From Zhonghe Temple you have a choice of paths running North or South, with each offering equally spectacular views of the mountains, valley and lake.
The northern route of 6km of path offers one of the sharpest cliff views of the entire Dali valley, and on a clear day you can see Jizu Mountain well beyond Erhai lake. At the bend in the main valley it also offers a path up the mountains for 2 km which ends at a mountain pool where you can take a swim on a warm day.
Northern view on the Cloud Path in the Cangshan Mountains
The southern route winds down for 11 km through a few valleys to Gantong temple. This hike will lead you to most of the sights mentioned below and will take 4-5 hours. You can even turn this into an 8 hour hike if you continue southwards Xiaguan along good paths (with several early exit points down the mountain) and enjoy the spectacular view.
A suggested route would be to take the chairlift up to Zhonghe Temple, take the northern path for 3km enjoying the clearest view of the entire valley, then head back south past Zhonghe Temple towards Gantong Temple. You can buy refreshments at the temple, so take a break, then keep walking the full 11km until you reach Gangtong. If you are not up to the full walk, you can exit the mountain about 3km past Zhonghe Temple down a well made stairway behind Dali Tianlongbabu TV City.
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Dali
Where To Stay & Best Hotels in Dali - updated May 2024
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Dali Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.
