Hiking Adventure Tour in Cangshan Mountain of Dali

I get asked this question a lot: “What’s your favourite place in China?”, and I wouldn’t think twice to answer, “Yunnan”. Well, it is indeed the province of the Shangri-la. It’s where paradise lies, and that’s no lie.

I travelled to Yunnan back in the summer, after touring Tibet, Chengdu and Jiuzhaigou with my family. I did the infamous Yunnan trail, which starts at Kunming, all the way up to the Tibetan villages close to the border of Tibet. My first-time ever solo journey started right in this province, at Dali, to be precise.

Dali Old Town is backpacker’s paradise in China, and has been one since the 80s. There’s a strong hippie-feel as you go through the alleys of the old town. While a lot of the area is commercialised, hosting souvenir shops, little cafes and cute, but noisy bars, it’s still a quaint area. And definitely a very refreshing break from China’s big cities.

In the background of the Old Town, looms Cangshan. It’s incredibly beautiful — green and mighty. Cangshan is famous for its Cloud’s Traveller’s Path. Legend has it that its called that because you’d be walking over clouds. But, maybe I’m making that up, I don’t know, but POINT IS. Cangshan’s Cloud Travellers Path is a very well-built path that stretches about 25km, through lush green forest, a few waterfalls and an incredibly beautiful view of Dali and Erhai Lake from an altitude.

And it must go on your bucket list right about now.

Because, as I said, this place is beautiful.

Cangshan looming above the quaint little street of Dali Old Town

As with every mountain in China there are two ways to get to the top: cable car or hike. And obviously by hike I meant climb sh*tloads of stairs. I decided to hike obviously, because I have a pair healthy legs that are still very much capable of climbing stairs. Except I soon realise that although my legs might work perfectly well, I am not by all means as fit as I thought I was. I was out of breath within like, less than half an hour of climbing. Oh, dear me.

I have to warn you though, the hike up to get to the actual path is boring. It’s just trees and abandoned cemeteries (I kid you not). Although, maybe I also kind of went to the wrong start of the path. Oops. So, the story goes that I was going to take the path closest to my hostel (I stayed at the Lily Pad, highly recommended!), but as with everything else in China, nothing is clearly signposted. I asked around some locals, got mixed answers and somehow pointed me to the start of the cableway instead. I don’t even remember what it was called, I couldn’t even find it on the map the hostel gave me. But anyways, there was an entrance for those who opt to hike instead of following the hordes of Chinese tourists paying an extortionate amount of money for the cable car. I got to the start of the hike and an entire sandwich, some Snickers bars and a whole bottle of water latter, I still haven’t reached the path.

It started to get frustrating, but giving up wasn’t an option. I soon realise this hiking trail I picked must have wounded in weird ways and God knows here will I end up in. I pushed through and I have never been so happy to see a stretch of road in my life, ever. I wanted to scream in excitement but was already way out of breath to do so.

I had to choose whether to turn right towards Zhonghe Temple or left towards Gantong Temple. If I chose left, it would be where I’ll end my hike, but I heard that the view towards Zhonghe is the best from the entire path, so I walked towards that direction. Sure enough, the view was magnificent. It was a bit foggy that day, not because of smog though, but because it rained a little the day before. However, it was still clear enough to see Erhai from afar. You really won’t realise how huge Erhai is until you see it from up above.

I took a glorious rest at Zh
onghe temple, topping up my water and bought more snacks. I needed to plan my descend, as it was already afternoon and I risk having to hike down in the dark. Not something I wanted to do, indeed. I asked the man who sold me water near the temple and asked him if I’d make the cable car down in time. Sure enough, he told me to be quick.

I tried to not rush my way through the path, as I don’t want to waste the experience. It was way too beautiful up there, and unlike the rest of tourist destinations, it was quiet. Of course, the occasional local tourist with some random Chinese electro-pop song blasting from their phones would pass by. But, they don’t come by the hordes like they did in Jiuzhaigou, so it calmed me down a little. As always, my pace slowed down because I couldn’t stop taking pictures. The path itself was pretty much flat, by the way, so it wasn’t as exhausting as the hike up.

I had to keep up my pace, though, as it turns out that the cable car I intended to ride down was apparently under renovation. Here’s an important tip: don’t fully trust the maps found along the path. Apparently they are outdated, and it wasn’t until I was at the actual supposed cable car station did I find the announcement of its renovation. I asked one of the workers renovating that cable car, and he told me to make a run for the cable car at Gantong Temple, as it closes at 5pm.

So, basically, I power-walked my way through the rest 5km of the path. I think I got there in record time. The ticket booth had closed by then, but there were a lot of people lining up for the cable car. I thought, “Well shit, I’m just gonna have to wing this one.” I lined up anyway, and when asked for the ticket I told them I haven’t bought any, but the lady let me in without hesitation. I just paid her the ticket price (50 RMB one way) and was ushered into the last cable car. I knew she wasn’t going to let me hike all the way down in the dark! So here’s a pro tip for the solo hiker/traveller: just put on a brave, confident face and wing it. You’ll solve your problem somehow.

I slumped into my seat in the cable car as soon as I got in. It was only then did I realise how incredibly tired and famished I was. I took the first “taxi” that offered to take me back to the hostel, and was relieved at how nice the driver was. Although, somewhere along the way he tried to set me up with his nephew, as all taxi drivers in China always do.

Once I reached my hostel, I jumped into the shower then collapsed on the bed soon after. My legs weren’t aching as much (yet), but it sure was a great experience. It’s not the highest of mountains, it’s not the toughest of hikes, but it sure was a relaxing way of getting in touch with nature after spending ages in the city.

So, if you ever wound up in Dali, get up that mountain. It’s only 30RMB to hike up and the view from up there is worth 10 times more than that, I can guarantee you.