8 September 2024
The distance between Kunming and Dali is about 350 kilometers. Taking the frequent and convenient high speed train is the best and the most popular way to travel between these two cities. The high speed train would take about 2 hours while travel by road would be double that. All bullet trains depart from Kunming and arrive at Dali East Railway Station.
For foreigners to book and buy the train tickets online is possible but the process is quite cumbersome. Hence, we bought our tickets through a local travel agent who also arranged our private tour of Yunnan.
Another thing about ticketing in China is that there are no physical tickets. Everything is done online, stored in the computer systems and linked to your IDs. For us, we had to provide our passports details to the local travel agent. We had to ensure our names and our details are correct as we will not be able to board the train if there is any typo error or discrepancy in the information.
Trains depart on time and we had to arrive at the station about an hour before departure time to verify our tickets/identities and go through security checks before entering the boarding area. We were taking the G2848 train from Kunming Railway Station to Dali Railway Station, departing at 18:31 hour and arriving at 20:36 hour.
Kunming station is huge and it was very busy. The security is strict, almost like boarding a plane at the airport. My son’s aerosol hairspray was picked out by the luggage scanning machine and was confiscated. They are very particular about fire since any fire in the bullet train’s compartment can spread to the rest of train in seconds due to its high speed. There are also many warnings about severe penalties for smoking on board.
Once cleared, we entered the boarding area and it was crowded. We had time to get something to eat before boarding but there was not much places serving food. We bought some sausages from a convenient stall but it was not enough to satisfy our hunger.
We had time to eat some burgers at Dicos (Chinese KFC). Everything about China is about scanning QR codes and using the apps on the mobile phone. When buying from fast food restaurants and coffee stalls, we had to scan a QR code to get the cafe’s menu displayed on the Alipay or Wechat apps in our mobile phone. Once we submit our orders, payment is through the integrated Wechat or Alipay app. The staff in the restaurant is only focused on preparing the food.
Our train to Dali was at Platform 6B and we had to watch the display for our turn to board. Usually 15 minutes before departure time, the passengers would be asked to queue at the boarding gates.
For locals, their e-tickets are linked to their national ID. So they just had to scan their ID at the gates. For foreigners, we had to queue at the manual queue and hand our passports to the attendants. They will verify our identities and then scan our passports to verify our e-tickets.
Boarding the high speed train at the platform is similar to those in Taiwan or Japan. There are markings on the platform floor indicating the carriage number where we had to stand and wait to board. Electronic boards would indicate which train is arriving.
Boarding was swift and easy. The train usually stops about 3 to 5 minutes for passengers to alight and board.
Good luck to those travelling with huge and heavy suitcases. Luggage had to be placed on racks above the seats or in the space in between the seats. The seats in the first class carriage has a lot of leg room, so placing the medium-size suitcases in front of our seats was feasible. There are 3 seats per row in the first class cabin.
It was raining during our trip and there was not much to see outside since it was also night time during our journey.
We arrived at the Dali East Railway Station as scheduled and met up with our guide, Alice, and driver from Dali. The train station is located in the new city of Dali called Xiaguan.
From the train station in the new city, we had to endure a 20 minutes drive to the Dali Ancient Town where our hotel is located. Fortunately, the rain had stopped when we left the station!
Our hotel for the next two nights would be the Dali Landscape Hotel. After checking in, our guide brought us to Kaiyi’s Kitchen, a restaurant located within the ancient town for our supper. This restaurant, along Foreigner’s Street, serves both Western and Chinese dishes.
During our journey from the train station to the hotel, Alice told us that Dali is best known for its four natural wonders which are 風花雪月 (wind, flowers, snow, moon) - the wind in Xiaguan, the flowers in Shangguan, the snow on Cangshan mountain and the moonshine on Erhai Lake.
Hence, she recommended that we try the local beer with that name. It is a pale lager that is easy to drink and has a slight floral note.
Drinking the Wind Flower Snow Moon - Specialty by Yunnan Dali Beer Group at Dali Old Town.
Kung Pao Chicken.
Tasty but very spicy fried rice. The green stuff is not spring onions but sliced hot chilli pepper.
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