Goodbye Dali

Finally leaving Dali tomorrow. The snow delayed our plans by a few days but we managed to see the things we wanted to see in Dali (not much, but includes a gigantic Chinese chess set) and get in a few days of rest.

I also bought a nice memento of our time here. Everywhere you look, you see marble cutting places. Apparently Dali is known for its marble, especially the cross sections which look like mountain-water landscapes. The landscape pieces I found were unfinished and not particularly evocative of mountains nor water, so i opted for a nice bowl. That's right, of all the souvenirs I should not be buying since I'm lugging everything around on my back, a piece of marble probably ranks near the top, but alas, I bought it and I'm going to carry it.

Finally, the old town is catered to westerners and has a lot of "western" food, but none of it is authentic and leaves me really craving things like chocolate and real Americanized Italian food. I know, I know, not going to find that anywhere else in China either.