Following Wangwang and the feeling of 'Furball' makes the 5 hours pass by quickly. Hiking wasn't as exhausting as I imagined; overall, it was more joyful. I will come back during the mushroom season next time!
An extremely satisfying hiking experience! Guide Li was very professional and enthusiastic, introducing us to various plants and teaching us some hiking tips. Plus, the adorable dog 'Furball' accompanied us throughout, and the kids were excited all along. Although it’s not mushroom season, we were very lucky to find a porcini mushroom! Highly recommended!
My baby and I were very fortunate to enter the world of bees guided by a wonderful guide.
I first learned that bees are a matriarchal society. All the worker bees we see collecting nectar are female. The queen has a 'switch' inside her body that can freely control the sex of the eggs she lays; she only produces a small number of males. The only function of the male bees is reproduction. I can already recognize the larger male bees at a glance from the hive partition.
Bees have two stomachs. They use their mouthparts to extract nectar from flowers and store it in their crop, which is the source of honey we eat. It turns out honey isn’t made from pollen but from flower nectar. Before collecting nectar, each bee carries a bit of its own sticky honey to help turn pollen into a smooth spindle-shaped 'dough' that is tucked into their two sturdy hind legs. It’s easy to see in the hive—bright yellow, like two big chicken legs. My little one and I also saw how they unload these 'chicken legs' into the honeycomb cells. Guide Chunyu also said that after unloading, the honey is usually hammered with the head, similar to how we punch dough with our fists, to compress the pollen. Pollen is the main food for bees, like protein powder for humans. These details I couldn’t learn from books or documentaries before. Guide Chunyu gives a gentle and kind impression. I was very lucky to meet a beekeeper with over twenty years of experience working with bees, not someone who just started making money after a few years. All my curiosity and questions about bees were well answered.
Dali has always been caring towards me, including its natural environment.
Finally arrived at Cangshan and met guide Sister Waanwan. She took me along wild paths, picking flowers and identifying grasses, moving at a relaxed pace. We would stop to look at the shimmering leaves in the distance, bend down to touch the spores on the back of fern leaves; lift our heads to watch the wind pass through the treetops, blowing our hair askew.
I saw 'Lego' in plants, which can be disassembled and reassembled piece by piece; smelled the unripe goat milk fruit, carrying the unique grassy scent of the mountains and wilds; the firethorn flower, called 'Doujin' in dialect, which turns from white to fiery red when ripe; learned to braid a cool bracelet with sour-tasting buckwheat; saw the false sour jujube that can be made into icy jelly, hanging like little lanterns on the branches; even at the end of spring, a few forsythia flowers refused to leave the stage; and the leaf mimicry of the leafhopper, which looks completely different from the 'childhood shadow' in my memory.
Just like that, we gained a lot along the way. When we reached the creek, we sipped freshly picked black tea, enjoyed the slightly pink apple-flavored hawthorn, sweet blueberries, and mildly sweet green dates; while chatting about our hometowns, lives, work, and a bit of attitude.
When I started tapping the plants, I was still skeptical. Watching their shapes, textures, and colors, as the juice slowly seeped out and spread slightly, then came the rhythmic tapping hundreds of times. When I tore off the tape, I was truly amazed. I was so satisfied to have completed a co-creation with the plants.
A very meaningful activity, I really like the team leader sister. This is the happiest day in Dali.
This tea-picking experience at Cangshan was amazing! The guide is very knowledgeable about Cangshan's vegetation and tea culture, and she was accompanied by a soft, adorable little dog, which was very healing throughout the journey.
We ventured into the forest to pick wild tea. Guide Yanzi patiently explained the tea tree's growing environment and picking tips, making it easy even for beginners like me. In the afternoon, we laid out a picnic cloth at the pine forest viewing platform, placed freshly picked leaves, fruits, and snacks, and enjoyed forest afternoon tea with a panoramic mountain view—pine needles and tea aroma filled the air.
Finally, we could turn the picked tea into Cangshan White Tea and take it home, completing a full ritual from harvest to tasting. The guide was thoughtful and professional, and the little dog ran happily around. This was the most unforgettable nature experience in Dali. Highly recommended!
So happy!!! Will come again next time
Everything about the Cangshan forest wild tea picking was perfect!
