Design your own private  Dali tour?The ancient city of Dali is one of Yunnan's most popular tourist destinations. It has historic sites, ancient buildings and temples, nearby beautiful Cangshan Mountain and Erhai Lake, local crafts, and the "Foreigners' Street" with Western-style restaurants and bars and English-speaking business owners. The street is popular with both foreigners and Chinese. It is known as a backpackers’ heaven.

‣Where Is Dali Ancient Town

Dali Old Town is nestled at the foot of the Cang Shan mountains west of Lake Erhai in the Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture located in western Yunnan Province, China. The whole old town covers an area of 12 square kilometers and about 16 kilometers away from Dali City and 348 kilometers away from Kunming.

‣Basic Information

‣Dali Climate

‣What to Visit in Dali Ancient Town

●Wenxian Building:The first gate of the ancient city.

●Wuhua Buidling:The world’s first building of ancient Nanzhao kingdom.

●Foreigners' Street:One by one Chinese and western restaurants, cafes, tea houses and gift shops here, their signboard and advertising is written in English

●Dali Christian Church:listed as the municipal cultural relics protection unit.

‣Dali History

Design your own private  Dali tour?Dali Ancient town has a long history. About the year 738 AD, it became the seat of the Kingdom of Nanzhao The Nanzhou Kingdom had control of important trade routes to Southeast and South Asia. Its location enabled Dali to prosper as merchandise from China was carried southwards, and as goods from as far as India was carried northwards. It was a major trading center. The rulers of the Nanzhou became Buddhists, and Bali became a center for the spread of Buddhism from Southeast and South Asia to the rest of China and East Asia. After two hundred years, The Nanzhou Kingdom was conquered by the Duan Clan. Two hundred years after this, in 1253, the Mongols conquered the city and ended the Dali Kingdom. Under Mongolian Emperor Kublai Khan, Dali became an important military outpost for the Mongolians. The Mongolians in turn were defeated, and the Ming dynasty was established.

‣Ethnic Groups in Dali Ancient Town

It was inhabited by 32,000 people and over 6 ethnic groups live here, including  Bai(82.97%),Han(9.3%),Yi(7.2%),Hui(0.11%),Lisu(0.24%),Miao(0.18%).

The major festivals around Daliali Old Town are the Torch Festival,Lunar March Fair,Zaiyang Festival,and Patron’s Day.

‣Traditional Houses in Dali Ancient Town

The traditional Bai ethnic minority folk houses give the city distinctive feel, unlike any other Chinese city. A typical house is characterized by '3 rooms and a wall screening' and '4 joints and 5 courtyards'. '3 rooms and a wall screening' means that every house has a principle room and two wing-rooms and facing the principle room stands the wall screening. When the sun shines on the wall screening in the afternoon, the sunlight is reflected back to the courtyard, thus illuminating the whole area. '4 joints and 5 courtyards' means houses are built with four sides; and four courtyards in the joining parts of the houses' corners and one big courtyard in the center makes five courtyards.

‣Where to Stay in Dali Ancient Town

‣Best Time to Travel Dali Ancient City

March to April is the best time to visit Dali Ancient City. There are many festivals and activities of Bai nationality during March and April, traveling in March and April, people will experience the rich local folk customs. And Dali in March is very beautiful, whether you want to travel Dali Ancient City, climb Cangshan Mountain or pay visit to Erhai Lake, it is very suitable to travel in March.

‣Dali Transportation

Dali lies at the junction of the Yunnan-Burma Highway (320 National Highway) and the Yunnan-Tibet Highway (214 National Highway), which connects to other regions of western Yunnan Province. In addition, the Dali-Kunming Freeway has been open. Increasingly modern transportation system makes it easier than ever for people living ere to communicate with the outside world.

‣Travel Tips In Dali Ancient City

Design your own private  Dali tour?

1. A lot of festivals and events of Bai nationality focused on March to April each year, travel at this time you will feel rich ethnic customs. And there is a song: "March in Dali has good scenery", so in the spring, it is suitable whether it is traveling to Dali, or climbing Canshang Mountain, visiting Erhai Lake.
2. If you want to visit Erhai Lake, the ideal way is to go to Erhai pier to take cruise ship in the north side of Xiaguan. Cruise ships usually depart every morning at 8:30, suggest buying the ticket one day in advance.
3. The bus from Kunming to Dali, the terminal is to Xiaguan (Xiguan is the new city zone), not Dali Ancient City. After you go out of the Xiaguan Station you can take bus No.4 to Dali Ancient City directly (about 20 kilometers away from Xiaguan), 40 minutes drive.