Dali

About Dali

Dali sits in western Yunnan at about 2,100 metres, with the nineteen peaks of the Cangshan range to the west, Erhai Lake to the east and a Bai-populated plain in between. Locals sum up the scenery as “wind, flowers, snow and moon” — the wind of Xiaguan, the flowers of Shangguan, the snow on Cangshan and the moon over Erhai. Dali Old Town keeps its Ming-era grid of grey tiles and white walls; a few kilometres north stand the Three Pagodas of Chongsheng Temple, while Shuanglang and Caicun line the eastern shore. The 120-kilometre loop around Erhai makes a good day by bike or private car, and Xizhou for tie-dye and Shaxi for its Tea Horse Road market deserve separate trips. The sun is strong and the lakeside road windy, so bring sunscreen and a jacket. Dali Airport has direct flights to major cities, and the high-speed train reaches Kunming in about two hours. Two to three days works well, often combined with Lijiang and Shangri-La.