After a few relaxing afternoons in Dali, my travelling companion and I stopped basking in the sun long enough to muster the curiousity to book a tour around Erhai Hu, the lake next to which Dali is situated. At 40 km in length, it requires a hired van (or several days on a bicycle) to encircle.
For our measly efforts, we were treated to a chauffered ride with strategic stops in adjacent villages, including a boisterous journey through a Bai marketplace in the village of Shaping. Our visit was two days before the Chinese New Year, so the bustling market was positively bursting with activity.
A favorite stop during the day involved taking a rowboat out to a tiny island, the total surface area of which could barely contain a temple to Guanyin (the Goddess of Mercy). This being China, however, it certainly had enough room for food vendors.
The food vendors on this tiny island pretty much all sold the same things -- fresh-water lake shrimp. Fried, skewered, grilled, or trapped in a gluey pancake, the tiny crustaceans were the featured attraction.
The cool thing about the rampant availability of the shrimp was the fact that vendors, nestled on the island's tiny shores, were pulling the product straight from the lake. Each one had a basket, anchored by a line, floating in the lake, collecting its wares. Every few minutes, the vendor's assistant would collect the contents of the basket (usually chock full of wriggling shrimps) and add it to the stock of ingredients.
Also popular were handfuls of fried tiny fish.
A vendor gave me a few to gnaw on -- I found them salty and fishy, but without distinctive taste. Their freshness was not lost on me, however.
Given the small size of the island and its temple, which looked to be able to hold just under 10 people, we were bewildered by the large number of vendors.
But as we got in our rickey rowboat to go back to shore, we saw a huge Chinese tourist boat bearing down on the island. We watched the enthusiastic masses pouring off the boat and scooping up handfuls of river shrimp skewers, and nodded in understanding. The masses do appreciate lake-fresh seafood.
Posted by Astrid at February 24, 2005 05:26 AM