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About us
About Cangshan Hiking Home
Walk with people who genuinely know Dali’s mountains, villages, and everyday life.
We are in DaliWe bring mountains, villages, and good company back into the journey.
We do not build checklist tours. We turn nature, craft, villages, and seasons into small journeys led by people who live here.
38Guides6Stories926Reviews
Jason | Using AI to Create Your Own Mini Program/Website
Two months ago in Chiang Mai, I stumbled upon the chance to start learning how to build mini programs. My AI programming mentor, Wangshen, told me, 'Once you finish your mini program, write a summary report.' Now I've completed the new mini program for Cangshan Hiking Home, and it's already being tested. It not only solves problems I've wanted to address for a while, like adding age tags to filter activities and providing an English version, but it has also introduced new features, such as browsing restaurants, guesthouses, and meeting points on a map for a more intuitive experience, and using AI to provide quite intelligent responses.
Learn AI Programming Together
Some information about AI programming
Celebrate the Torch Festival in a Nanzhao Royal Clan Village
Over the past two years, we have taken guests to celebrate the Torch Festival in Songhe Village, Eryuan. Together we slaughtered a sheep, and with the whole village, erected a huge torch in the center of the village square. Everyone made their own torches from hemp stalks, and together with the older and younger villagers, we rushed to grab the blessing baba (cakes) from the big torch, passing blessings to each other with fire. Even for me, a native Bai person, these are rare and precious traditional festival experiences. Dali has endless festivals, and I want to experience them more before they fade away. I remember the Torch Festival of my childhood: torches were no longer enough for me. Before the festival, I would tell my dad to prepare a bucket of waste engine oil and diesel, mix them together, and then I would tightly bind cotton and old cloth with rope into a ball (some kids would secretly take cotton from their quilts at home to make it). Finally, I would make an iron wire ball, soak it in the bucket of oil, and secretly take it out every day to look at it, looking forward to having a great time on the day of the Torch Festival. We would compete in the village and by the rice fields to see whose fireball or torch was more impressive. When the torches and fireballs were almost burned out, we would rush home, walk around the potted fruit trees in circles, and say blessing words, hoping they would grow even better in the coming year.
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At the time of departure, a drizzly rain was falling. I originally thought it would affect the market experience, especially since it was a completely open-air event. Sitting in Xiao Li's vintage van, I felt both excited and nervous. The rural market in Weishan is completely different from the farmer's markets we often visit in the north. In particular, seeing locals bargaining over donkeys and calves in the livestock trading area was very interesting. At noon, our guide Xiao Li took us to eat local smoked meat; the chili condiment was super fragrant, and the price was unbelievably affordable. In the afternoon, we visited Like Ancient Village. There were no other tourists, and the light rain actually made the place feel quiet and peaceful. This was a trip that exceeded expectations, far from the commercial atmosphere of Dali city, allowing us to experience true relaxation. The guide Xiao Li was professional and gentle, able to answer all the questions we asked. On the way back, he even proactively asked for our hotel address and dropped us right at the hotel entrance, saving us a lot of effort.
