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 haven. Cangshan Mountain is a great, scenic hiking area and a natural reserve. Erhai Lake is to the east and Cangshan Mountain is to the west. Tourists visiting the area can see temples and architecture 1000 years old, buy beautiful souvenirs and objects of art, learn about the history of the area and of the native peoples, and go on excursions to the nearby lake and mountain.
Dali is justifiably termed an ancient town, as it has a thousand-year history. The sixth king of Nanzhao State, Yi Muxun, built Dali in CE 779, making the city his new capital. The city was initially small by present-day standards, consisting of only 6 streets, but it became a lively market place that attracted merchants from far and wide. The center section of this old town, where the marketplace was located, was called Yeyu City.
According to literature, Dali Ancient City was a gateway to the Silk Road in Southwest China, and also served as a seat of government and a major military barracks for Yunnan Province in ancient times. It enjoyed magnificent scale, with a wall length of 6 kilometers (3.73 miles), a height of 7.5 meters (24.6 feet) and a thickness of 6 meters (19.7 feet). There were four city gates facing west, east, north and south, upon which sat a gate tower. Four further towers were also placed at the four corners of the city wall. As it underwent many phases of prosperity as well as decline, only the city base remains till today. We can explore the mystery belonging to that period of history, especially through witnessing some parts of the city wall, the North City Wall Tower and the South City Wall Tower which were restored in 1982. The city layout was uniform, with five main streets from south to north and eight main streets from east to west, while marketplaces were neatly arranged within the city, which has remained unchanged to this date.
For a period stretching some 600 years, and spanning several imperial Chinese dynasties, Yeyu City/ Dali was the political, economic, and cultural hub of Yunnan Province. Today, the old city's many cultural and historical sites bear witness to the city's glorious past: the two towers, one to the north and one to the south, that stand facing each other; the 9 streets and 18 lanes that criss-cross each other in checkerboard fashion; and the former famous residence - which came to be known as the "Forbidden City" - of Du Wenxiu, the commander of a peasant uprising during the Qing (CE 1644-1911) Dynasty, all serve as evidence of the city's illustrious past. The perhaps most salient feature about Dali Ancient City is it's grandiose format: with a perimeter of some 6 kilometers, and with its former 7 -meters-high and 6-meters-thick fortress walls on all four sides (sections of these walls still stand), replete with gates and towers, this is truly an expansive capital city, befitting a king.
When people walk along the cobble-paved streets in the ancient city, a sense of primitive simplicity and elegance will be invoked. Besides the Bai ethnic minority traditional folk houses, the houses all with grey-green roof tiles, peculiar workshops, temples, schools and churches with an antique flavor are scattered. Traditional artworks made of marble, such as pencil vases, striped screens, and a variety of woven handicrafts made of fine straw are laid chockablock on both sides of the street to be appreciated and purchased. The newly opened Foreigner Street is also a must-see, providing snacks with the traditional flavors of the Bai ethnic community, as well as the famous 'Three-course Tea' ceremony for receiving guests that includes 'bitter tea', 'sweet tea' and 'final tea'.
How to get there:
From the heart of new Dali city, or Xiaguan, one can take bus no. 4 or bus no. 8 to Dali Ancient City, which takes about a half hour.
Tips:
Dali Ancient City, that is, its old-town center, is best seen on foot. The city's many highlights as well as its general atmospherics simply require a tour on foot anything else would be unthinkable!