Photo Diary: Dali Day-in-the-Life

August in Yunnan, China

I spent most of August in Dali, Yunnan with my 4 year old daughter. Yunnan is in southwestern China, and it is to China as Arizona/the Bay Area/Aspen is to the US. Arizona because geographically that is about where it sits in the country (US and China are about the same size), and also because Yunnan celebrates an indigenous culture of ethnic minorities + has a sort of hippie-wellness vibe. The Bay Area because Yunnan is just perfect, temperate, sunny year round, and also it situates itself around a large body of water. Aspen because it’s a vacation getaway that’s quickly gentrifying into luxury.

The whole family flew out for the first week, but then my husband and M (1-year-old) went back home to Shanghai. Husband had to go back to work and M to his routine with grandma and nanny and all his toy cars. It was not an easy decision to separate from him for an extended period of time (nearly two weeks). But he is prone to illness, that little one, and I did not feel confident in navigating the Dali hospital system on my own in case he got sick. Shanghai, with its international hospitals and English speaking staff, is very easy for me to handle.

During the weekdays, H attended a nature day camp run by a local kindergarten. Three of her classmates from her Shanghai school also enrolled, so they were happy to have each other. She had an amazing time chasing butterflies, fishing in streams, building insect hotels, and baby-ziplining. She’s this kind of city kid who can sit inside and draw all day and screams bloody murder if she sees a single ant across the room. (Basically, she is just like me.) I am hoping to expose her to more nature at a younger age, to counteract this predisposition… She had a blast. :)

Lake Erhai - H’s kindergarten day camp was just along the shores of this beautiful lake

After dropping off H in the mornings, I’d sometimes come back to the hotel to do some writing in the room

Did a bit of laundry every day or two. In muggy Shanghai, laundry moulders on the balcony for days, damp and dripping. Under the dry Dali sun, everything was dry in an hour.

This was my writing desk, hotel rooftop!

Lake in the front

Mountains in the back

We took care of two butterflies for a couple days; then H went to the mountaintop to release them

Updates from camp: H, fishing around in the lake

Sometimes I took walks along Lake Erhai. Maybe every photo looks the same. The beauty of this place is impossible to capture.

Princess H! Playing in the dirt!

Becoming a local mushroom dealer at market. I loved all of the activities they provided at this school.

Excuse this little interlude! (: H and I did some making up and glamour photos around the old town. On weekends we reverted to our truest girliest selves.

Rainbows, nearly everyday

Daddy flew back for a few days to pick us up. We looked out at the lake some more. :)

Taking care of one child! The luxury, the leisure. The incredible memories and bonding. I’ve decided that I want to do a mother-daughter trip every year. And document it with a photoshoot, of course ;). And when M is old enough, trips for him, too. We’re back in Shanghai now, and you can’t imagine how much I hugged, kissed, pinched, coddled that boy. At first he was so happy for it. Now, he’s like, Mom, ENOUGH, let me play with my cars.