy it in the future, and I don't know what it has become. It is better to enjoy it now than to enjoy it later. "
Pan was persuaded. He himself hates the wary interpersonal relationship in big cities. When eating with others, he should think about other people's motives, just worrying about their children going to school. Six months later, as soon as the child's problem was solved, he sold the house he was living in and came to Dali with his wife and children. "I thought at that time, I must need money to come here, and the house must be sold, but I have to leave a set and leave a retreat for myself. However, I have to sell the one I live in, because if I really go back and the other one needs to be renovated, it will be too much trouble, and I can't go back immediately. "
I was curious to see that he chose this "middle of nowhere" place at that time. He explained to me that at first he wanted to follow the trend and open a homestay in Shuanglang, so that he could live a comfortable life and earn some income. But at that time, the seaside price was either a partnership with other companies or a one-time price of10 million to 20 million, which made Pan flinch. At that time, they traveled all over Dali. Three kilometers outside the ancient city, next to the only road leading to Huanhai Road, they saw a small courtyard facing the rice fields. "At that time, I didn't want to do anything. I just want to rent it first and then I can live by myself. "
However, due to the lack of clear goals, Pan fell into an idle situation in his first three months in Dali. Seeing his depression, his brother-in-law took him on a trip to Thailand. Compared with the homestay in Thailand, he thinks it is more suitable to be a restaurant. At that time, his brother-in-law rented hundreds of acres of land not far away to make an organic farm. Meat, eggs and vegetables on the farm are ready-made raw materials for restaurants. Because there are many Chinese restaurants in the ancient city, it is difficult to compete. They chose western food and invited Spanish chefs and chefs from Cuihu Hotel to do it themselves. "When I was decorating, I was pulled into his social circle by my brother, learning sweets from Hong Kong, learning coffee from Kunming master and learning flower arrangement from Polish girls." Pan is busy again, but he is no longer as monotonous as when he was in Hangzhou.
The restaurant is next door to us, separated by a door. This is why Pan later tried to rent this single-family house. After the small courtyard of the hotel was built, a complete model was formed in his heart. The passage between the dining room and B&B is located in the kitchen, with curtains blocking the door. If you are not staying in a hotel, it is difficult for outsiders to notice. Part of the courtyard wall is an extension of the kitchen, which extends to a hot pot restaurant facing the roadside.
"It is convenient for people in the yard to go to the restaurant to eat, and the waiter can also bring the food to the yard. If the guests want to eat hot pot, I will take them to pick vegetables in our field. " He was very proud of this design. As we were talking, the waiter from the restaurant next door came to our yard to "pull the grass". "That's our own basil, which is used to make pizza."
I saw two bicycles hanging on the outer wall of the restaurant. Pan said that this shows his love for cycling. He has been fascinated by kayaking recently and is going to put one beside him. "My life now is very regular. I sunbathe and swim in the morning, manage the restaurant in the morning and wait for friends to get together in the afternoon. After so many years in Hangzhou, I have only one or two real friends, but it is very simple here. People who know swimming add a WeChat and meet every morning, and they become good friends. "
"I once thought about opening a homestay by the West Lake, but I didn't dare to do it at all. Not to mention, even guests who have paid the deposit have to check out, and I don't know how to stipulate the time limit for not refunding the deposit. " Pan knows that not all people can be as relaxed as he is. There is a brother-in-law Hong Jiaming behind him, and everyone in the homestay circle calls him "Jia Ming". He was the first foreigner to open an inn in Shuanglang.
"My brother's biggest change here is having a tattoo. He loves to deal with people, and Dali is especially suitable for him. " I met Jia Ming next to Pan's yard. As a native of Yangzhou, Pan is strong, fair-skinned and tall, but he has dark skin and short hair, like an ascetic. I went to Pan's farm with him, which Jia Ming rented on 20 12, a hundred steps away from his brother's homestay:
90 acres of land, inlaid with a lake, in which stands an island. Pigsty and chickens and ducks are hidden outside the fence, and geese are in the middle reaches of the lake. The lake separates farmland from grassland. The organic fertilizer-flavored farmland was divided into small pieces, and each piece was planted with a vegetable brand. Horses are grazing on the grass, and the island in the lake is full of rabbits.
Jia Ming and I walked to the middle of the grass, from there to the west, across the rabbit island. At present, Cangshan Mountain is covered with clouds, and taro carrying a straw basket is halfway up the mountain. Jia Ming told me that every other month, there will be a famous life market in Dali on this grassland. No matter JASON ZHANG or taro, people from all corners of Dali will come here to set up stalls or sweep goods, including agricultural products, cooking, handicrafts and so on.
Farms, restaurants, markets, I found Jia Ming spreading a business ecology that connects all the new Dali people. He told me that this is related to his origin, just like all foreigners who come here.
"I have been backpacking since high school, getting in touch with environmental affairs and traveling all over the world. Later, my family felt that my work was not in place and I was under great pressure. Because I like to stay in a youth hostel when I am outdoors, I want to open a youth hostel. I went to Lijiang to study, help people to work, went down to Dali, and saw the lake and broad bean fields in Erhai Lake, which felt like the hometown of Jiangnan, so I decided to stay. " Jia Ming told me that Shuanglang was still a fishing village. When he saw the domestic cows and plum trees, he decided to open an inn here. "My inn was originally built with a cowshed."
Since then, Jiaming has never stopped building houses, but just as the original Shuanglang fishermen didn't like the strong wind by the Erhai Lake, the house by the lake was the least valuable. For Jia Ming, although the blue and scorching sunshine by the lake made him feel pure, when he entered his thirties, he no longer adapted to the enthusiasm of his youth, but turned his heart to the countryside and cared more about the daily life of daily necessities.
For the sake of his family, he thought of growing vegetables without chemical fertilizer and raising chickens and ducks that grow naturally. He is a farmer and can also work in the fields. "In addition to 90 mu, there is 100 mu next to it." When Jia Ming rented the present land, with his knowledge of environmental protection, he found that there was something wrong with the land near Erhai Lake. After learning from local villagers, I learned that there used to be two lakes connected to Erhai Lake. During the Cultural Revolution, lakes were reclaimed and filled. "The lake I see now took me more than a month to recover with 9 trucks and 4 excavators. The other piece was filled very shallowly at that time, and it is still a depression. " Different from Pan, Jia Ming came to the farm, rebuilt the yard rented by the farm, and had a venue and pastoral products. He also wants to be a classroom for educational experience. His family has been in grinding bean curd for generations, and he wants to put the stone mill in it.
Pan has a strong family background in Dali's homestay. Jia Ming said that since you are looking for him, you have to listen to him, but to outsiders, the family helps each other. Pan's wife and Jia Ming run the farm together, and Jia Ming comes out to be a homestay alone. Seemingly independent, it is actually a window to experience his agricultural products. Jia Ming returned to the courtyard of the hotel and pointed to a row of low stools outside the wall and said to me, "Although it is in the countryside, do you think there is a sense of street?" The window facing the outside of the restaurant is very small, which is the feeling of a street canteen. "
The road in front of Jiaming is wide enough to park. His idea at that time was to build this street leading to Erhai Lake. At present, there is only one yogurt shop next to his home. Last year, this homestay was badly decorated. /kloc-more than 0/800 homestays were demolished by the seaside. The tenants are all tenants, and everyone is silent. Pan has sold his second suite in Hangzhou and settled down. Jiaming will go out to work in Jiangsu and Zhejiang for a long-term livelihood.
(Thanks to He Wu for his great help in this article)