Exquisite Local and Special Products

The beautiful natural environment has helped the Bai people cultivated a noble and graceful aesthetic taste. They are quick-witted and nimble fingered, good at making traditional and special products with local resources.

Marble from Cangshan Mountain has been quarried for more than 1,000 yeas since the Tang Dynasty. The stone is of fine quality and has unique veins. It appears in a great variety. When polished, it presents various natural patterns, such as mountains, rivers, plants ,birds ,animals, and figures. The stone is processed into screens or decorations for high quality modern furniture and ancient buildings. White marble is a fine material, which is carved into pen containers. Ashtrays, flower vases, tea sets, and ornaments.

Tie dyeing of the Bai ethnic group is a time  honored handicraft. It uses indigo as the dyestuff. First, white cloth is tied and sewn into various patterns by hand and then dyed. Designs of bees, butterflies. Plum blossoms, fish ,or insects thus appear with an artistic effect that can not be achieved in painting.

Wood carving in Jianchuan County is a 1,000-year-old traditional handicraft, known for its exquisite designs and multi-layer carving. The carvings come out in more than 100 designs including Twin Phoenixs Turning to the Sun, A  Magpie Perching on Top of a Plum, A Soaring Dragon Holding the Moon, and one Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix. Most of  the carvings are used to decorate lattice doors and classical furniture.

Known for their exquisite workmanship and novel design, gold, silver, and copper ornaments from Hequng County are matchless handicrafts of the Bai ethnic group. They are manufactured as jewelry, amulets, wine sets or are mounted on sheaths of the local Bai, Tibetan, Miao, and Han people. They are loved by people of other ethnic groups in China and people in neighboring countries.

Other traditional handicrafts from the Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture include embroidery, ink slabs, pottery, and porcelain.

The shopping of market in Dali

In Dali, you want to take a few of small unique gifts to go home to send; you don't worry and can find the place easily. In Gucheng or Xiaguan, you can buy marble handicraft products such as Wenfang four treasures, flower pots, vases, lamp etc. which are made of marble.

The Laran and Zharan of Bai Nationality which has the race special features are the loving handicraft articles, they are also everywhere in Gucheng or Xiaguan. The Rushan of Dengchuan in Dali is very famous, which are bought in each miscellaneous store and agriculture trade markets. The Tuo Tea is in Xiaguan, the form likes the mushroom hat, it doesn't change flavor for long time, the aroma is special, it is bought in each miscellaneous store. The wood carvings of Jianchuan were furnitures, doors and windows, screens...etc. which were made by that civil craftsmen in Jianchuan, they developed some pieces of small handicraft products in the recent years, which are provided for visitors to take, in each handicraft product store selling.

Recommend the shopping places

Huguo Road: It is the ground that visitors necessarily visit, concentrated the various textiles, handicraft products of national minority and special products of Tibet and Yunnan, the visitors can get bonus in the numerous curio stores. At the Butterfly Spring neighborhood, there is a village called Zhoucheng, there are buses and ponies to go there in Gucheng or Xiaguan of Dali, the visitors might go to the home of the village people to see, almost of them each have the small workshop where they make Laran or Zharan. The local carvings of seal are also very good.

The special product in Dali

>>The Tuo Tea in Xiaguan

It is one of the famous brand products which are produced by the tea factory of Xiaguan in Dali City, the original name is Tuan Tea, it was produced by Fuchunheng Shanghao of Xiaguan in 1902, mainly sell in Xufu of Sichuan which is Yibin now etc. places, make tea with the water of Tuojiang River in Sichuan, the flavor was very good, so it was renamed Tuo Tea. Tuo Tea in Xiaguan is choosed the famous tea as material, which were produced in more than 30 countries such as Linchang, Baoshan, Simao etc. its beginning system craft crumple to make through artificial, the machine compress tightly several work prefaces, the form likes a bowl, the shape is beautiful, the color is black and smooth to show the pure strong fragrance of mille-, aroma. The color of soup is orange and clear, the taste is great back sweet. Often drinking has the health care functions which are to pure heart, clear eyes, perk up sprit, keep skin, suppress the bacteria and treat an illness. Abroad, it is called the losing weight tea, the beauty tea or the longevity tea. In China, Tuo Tea of Xiaguan, the white medicine of Yunnan and the Yun cigarette are praised to be three treasures of Yunnan. Tuo Tea of Xiaguan has gotten the honor of excellent product of province-class for 3 times, the national quantity silver quality prize and food gold prize of world, is given to title of the famous brand of Chinese tea.

>>Gantong Tea 

It is produced in the area of the foot of Shengying Peak that is also called Dang Mountain and Malong Peak, which is 10 square kilometers in Gantong Temple in the area of Qiliqiao Town in Dali City, it is between the Mochan Brook and Long Brook. Because of having the good geography and climate conditions such as snow mountain, cloud and mist, spring and fertile fields...etc., add the long traditions of growing and making tea, after making the Gantong Tea, the color of soup is light green and pure, the joss-stick of tea is heavy, the taste is sweet, it can made many times, it is the top-class tea for treating the guests. Among them, the Gantong Biyu Tea is the delicacy in the top-class tea. Gantong Tea also is the most impartment tea in three tea of Bai Nationality. Along with the foreign visitors increase continuously, Gantong Tea has been sold out Dali and China.

 >>Laran

It is the civil dye handicraft product that is widely accepted in the national minority region of Yunnan, the history is long. The wax dye clothing blend the cultural art of the national minority of Yunnan, there are all kinds of patterns, such as animals, flowers and the scenery famous spots...etc., it is special, novel and generous. The products contain clothing, each kind of hang packs, wall to hang etc.

>>The race Zharan handicraft products

 The race Zharan in Dali adopt the civil patterns, pass to process the traditional dyer skill further with art, make it become the handicraft product with art, abstraction and practical to merge into an integral whole. Its craft is sew by the handicraft needle firm, use the plant dyestuff again and again dyes to make but become, not only the color is fresh, gorgeous and fades in color never, but also eliminate inflammation to care the function to the skin, overcoming the harmful human body of modern chemistry dyestuff the side effect of the health.

It is the traditional civil craft product of the Bai Nationality people, the product gathers the culture and art as integral whole, the patterns are constituted with several orderly geometrics, the fabric is careful and full, get material from the images of animals and plants and pattern of the peer's clothing in the past, which is filled with the living breathing. Zharan is divided into the making flowers and dye. Making flower is method with the firm flower of handicraft that sew for the lord and sew to tie to combine, have the characteristics of the scope of performance extensive, engrave or delicate, change of the everlasting: Influence gradually to adopt the handicraft to influence gradually the craft again and again, become to take the form of flowers as the center, change the exquisite multi-layer dizzy lines, dignified, simple and refined, ancient elegance. Zharan of Bai Nationality in Dali takes the pure Mian cloth, silk Mianchou, Ma yarn, velour of gold, velour of light etc. as the stuff, keep the kind of the traditional Tudianlandibaihua and develop mew kind of colorful Zharan. The products contain up to 100 species such as a color cloth, table runners, door screens, clothing, race wraps, hats, towels, scarf, towels, bed sheets etc.

The Zharan of Yi Nationality in Weishan adopts the natural plant as dyestuff, develop the tradition civil firm flower craft special features, do carefully, certainly elegant, the pattern is much more novel to change, having the characteristics of ancient, cultured, natural and generous, having the higher art enjoying value, and then have the stronger function. The Zharan of Yi Nationality has the series products such as blue dye, colorful dye, appliqu"etc. The finished products contain table cloth, wall hang, door screens, clothes, skirts, hats, wraps, carpets and several of anticipates of cloth. Customers can accord to several of pattern printed cloth; use to make the dress skirts, the round waists, bedcovers, bed sheets, doors and windows, curtains, a chair hat etc. The dress, skirts, bed sheets, doors and windows, curtains that use the Zharan to wear in the body, hanging indoors, having a lot of ancient and cultured taste

>>The wood carving in Jianchuan

 The work is fine, using the anticipate is fashionable, gather the essence of every kind of wood carving in Ming Dynasty and Qing Dynasty, the shape is beauty and generous, elegant, interesting and novel, strong and tough and pliant and tough, the anti- decay, constant form, reappeares the excellent race wood carving art. The wood carving in Jianchuan contain the cultured and luxury furniture of the living room, lifelike nine dragon murals, nine lion murals, flowers and birds murals; The each sitting screens, hanging screens and screens; Door, window and hangers of old buildings in park and several 100 species of various of race tour product...etc.

The wood carvings in Jianchuan are known for Chinese and Foreign, the Zhang Shengwen Painting Wood Carving of Dali Country in Song Dynasty which was made for the Race Museum of Yunnan and was constituted by 134 pieces of wood carvings, is 97.6 meters long, 1.8 meters high, total 176 square meters, is rated as the national best wood carving. The wood carving of The Dinner Of The End which is the famous painting of da Vinci in the world and the wood carving of Peter, You Feed My Sheep which is the famous painting of Lafer are both have the good evaluation and influences at home and abroad. Sell as far as more than 100 nations and regions such as Japan, America etc.

>>The cotton paper of Heqing 

Its color is white liking cotton, thin liking cicada's wings, the quality is soft to defend the moth, the capability of absorbing water is strong, so have" The paper of Anhui is number one in the world, the paper of Heqing is the best in Yunnan" to say. The papers of Heqing take the bark of Gou Tree as the main material, the fiber is more and long, the syrup rate is high, delicate and pure. The papers are used to transcribe books and write the contract as good material in the past. In addition to the writing paper, there are still the packing appropriative double super papers, its thickness is about 3 times for the writing paper generally or so, tenacity is good, through use for long time and enduring.

>>Marble and handicraft products

 Marble is generally divided into two major types which are the grain marble and the pure color marble. Yunhui and Caihua which are produced in Chang Mountain in Dali belong to the grain marble; Yunhui is also called Shuihua, Caihua is divided into Chunhua or Luihua, Qiuhua and Shuiheihua. The pale jade, white jade and Chushi belong to the pure color marble. Only the wood grain marble can produce the natural picture. The Shuiheihua marble is the most valuable species in the colorful marble. In addition the specie is rare; mainly it still has uncommon esthetics style, so it is very valuable. The Shuiheihua marble takes two pole colors of black and white as the keynote, simple, refined and free from vulgarity, the artistic conception of its natural appearance looks like the Chinese traditional water ink painting extremely; On the manifestation, the water ink painting of hang up the wrinkle is wet and dye, the thick and thin is stem, fly the white to sprinkle black etc. color skill method and is big with the small view, the composition and the clairvoyance methods of a long distance, all with the water ink painting agree without previous consultation. Many natural inks and smile peak, all are an inspired writing, style of its thick and high thou ream how many writers for it dumping.

The mining of marble has already been the history of more than 1500 years, mining the marble is generally on the precipice of 25 meters of elevation high in the deep mountain. Adopt the safe measure; adopt the mechanization homework, the marble yield increases greatly. Various of building anticipates which attain specification of international horizontal forerunner just are entering the international market constantly and continuously, sold very well Southeast Asia and all countries of Arabian, change to return a great deal of foreign exchange for the country.

Marble, the stone quality is delicate, can be used for the building materials, also can be used for the carvings. Pass by beating and whetting, smooth such as fat, rear the surprising and beautiful wood grain; as a result it is a kind of first-class material of building and carvings. From time immemorial it was always the material to set up the palaces, temples, the gardens. In the Imperial Palace and Ming Tombs in Beijing, you can also see a great deal of marble. Moreover, the marble were used to the pillar and steps of people's houses broadly by the native crowds. In the area of Dali and Jianchuan, the Yun wood carving flowers furniture which enchase the marble are produced much, because the marble has characteristic of solution hot and spread the hot. Some handicraft products are made of the marble, such as goblet glass stemmed goblets, vases, pencil vases, glossy stone, tea box, ashtray, decoration screen etc. They are lovely and consummate, liked by the Chinese and Foreign guests deeply.

>>The grass plaiting of Dali 

Plaiting straw hats is a traditional handicraft of Bai Nationality crowds in the region of Dali. It is said that there was the straw hat street near the Taihe City in the period of Nanzhao, there is still this street in the Taihe Village of Qiliqiao in Dali City now.

The grass plaiting is a traditional handicraft art that folks hand down in Dali, the category is numerous, the resource is abundant, each difference of assortment, became the different characteristics of each race. It mainly has the traditional valley grass, straw, the palm tree silk...etc. According to the historical data, at the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, there were schools in the area of Yongchang to teach the method of plaiting grass; Dali once belonged to Yongchang in Ming Dynasty. From that time it is rumored generation by generation. In the recent years, because of the need of the market, the development of the tourism, the category of the grass plaiting of Dali is more and more, contain several hundred cultivate such as grass shade, grass mat, grass basket, grass fan, straw mat, the grass system toy...etc. Only the grass basket is colorful, the shape is diverse, making the dim in vision of person disorderly. There are the race and folks love to see and hear patterns embroidered on the products of grass plaiting such as butterflies, camellias, three towers, Eel Lake, Chang Mountain, animals etc. They are interesting and novel beauty and economic and practical, not only local and each ethnicity like, but also sell far as America, Europe, all countries of Southeast Asia.

>>Felt

It is the traditional and special handicraft article of Bai Nationality floks in Dali. The Jingui Village of Xizhou in Dali has the long history of making felt, it has already become a special handicraft industry; The wool craftsman of making felt use the all-wool as the raw material to make into the clear water felt, then make into various of colorful felt by dye or the colorful painting. The familiar assortment species contain wrapping felt, the cover mat felt, tent felt, red felt, colorful felt, table felt, chair felt ...etc. They are very welcome by people and popular inside and outside the province.