High on the southern slope of Lotus Peak in the Cangshan Mountains, the air smells of damp earth and needles from a six-hundred-year-old pine forest. To reach Dali Baohe Monastery, visitors climb eight hundred stone steps, feeling the rough, uneven rock underfoot. This sanctuary, originally founded during the Tang Dynasty as Baoqing Temple, sits on a ridge resembling Binchuan's grand Jizu Mountain, earning it the local name "Little Jizu."

The monastery aligns along a strict north-south axis. Red eaves and dark tiles peek through the green canopy. Visitors encounter a spatial progression starting at a Spirit Wall decorated with murals of the Twenty-Four Views of Little Jizu Mountain. Beyond lies the Front Hall, housing the Thousand-Armed Guanyin and the Snow Mountain Goddess. Further up, the Mahavira Hall honors Buddha Shakyamuni, while the Jade Emperor Pavilion serves Daoist deities. Nearby, the Prince Consort Palace preserves the memory of the first Nanzhao King, Xinuluo. This layout reflects a rare, peaceful coexistence of Buddhism, Daoism, Confucianism, and indigenous Bai Benzhu beliefs.

Human history is etched directly into the stone and wood. On the right side of the entrance steps, a Tang Dynasty stone stele bears ancient inscriptions detailing the temple's historical ties to Jizu Mountain. The monastery also celebrates a legendary romance. According to folklore, the Bai princess Jingu fled to these slopes, where Xinuluo rescued her from a tiger. They slept under the stars, a union that eventually birthed the Nanzhao Kingdom.

This ancient courtship remains a living practice. Every year, on the third day of the third lunar month, the mountain comes alive during the Baohe Temple Songfest. Bai communities gather to perform traditional antiphonal songs and folk dances. Visitors and locals tie red silk Love Threads to the branches of ancient cypresses, leaving physical markers of their own hopes. The cool Cangshan breeze carries the sound of their voices down toward Erhai Lake, connecting modern lives to a thousand years of devotion.