Our very last morning in Lijiang we went to an area called Black Dragon Pool. It was located a little bit outside of the old town of Lijiang, and it was one of my favorite parts of the trip so far. It is a very serene park type of thing, with a very large pond located in the center right up against the mountain. It is very peaceful and quiet inside the park, and there are a few small pagodas located in the center of the pool.
We were quickly able to realize that many Lijiang locals come here for the serenity as part of a morning routine. As we walked around the pool, we found a group of locals practicing Tai Chi. In a nearby area along the pool, there was another group exercising, doing a very energetic activity that reminded us of a Chinese zumba. We were originally supposed to go to a museum here, however, it was closed on Mondays. Instead, our tour guide taught us Tai Chi right along the pool, which was extremely cool (and hard!) to learn. 
I thought it was amazing how the Chinese locals come here for various reasons, particularly to get their exercise in. It shows a completely different way of living and sheds light on Chinese lifestyles. Tai Chi and other Chinese exercises seem peaceful, able to be picked up on by anyone, and most importantly, respectful toward Chinese tradition and culture. It was interesting to contrast this toward American ways of exercising.

We then traveled a few hours by bus to Dali. We didn’t do too much in Dali on the first day, however, we were able to walk the part of town near our hotel a bit. Dali reminded me of a less-ancient Lijiang. The setup was very similar of a town that revolves around an old-town and new-town, complete with small shop after small shop. The differences lied in the fact that Dali was even closer to the mountains, and Dali had an overall feel of a “vacation town.” It was a little bit brighter than Lijiang, it was noisier, there was more green, and the streets were much wider. The town reminded me a lot of Estes Park, CO, which I visited this past summer.