Whenever anyone asks me where my favorite place in China is, I say Dali without hesitation. Dali,     1    (surround) by mountains for hiking and lakes for bicycling around , is the kind of place that everyone likes.

Last year I met a couple of young students I’d known    2     I travelled to Dali, and we agreed     3    (cycle) along the lake in a small town outside of Dali. The lake     4     (it) was pretty easy to cycle around ,     5     flat paths passing through a lot of little villages. While cycling, a woman recommended an hour-long boat ride for about 40 RMB each--a bit expensive but     6     adventure we felt like having, so we paid for it.

In about 20 minutes we witnessed in     7    (excite) how a fisherman fished with his fishing birds. A string was tied around each bird’s neck so that when it dived for fish, it was unable to swallow them. The birds     8     (give) a fish as payment for their service after the fisherman had a satisfactory catch. I’d     9           (previous) read about this fishing method, but it was pretty exciting to see first-hand.

The day finished with a brilliant sunset,     10     I climbed onto a roof to get a photo of.