Jinsuo Island, Dali: Ferry, Longgong Cave and a Quiet Bai Village

Jinsuo Island (金梭岛) is the largest island in Erhai Lake and the only one where a Bai fishing community has lived for generations. It sits off Haidong on the lake’s east shore, five minutes by ferry from Tacun Pier. Jinsuo Island has no entry ticket. The only thing you have to pay for is the boat.

Most visitors still pay more than that, because sellers at the pier push cave-and-show combo tickets, and the show is the part our guests complain about most. This guide covers what’s on the island, what the ferry and cave should cost, and the half-day route we use. It also covers food, staying the night, the pier traps and how Jinsuo compares with Erhai’s other islands. By the end you’ll know which extras, if any, are worth paying for.

We’re on Jinsuo Island with guests almost every week; prices, boat frequency and times here come from those visits.

1. What Is Jinsuo Island?

Jinsuo Island is a 1.8 km ridge of dolomitic limestone off Haidong, on the east side of Erhai Lake in Dali. The Dali Cangshan UNESCO Global Geopark explains that a north-east fault and later water erosion shaped it, leaving it narrow in the middle like a weaving shuttle. Dali’s culture and tourism bureau calls it the largest island on Erhai.

That shape gave Jinsuo its name: “Golden Shuttle Island”. Local legend says a fairy weaver dropped her golden shuttle into the lake, and it became the island. You’ll also see it listed as Jinsuo Islet, Jinshuo Island or Jinsuodao.

Jinsuo Island is the only Erhai island where people still live and fish. A Bai fishing village of grey-tiled courtyard houses fills much of the island, with nets and shrimp traps hung by the doors. The lanes pass a Benzhu temple (the village’s own patron-deity shrine) and a handful of cafés. Tradition says Nanzhao kings kept a summer retreat here, but nothing of it remains to see. The village is the reason to come.

Jinsuo Island is NOT Nanzhao Customs Island, the theme-park island off Shuanglang. It is NOT Lixiangbang either, the white “Santorini” resort village on the shore opposite.

2. Is Jinsuo Island Worth Visiting?

Jinsuo Island is worth half a day if you want a quiet walk through a working Bai village, looking across the water to Lixiangbang and the Luoquan Peninsula. It isn’t worth it as a sightseeing stop. There’s no major monument, and the facilities built for visitors, from the cave show to the toilets, are basic. We’ve planned Dali trips since 2006 and take guests to Jinsuo Island almost every week; some of our itineraries go to Nanzhao Customs Island instead (section 9 compares them).

What our guests liked

What guests mention first is how few people there were, especially compared with Dali Old Town or Shuanglang. Next they mention the west-shore walk and the Forget-Me-Not Lawn at the far end of the Longgong Cave. One guest said the lawn felt more like a beach in Sanya than a lake in Yunnan.

“Dali in the middle of the Chinese summer holidays, and a place like this still exists. I couldn’t have imagined it.” — Steve, guest from the UK

“Order a coffee and sit there all afternoon. It feels like a real holiday: no one queuing for photos, a world apart.” — Jonathan, guest from the US

What they complained about

The complaints are just as consistent. The song-and-dance show inside the cave tops the list, and guests who bought the combo for it called it lip-synced, rough and dull. Food comes next: island restaurants charge more than the shore, and a whole fish for one person can pass ¥150. Almost everyone mentions the public toilets, which are poor. Guesthouse reviews split between guests who loved their lake-view room and guests who found it stuffy, with a bumpy tricycle ride to reach it.

None of this spoils the island if you go in expecting a working village, not a resort.

3. What to See on Jinsuo Island

Jinsuo Island has three things worth your time: the fishing village and its west-shore path, Longgong Cave with the lawn behind it, and a few viewpoints across the lake. The island is long and narrow. The boats land on the east side, facing the Haidong shore, and that’s where most day visitors stay. The west side faces the open lake with Cangshan beyond it, and it’s much quieter.

The west-shore path and the fishing village

We send guests along the west side first. The shore path runs past the Benzhu temple, old courtyard houses and a few cafés, with the open lake and Cangshan in view the whole way. Before 11:30 AM you’ll have much of the path to yourself.

The lanes inland are worth a slow loop too. This is where the islanders live, so keep your voice down and ask before photographing people.

Longgong Cave and the Forget-Me-Not Lawn

Longgong Cave (龙宫, also sold as Dragon Palace Cave) is a natural karst cave inside the island, lit with coloured lights among the stalactites and stalagmites. A fishermen’s cooperative on the island runs it, according to Dali’s tourism bureau. The cave holds 18–20°C all year, which feels cold after a summer afternoon, so carry a thin layer.

At the far exit, the tunnel opens onto the Forget-Me-Not Lawn (勿忘我草坪), a stretch of grass facing Erhai where guests sit and take photos. There is NO path round to the lawn from the village; the cave tunnel is the only way in.

A song-and-dance show runs inside the cave, usually at 11:00 AM, 2:00 PM and 4:00 PM, with extra shows in the summer holidays. Arrive 10 minutes early for a seat. Whether the ticket is worth it is covered in section 4.

The best viewpoints and light

Stone steps near the Yihao Dayuan restaurant (壹号大院) climb to the island’s viewpoint. It’s the widest view on Jinsuo: Lixiangbang’s white houses on the shore opposite, with the Luoquan Peninsula (罗荃半岛) running out into the lake beside it.

For an afternoon break, the second-floor terrace of the café 喵在金梭 (Miao Zai Jinsuo) on the east side looks straight at Lixiangbang. It’s at its best from 3:00 to 4:00 PM, when the sun is behind you.

If you’re staying until evening, walk the west-side boardwalk at sunset, when the sun goes down behind Cangshan.

4. Getting There and Tickets

You reach Jinsuo Island by a 5-minute ferry from Tacun Pier (塔村码头) on Erhai’s Haidong shore, below Lixiangbang. Show your driver “金梭岛码头” or “塔村码头”.

Getting to Tacun Pier

• Taxi, DiDi or a car with driver: the easy way from Dali Old Town. In our day plan, the drive from Dali to Lixiangbang takes 30 minutes. → Book a private car with driver
• Bus: the Haidong line from Dali Railway Station runs to the pier for ¥5.
• Driving yourself: parking at the pier is tight, so arrive early on holidays.

What the boats cost

In the daytime a boat leaves every 10 minutes. Two kinds of boat do the run, and the price gap comes from the boat, not the route.

Your return ticket covers the trip back, so you won’t pay again on the island.

Should you buy the Longgong Cave ticket?

Buy only the ferry at the pier, walk the village, then decide. Waiting costs you nothing. A Longgong Cave ticket bought on the island is ¥98, the same as the combo at the pier. If the ticket office quotes you the combo price, tell them you’ve already paid for the boat, and they’ll take the ferry fare off. Guests staying on the island pay ¥70.

The lawn is the real reason to buy. Our guests are divided on the show: some enjoy it, many say it wasn’t worth the time. If the lawn doesn’t appeal and you’ve already seen a lit-up cave or a Bai performance elsewhere in China, skip the ticket and spend the hour on the village path.

5. Our Half-Day Route

Our route starts at Tacun Pier at 9:30 AM and has you back on the boat by 4:00 PM. It puts the quiet west shore in the morning, lunch before the cave, and the east-side café in the best afternoon light.

Order lunch as soon as you land. Island kitchens are small, and food ordered at 9:45 AM is on the table when you come back at 11:30 AM.

On the way back to the pier you’ll pass a small tie-dye shop and a pottery studio. At the studio you can paint a wa mao, the clay cat Bai families set on their roofs. Both are optional.

6. Where to Eat

Island restaurants are few, and prices run above the shore. These are the places we’d send you for lunch:

• Rainbow Fisherman’s Restaurant (彩虹渔家乐): Bai sour-and-spicy fish, buckwheat baba, and haicai (an Erhai water plant) with taro in soup.
• Miyun Xiaoqi (觅云小憩): dry-fried shredded potato and mushrooms stir-fried with pork, at fair prices for a scenic spot.
• Yihao Dayuan (壹号大院): good fish, not overpriced.

Anywhere else, pick a Bai-run place on the main lane with prices on the menu. Fish is sold by weight, so ask the price per jin (500 g) before the kitchen kills one. For a snack, try the fried small fish and shrimp at the fishermen’s stalls by the pier.

If you’d rather not pay island prices, eat on the Haidong shore before you cross and bring only water and snacks. → More on Bai dishes in What to Eat in Dali

7. Should You Stay the Night?

Stay a night on Jinsuo Island if quiet is the whole point of your Erhai visit. Lake-view rooms on the island run ¥480–700 a night in our records, better value than comparable rooms on the Haidong shore. Day visitors leave by evening, there’s no road noise, and you wake up to the lake.

The catch is flexibility: the last boats stop before 11:00 PM. If you want dinner in Dali or a driver after dark, stay on the Haidong shore instead.

To pick a room, search “Jinsuo Island” on Trip.com, filter for lake-view rooms, and check guest photos from the last few months. Before booking, ask whether someone meets you at the boat and moves your luggage from the pier.

8. Pier Traps and Practical Tips

• Hair braiding: women at the pier offer to braid your hair, and quotes for the same job vary several-fold. Agree the total price before they start, or say no.
• Private boats: touts sell their own crossings. Use the official ferry point; Dali’s tourism bureau names the villager-run boats as Haikaidu No. 1 (海开渡一号) and the Jinhua (金花号) and Dali (大理号) boats.
• Toilets: use the ones in cafés and restaurants.
• Water and snacks: the island has few shops, and prices are higher. Bring your own.
• Sun and wind: there’s little shade along the shore, and the sun at Erhai’s altitude burns fast. After sunset the lake wind turns cold, so pack a layer.
• Weekends and holidays: tour groups crowd the pier side of the island. Weekdays are far quieter.

Our private tours include no shopping stops of any kind. → See how group-tour shopping stops work

9. Erhai’s Other Islands and the Haidong Shore

Jinsuo Island sits on the Haidong road next to Lixiangbang, so most travellers combine it with other stops on Erhai’s east shore. That raises two questions: which of Erhai’s islands to land on, and how to fit Jinsuo into a full day.

Jinsuo Island vs Nanzhao Customs Island vs Little Putuo

Three islands come up when people plan Erhai. Jinsuo Island is a village. Nanzhao Customs Island, also sold as Nanzhao Folk Island, is a built scenic area. Little Putuo, also listed as Xiaoputuo, is a photo stop.

If you land on only one, make it Jinsuo Island. It’s the only Erhai island with a working fishing village where families still live.

Nanzhao Customs Island fits a morning if you’re already staying in Shuanglang. It’s more commercial and more obviously built, so don’t make a special trip for it. Little Putuo is tiny: you’ll have seen it all 10 minutes after landing. Paying ¥15 to step ashore for photos, and for the gulls in winter, is fine if you’re passing on the Haidong road, but it doesn’t justify a detour. → More on Nanzhao Customs Island, and on Yuji Island in Shuanglang, in our Nanzhao Customs Island guide

A full day: Lixiangbang, Jinsuo Island and Wase

With a driver, Jinsuo Island fits into a day along Erhai’s east shore. This is the order we use:

→ See our Erhai Lake guide for both shores

10. Frequently Asked Questions

Want Jinsuo Island and the Haidong shore built into your Dali itinerary, with no shopping stops? Tell us your dates.