Dali

We are coming to the end of our 10-day tour and they have saved the best for last - the peaceful, quiet town of Dali.  In a beautiful location up against a mountain (on the other side is Tibet), the sky is blue, the water clear. Their produce is grown organically and they've prohibited any fast-food restaurants. The Chong Sheng Temple site was the largest, best preserved, and cleanest of any in China.

with reflecting pond

The Three Pagodas site is at the bottom of the hill and you climb to each progressive level. (We took a cart to the top and walked down so we'd have time to see everything.)






Just a sampling of the many beautiful temples:

In this last and tallest temple was this female Buddha, which stands in the center.

She stands four stories high

 Here is the view from the top:

There are something like 11,000 Buddhas at this site and such a wild range of styles. Here is just a sampling:

Wow! Wonder what the story for this one is!

I love the faces of these - Buddha, the teacher:

And then there were the warrior, protector guys:

And to finish up, just a sampling of the beautiful, peaceful landscaping: