Understand
Dali is one of the most popular spots for independent China travellers and hugely popular with those working, teaching and studying in China. 50 minutes by plane or three to four hours by bus from Kunming, Dali is the perfect place to relax.
Dali is the capital city of the prefecture of the same name. It consists of Dali New City ä¸å ³; Xià guÄn and Dali Old Town å¤å; GÇchéng. Travellers visit Dali Old Town for its traditional architecture, minority cultures mostly Bai but also with many Yi and Hui and simply to relax. The Old Town has a population of 40,000 and the entire Dali Prefecture around three million people and an area of over 10,000 sq km. When discussing Dali, it is important to be clear whether you are talking about the entire city or just the Old Town. There is actually much to do and see in Dali City well outside the Old Town.
With the beautiful Cangshan Mountains a short distance to the west of Dali Old Town 4,122 metres at the peak and Erhai Lake a few km to the east, it has a perfect natural setting. The climate is temperate with moderate summers and mild winters, though it can get rather windy in autumn and winter.
Despite its fame as a backpacker heaven, Chinese tourists hugely outnumber foreigners. Chinese tourists tend to stay in nearby Xiaguan Town so Dali becomes thankfully quiet in the evenings. Dali has recently been overshadowed by nearby Lijiang, and many foreign tourists either bypass it or give it 1-2 days stay. Dali deserves better than 1-2 days stay.
History
Dali has a long and rather glorious history. In 738 the Nanzhao Kingdom was established with Dali as its capital and covered a large area of Yunnan and northern Burma and parts of Sichuan and Guizhou. The original capital of the Nanzhao Kingdom was located in Weishan within Dali Prefecture and later moved to sites around Erhai Lake. The territory conquered was quite substantial and held over a long period. The kingdom survived almost 200 years and had 13 kings before collapsing. After several decades of chaos the Kingdom of Dali emerged in 937.
The Kingdom of Dali established by Duan Siping in 937 was controlled by the Duan clan and survived until conquered by the Mongols in the 12th century. The Kingdom retained a close alliance with the Tang Dynasty, and was one of the major transit points for the introduction of Buddhism throughout the rest of China. By 1000, Dali was one of the 13 largest cities in the world.
1856-1872 Dali was the headquarters of the Panthay Rebellion led by Du Wenxiu. That rebellion commenced as an uprising against local oppressive rulers by the Hui muslim minority and ended as open rebellion against the Qing Dynasty. The Palace of Du Wenxiu is on Fuxing Road and serves as the local museum the museum exhibition on the rebellion paints it as a patriot workers revolt which it was not. The rebellion was brutally crushed by the Qing and hundreds of thousands of Yunnan muslims were killed in revenge.
Many local people in Dali have the surname Duan to this day rare in other parts of China. These historical events are immortalised in the Martial Arts literature of Hong Kong author Jin Yong read by every Chinese school kid, giving Dali a fame nationwide. Both the Nanzhao Kingdom and the Kingdom of Dali had a military alliance with the Tang Dynasty against the aggressive Turfan Tibetan Empire which made regular and aggressive incursions into their respective territories.
The rulers of the original Nanzhao Kingdom were probably precursors to the modern Yi peoples, while the Kingdom of Dali rulers were precursors to the modern Bai minority.
A huge memorial stele to the Pacification of Kingdom of Dali was built during the Ming Dynasty and remains standing at the end of Sanyue Street past the city's West Gate. Entrance is free. The Mongols destroyed the old capital and palace of the Kingdom of Dali, located just to the south of the Three Pagodas. Almost all records of both the Nanzhao and Dali Kingdoms were burnt or destroyed, leaving much unknown about these periods. In addition, the Mongols brutally displaced many of the inhabitants of the prefecture, with the result that Bai minority people were forced as far east as Hunan Province. Many ethnic Han also moved into the Kunming area during this period.
The old Dali City was rebuilt in the early 1400s by the Ming Dynasty. What you see in Dali Old Town today is the rebuilt Ming town. Since then, the fortunes of Dali have declined and its importance as a cultural and economic centre in the Yunnan area have been overtaken by Kunming, the provincial capital.