Erhai Lake

Erhai Lake is a beautiful lake located in Dali, Yunnan Province, China.

To visit Erhai Lake, you can rent a driver to take you around the whole lake OR you can rent a bike like I did.

I HIGHLY recommend to rent a bike for the day and ride north along the lake edge. It costs 20 kuai to rent a bike and you can find a bike along Bo Ai Lu in Gu Cheng (Dali Old Town). I found one that was near my hostel and made sure they closed late in case I got back later in the day. Some shops open til 6pm and some til 8pm. You can also rent it for two days if you wanted to spend a night in ShuangLang. 

The bicycle rental I went to didn't have a name but it's close to the street where Bad Monkey bar is located. It was 20 kuai for a simple one-gear bike. They also require a 200 kuai deposit that will be returned to you when you return the bike.

It takes about 30 minutes to ride from where I was to the CaiCun port. From there to XiZhou takes 1.5 hours. The roads are well paved and flat so there's really no need for a multi-gear bike, though maybe it would be easier on your legs. The multi-gear bikes range from 25-35 kuai for a full day rental. Most bike shops open at 8am so if you wanted to ride a bike to ShuangLang, you can give yourself about 10 hours RT. 

You will also pass by many villages along the ring road that you can stop by and check out. Many of them have markets, you'll have to check out the schedule with your hostel to see what the times and days are.

You will want to follow the signs for the West Ring Road while riding your bike. The blue signs are very well located and easily seen so you won't get lost.

You will also be able to see the farmland: