Dali, A Historically
And Culturally Famous City
 Dali,
a historically and culturally famous city of China,
is renowned for her historical interest. During
the Tang and Song Dynasties, it was the capital
of Nanzhao and Dali Kingdoms, the political, economic
and cultural centre of Yunnan, an important gateway
of cultural exchange and trading with southeastern
Asian countries, and an important pass of the
ancient "Silk Route of the South". It
has long enjoyed the reputation of "a land
of letters".
Dali is situated in the southwest
of Yunnan and at the intersection of the Yunnan-Burma
Highway and Yunnan-Tibetan Highway. It is 400
km. away from Kunming and one day's bus ride will
bring you to Dali via Chuxiong Prefecture. Dali
municipality covers an area of 1,457 square km.
and is inhabited by 400 thousand people, composed
of the Bai, Han, Hui, Yi, Lisu and other nationalities,
among whom the Bai nationality makes up 64% of
the total.
 Dali
City stands against Cangshan Mountain in the west
and adjoins Erhai Lake in the east, and is embraced
by undulating hills around. The elevation of the
city proper is 1,974 metres. Dali is a highland
city in low latitudes and its climate is of subtropical
highland monsoon type. The weather is temperate,
the annual mean temperature being 15 C and rainfall
1,078 mm. The monsoon season falls on June through
October, and there is no marked seasonal changes
in a year. Abundant sunshine makes the weather
warm, but the wind is very strong, so Xiaguan
of Dali is known as "A City of Wind."
As "a land of letters",
Dali was the cradle of the Bai culture. In the
long history of the past, the ancestors of the
Bais and the Yis had created the brilliant Erhai
Culture and left numerous illuminating historical
and cultural relics. Within the boundaries of
Dali, there are many ancient pagodas, steles,
places of historical interest and frescoes. The
ancient Dali City is still standing there elegantly
and toweringly. The most outstanding places of
interest in Dali are: the ancient city proper
of Dali, the Three Pagodas on the ruins of Chongshengsi
Monastery, Nanzhao Stele, the Tablet Commemorating
Kublai khan's Conquest of Yunnan, the remains
of Taihe City, the Tomb of Du Wenxiu, the scroll
of pictorial history of Nanzhao (Tang Dynasty),
Pictures on Buddhist themes Painted by Zhang Shengwan
of Dali (Song Dynasty), and the Frescoes in Xingjiaosi
Temple of Shaxi (Ming Dynasty). All these are
the witnesses of the brilliant history of this
ancient city.
 Cangshan
Mountain and Erhai Lake are the best scenic spots
in Dali, which are reputed as the "Snow-covered
Cangshan Mountains and Jade-Green Erhai Lake".
Cangshan Mountain stands erect like a huge screen.
Its snowcapped pinnacles and the streams in between
under fleecy clouds make a beautiful picture.
The placid and crystal clear Erhai Lake comprises
the following famous scenic spots: the Three Islets,
the Four Sand Bars, the Five Miniature Lakes and
the Nine Curvatures. The magnificent Three Pagodas,
the Lofty Cangshan Mountain and the Colourful
Butterfly Spring add lustre to what is already
beautiful. The Wind, Flowers, Snows and the Moon
make a perfect natural picture that renders this
ancient city even more attractive. So, people
adorn it as "A Corner of Mother Nature"
and "Switzerland in the East."
The folk ways of the minority
nationality are richly colourful. The architectural
layout of "Sanfang Yizhaobi" (a courtyard
with rooms on three sides and a screen wall on
the remaining side) and "Sihe Wutiangjing"
(one big courtyard with four smaller ones at the
corners of the main one) of the Bai nationality
is elegant yet unsophisticated. "Every household
has a water well and every family owns a number
of potted flowers" are the tradition and
common practice of the Bais. The attire of the
Bai girls are brilliant and graceful, simple yet
harmonious. The national minorities in the Dali
area have many traditional festivals and gatherings,
namely: the Benzhu Festival (worshipping the guardian
saint or the local god of a Bai community), the
Flower Festival, the March Fair, Raosanling Festival,
Torchlight Festival and Lake Tour Festival. Among
them, the March Fair is the most magnificent of
all.
 Dali
today is full of vitality and prosperity in both
the urban and rural areas. With the development
in machinery, electricity, textile, chemicals,
papermaking, tea processing, marble products and
so on, it has now become an industrial base in
the west of Yunnan Province. The mainstay in the
economy of the city is the production of cigarettes,
tea, marble articles, clothing, cement and electric
power. The Dali marble, Tuocha (white tea), furniture,
tie-dyed cloth, straw woven hats, and plywood
are well known both at home and abroad. In agriculture,
Dali mainly produces rice, wheat, broadbeans and
maize. The species of rice "Dianyue No. 1"
turns out 1,014 kilograms per mu (1/15 of a hectare)
creating the highest record in China. And one
crop of broad beans ranked the first in our country,
yielding 514 kilograms per mu. In recent years,
medicinal and perfuming crops are popularized.
In sum, both in the city and around the countryside,
Dali has become wealthy and prosperous, indeed
a land of "fish and rice" in the west
of Yunnan.
Dali
Travel And Tour Attractions
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