Let the bird do all the work

After Lijiang we headed to Dali via a short bus hop of only four hours. If all goes as planned, this will be our last sizeable bus ride of the whole trip. This is hugely satisfying. Dali is another cool historic old town like Lijiang. We hadn’t planned on going here at all until we met some guys at the gorge that told us of an overnight train (vs. overnight bus from Lijian) that we could take to Kunming, which is where we would fly to Beijing. So we jumped. With only one day to spend in Dali what do you do? Our guesthouse owner offered two suggestions: hike a mountain above town that offers scenic views of the city and lake below or go cormorant fishing. We’d been spoiled rotten of scenic views at the gorge the last couple days and never heard of cormorant fishing so the decision was easy.

The goal of cormorant fishing is like any type of fishing: catch lots of big fish. The difference is that the actual finding and catching of fish is outsourced, to the cormorant birds. A flock of about a dozen birds accompanied us around the lake and our two guides would grunt instructions and remove the fish once the cormorant caught them in its gullet. The fish are too big for the cormorant’s throat, so the only way to get the fish out is by the assistance of the guide. By the end of the day these cormorants had one heckuva haul. Forget the fishless excursions filled with knotted lines and bloody worms, where do you buy yourself one of these cormorants at home?

Allison successfully speaking Chinese to get us directions on bike ride to fishing village. One of several times the iPhone Chinese language lesson application came up big in China.

Me with our guide and one of our distinguished fisherbirds.

Purging the gullet. The reward for the cormorant is that most fish he catches are small enough for him to swallow. In the case when it isn't, the guides happily help him clear his throat.

Way to go Curtis the Cormorant! This guy just deserves a name.