Dali 大理Dàlǐ

Bai villages, lakeside cycling and caravan towns on the Tea Horse Road

Type: Bai Autonomous Prefecture
Region: Yunnan
Featured places: 3
Listed sites: 2816 rated 4A · 15 national heritage

About Dali

Between the Cangshan range and Erhai Lake, the Dali plain was the seat of the Nanzhao and Dali kingdoms, which ruled much of Yunnan until the Mongol conquest of 1253. It is the homeland of the Bai, whose villages ring the lake, and Dali Old Town and the Three Pagodas, first raised in the 9th century, are the main draws. Quieter old towns lie farther out: Weishan to the south and Shaxi, a caravan stop on the Tea Horse Road, to the north.

What to eat in Dali

Rushan cheese (乳扇)
Xizhou baba flatbread (喜洲粑粑)
Bai three-course tea (白族三道茶)

Featured places in Dali

Dali Old Town & Erhai Lake 大理古城与洱海

Bai courtyards, old stone gates and lakeside bike rides beneath the Cangshan peaks

Best time: Mar–May, Sep–Nov · Time needed: 2 days · 5A scenic area · 4A scenic area · National heritage site
Shaxi Ancient Town 沙溪古镇

A caravan town on the old Tea Horse Road, with a village market every Friday

Best time: Mar–May, Sep–Nov · Time needed: 1–2 days · 4A scenic area · National heritage site
Weishan Ancient Town 巍山古城

An unhurried Ming grid town south of Dali, where the Nanzhao kingdom was born

Best time: Mar–May, Sep–Nov · Time needed: 1 day · 4A scenic area · National heritage site

Listed sites in Dali

28 sites in Dali are on the official lists. Those with a page of their own link to it; the rest open as cards on the map.

Butterfly Spring 蝴蝶泉 4A scenic area
A clear, square spring pool edged with marble at the foot of the Cangshan range, about 27 km north of Dali Old Town.
Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture Museum 大理白族自治州博物馆 4A scenic area
The prefecture's main museum, opened in 1986 beside the Xi'er River in Xiaguan, in a building that blends Tang-style architecture with Bai house forms.
Dali Geothermal Kingdom 大理地热国 4A scenic area · on the map
A hot-spring resort beside Cibi Lake on the edge of Eryuan town, where mainly sulphurous springs at about 70–90 °C feed more than 30 open-air pools of different styles.
Dali Ocean World 大理海洋世界 4A scenic area · on the map
An aquarium and marine theme park in the new hillside district of Haidong on the east side of Erhai Lake, with twelve themed halls including an underwater tunnel, a jellyfish hall, a polar section and displays of fish native to south-west China.
Jianchuan Woodcarving Art Town 剑川木雕艺术小镇 4A scenic area · on the map
A woodcarving-themed town at Shihe village beside Jianhu Lake, built from 2017 and devoted to Jianchuan woodcarving, a Bai craft on China's national intangible cultural heritage list.
Mount Jizu 鸡足山 4A scenic area
A Buddhist holy mountain north-east of Erhai Lake, venerated as the place where the Buddha's disciple Mahakashyapa waits for the coming of the future Buddha, and a meeting point of Chinese, Tibetan and Theravada Buddhist traditions.
Nuodeng Village 诺邓古村 4A scenic area · National heritage site
A Bai village built up a steep hillside above an old salt well near Yunlong, said to have kept its name since the Nanzhao period and long made prosperous by salt.
Qianshi Mountain (Thousand Lions Mountain) 千狮山 4A scenic area · on the map
A wooded hill at Manxianlin on the western edge of Jianchuan, where local stonemasons have carved more than 3,000 lion figures into the rocks and boulders along its trails since the late 1990s.
Shibaoshan Grottoes 石宝山石窟 4A scenic area · National heritage site
Buddhist cave carvings on forested Shibao Mountain above the Shaxi valley, cut during the Nanzhao and Dali kingdoms.
Shimen Pass Gorge 苍山石门关 4A scenic area · on the map
A gorge on the western flank of the Cangshan range, where a stream from the Cangshan peaks drops through a chain of pools and waterfalls between sheer cliffs, with walkways following the water.
Shuimu Mountain 水目山 4A scenic area · National heritage site
A wooded mountain near Yunnanyi with the Shuimu Temple complex, one of the earliest Buddhist sites in Yunnan, a centre of Chan (Zen) Buddhism in the west of the province and a royal temple under the Nanzhao and Dali kingdoms.
Tianlong Babu Film City 天龙八部影视城 4A scenic area · on the map
A film set built in 2002 below the Cangshan mountains for a CCTV television adaptation of Jin Yong's martial-arts novel Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils, and used since for other productions.
Tianshengqiao Natural Bridge, Midu 弥渡天生桥 4A scenic area · on the map
A karst scenic area a few kilometres east of Midu town, centred on Tianshengqiao, a natural rock bridge, with walking trails through a wooded valley.
West Lake (Eryuan) 洱源西湖 4A scenic area
A small highland lake at the northern foot of the Cangshan range, about 2 km² at 1,968 m, whose water drains south into Erhai Lake.
Wuliang Mountain Cherry Blossom Valley 无量山樱花谷 4A scenic area · on the map
A tea plantation on the slopes of Wuliang Mountain in Nanjian county where winter-flowering cherry trees were planted among the tea terraces.
Xinhua Village, Heqing 鹤庆新华村 4A scenic area
A Bai village on the edge of the Heqing plain whose families have long made silverware by hand, a craft that the county gazetteer traces back more than 500 years and that is on China's national intangible cultural heritage list.
Ancient Bridges of the Bi River 沘江古桥梁群 National heritage site
A group of 37 historic bridges over the Bi River and its tributaries in Yunlong County, mostly built between the Ming dynasty and the early Republic and listed together as a national monument in 2013.
Deyuan City Ruins 德源古城遗址 National heritage site
A hilltop fortress above Dengchuan, at the northern end of the Erhai plain, that was the seat of Dengdan, one of the six chiefdoms the Nanzhao kingdom absorbed in 738, and then guarded Nanzhao's northern approaches.
Fotu Pagoda (Snake Bone Pagoda) 佛图寺塔 National heritage site
A 13-tier square brick pagoda about 30 m tall, built under the Nanzhao kingdom and close in date and form to Qianxun Pagoda, the tallest of Dali's Three Pagodas.
Hongsheng Temple Pagoda 弘圣寺塔 National heritage site
A 16-tier square brick pagoda about 44 m tall at the south-western corner of Dali Old Town, built during the Dali kingdom; because it stands alone, its temple is known locally as the 'One Pagoda Temple'.
Jianchuan Old Town 剑川古城 National heritage site
The old quarter of Jianchuan, a Bai county town between Dali and Lijiang renowned for woodcarving, a craft listed as national intangible heritage in 2011.
Kublai Khan Stele, Dali 元世祖平云南碑 National heritage site · on the map
A stone stele erected in 1304 at the Sanyuejie fairground just west of Dali Old Town, recording Kublai Khan's campaign that brought the Dali kingdom under Mongol rule.
Nanzhao Iron Pillar 南诏铁柱 National heritage site · on the map
A cast-iron column 3.3 m tall and weighing about two tonnes, erected in 872 under the Nanzhao kingdom according to the 22-character inscription on its west face.
Taihe City Ruins and Nanzhao Dehua Stele 太和城遗址与南诏德化碑 National heritage site
The site of Taihe, capital of the Nanzhao kingdom from 739 to 779, on the slope between the Cangshan range and Erhai Lake.
Tianfeng Mountain Taoist Temples 天峰山 National heritage site
A large group of Taoist halls on the summit of Tianfeng Mountain in Pupeng, eastern Xiangyun County, and an important centre of the Zhengyi school of Taoism in western Yunnan.
Wutai Temple, Midu 五台大寺 National heritage site
A temple complex in Dasi village, Juli, in south-eastern Midu County, founded in the Ming dynasty and repaired and extended under the Qing and in the early Republic.
Yunnanyi 云南驿 National heritage site
A village on the old caravan road south-east of Xiangyun, named after the Han-dynasty Yunnan County seated here and the post station ('yi') kept on the route from the Yuan to the Qing dynasties.
Zhoucheng Confucian and Martial Temples 州城文庙和武庙 National heritage site
The Confucian temple of the old Binchuan prefectural school, founded in 1494 in Zhoucheng, Binchuan's former seat, with the town's Martial Temple beside it.

Getting to Dali

Train, flight and driving times from the cities most visitors come from, with stations, fares and how many run a day; each opens the full comparison.

Lijiang 丽江 high-speed train 1 h 56 min, 7 a day, from ¥80
Shangri-La 香格里拉 high-speed train 3 h 15 min, 5 a day, from ¥129
Kunming 昆明 high-speed train 1 h 55 min, 55 a day, from ¥109; one nonstop flight a day, 1 h 10 min in the air
Jianshui 建水 train 4 h 39 min with a change at Kunming
Chongqing 重庆 high-speed train 7 h 16 min, 2 a day, from ¥531; 4 nonstop flights a day, 1 h 45 min in the air