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Dali |
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3,000 years ago, primitive
humans inhabited the area of Erhai Lake. As early as the 2nd century
B.C., Dali was on the map of the Kingdom of the Central Plains as Yeyu
County. In 738, Pilouge, a chieftain of the Bai Tribe, united the six
tribes of the Erhai region with the support of the Tang Dynasty, and
established the State of Nanzhao, which was destroyed in 902. Duan
Siping, also of the Bai Tribe, established the State of Dali in 938.
During the 500-year period of Nanzhao and Dali, Dali City was the
political, economic and cultural center of Yunnan Province. Emperor
Khublai Khan of the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) eliminated the State of
Dali, establishing in its place Yunnan Province. The Dali area was
renamed Taihe County, and this name persisted during the Ming and Qing
dynasties (1368-1911), before it was renamed Dali in 1913. In 1983,
Dali County and Xiaguan City merged into Dali City. The city is one of
the 24 leading historical and cultural cities and one of the 44
State-designated Scenic Centers in the country. |
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Geography |
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Located
in the western part of Southwest China′s Yunnan Province, Dali is
located at 25°25′-25°58′ north latitude and 99°58′-100°27′ east
longitude. It is 46.3 kilometers from east to west and 59.3 kilometers
from south to north. It covers an area of 1,457.27 square kilometers,
of which 229 square kilometers, or 15.71 percent of the total area
consists of irrigated territory; 978.927 square kilometers, or 67.27
percent of the total area is mountainous; and 249.343 square
kilometers, or 17.02 percent of the total area is occupied by Erhai
Lake. The city has Binchuan and Xiangyun to the east, Midu and Weishan
to the south, Yangbi to the west and Eryuan to the north. Dali is also
the juncture of the Yunnan-Myanmar and Yunnan-Tibet Highways, which
connects it with the cities of Lijiang, Diqin, Nujiang, Dehong,
Baoshan, Chuxiong, Lincang and Simao. With these unique geographical
conditions, Dali is a communication hub and distribution center of
materials in western Yunnan Province. |
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Climate |
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Dali is
famous for its history, culture and scenic spots, and attracts throngs
of domestic and foreign tourists with its amazing natural scenery. It
is located on a low-lying plateau, and boasts the unique attractions
of Diancang Mountains and Erhai Lake, a bright pearl on the plateau.
It has a unique plateau climate, which is spring like all the year
round, being warm in the winter and cool in the summer. The average
temperature is 15.10. The coldest temperature is 8.7℃ in February, and
the hottest is 20.1℃ in July. It is called the "Sweden of the East,"
and has 126 days during which the temperature is 18.7-20.6℃, the best
climate for convalescence in the world. Moreover, 229 days are
frost-free, providing a suitable environment for the growth of various
kinds of plants. Flowers blossom all the year round. Xiaguan is famous
for its wind, which has an average annual velocity of 4.1 meters per
second. This good ventilation helps to purify the air and the
environment in general. As a result, in Dalin the wind is appreciated
as a treasure. From ancient times, Dali has been famous as a "City of
Flowers". Imported rare flowers' blossom and unique plants grow
exuberantly in its warm climate. The 19 peaks of the Cangshan
Mountains have an average altitude of 3,700 meters, the highest being
4,112 meters. The fantastic clouds which gather over the peaks have
names such as "Waiting for the Husband Cloud," "Jade Belt Cloud,"
"Pagoda Cloud," "Torch Cloud" and "Sea-like Cloud". Erhai Lake is the
second biggest lake in Yunnan Province; its islands and tributary
streams are home to shellfish, shrimps, and other aquatic animals and
plants. |
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Natural Ecological
Environment |
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Dalin
has a low-latitude plateau-type subtropical climate with an average
temperature of 15.1 degrees centigrade. It has 230 frost-free days and
136 days of rain. The yearly sunshine time averages 2,276.7 hours. In
this favorable climate and environment, animals and plants thrive,
especially on the Cangshan Mountains and in Erhai Lake. The Cangshan
Mountains are the habitat of more than 3,000 kinds of valuable plants,
such as Yunnan pine, Huashan pine and fir. Dali is said to have the
best tea and flowers in the world, including Hengtiangao, Tongzimian,
Purple Robe, Peony Tea and Chrysanthemum Petal Tea. The local animals
include deer, roe, bear, leopard, mountain donkey, bamboo rat, golden
cat, hog and David's deer. Bird species include owl, magpie, thrush,
cuckoo and sunbird. Dali is also called a "Paradise of Butterflies",
with 164 species in nine categories, such as the Jade Belt, Blue and
Golden Spot butterflies. Erhai Lake is home to 16 kinds of fish, of
which bow fish, squid, yellow-scaled carp and silver carp are valuable
species, as well as being rich in shellfish and shrimp resources. The
Cangshan Mountains and Erhai Lake are two of the nation's 44 famous
tourist attractions. The snow on the former and the moonlight on the
latter, the flowers of Shangguan and the wind of Xiaguan are the "Four
Wonders of Dali". Dali can be visited at any time of the year. |
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Symbol of the City |
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The
ancient city of Dali is one of the 24 leading historical and cultural
cities in China. It faces Erhai Lake and is backed by the Cangshan
Mountains. The present city was built in 1382, the 15th year of the
reign of Ming Emperor Hongwu, when Mu Ying and others occupied the
states of Nanzhao and Dali in Yunnan, and Commander Zhou Neng built it
in Ming Dynasty style. In the following year, Commissioner-in-Chief
Feng Cheng expanded the east and south walls. From then on, each city
wall becomes 1,500 meters long, 12 meters wide and 6 meters high. The
city wall had four gates, each with a gate tower. The earth wall was
covered by rocks and consolidated by a layer of brick. It was rebuilt
on several occasions, but the size and arrangement remain the same.
The city was the capital of the State of Dali and later Taihe County.
Now, the 300-meter western section of the south wall, the 800-meter
middle and northern sections of the west wall, 300-meter southern and
northern sections of the east wall and the south and north city gates
are still intact. |
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Culture |
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Dali
has a long cultural history, as witnessed by the unearthing of bronze
objects dating back to the Zhou Dynasty (11th century -771 B.C.).
During the Tang Dynasty (618-907), local rulers of great talent and
bold vision introduced the cultures of the central China plains, India
and Tibet. The local culture still flourished after the founding of
the State of Dali during the Song Dynasty (960-1279). This long period
of development made the culture of Dali a brilliant unique flower in
the Chinese cultural garden, and ancient Dali was famous for scholars
and their works. Ancient cities, temples, steles, bells, pagodas, folk
songs, music, dance and other folk art forms, including folk stories,
legends, picture scrolls and grotto sculptures, demonstrate the long
history and rich contents of Dali culture. Poems by Xun Gequan, Yang
Qikun and Duan Yizhong were collected into the orthodox Poems of the
Tang Dynasty, and Nanzhao Music was regarded as the best musical
contribution by Yunnan during the Tang Dynasty, being appreciated as
one of the 14 national musical genres by the Imperial Tang Court. The
Picture Scroll by Zhang Shengwen and other artistic masterpieces from
Nanzhao are famous both at home and abroad. Li Yuanyang and Yang
Shiyuan of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and other scholars wrote
histories of Yunnan Province. All these things constitute a rare and
precious national cultural heritage. |
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A Survey of Tourist
Industry |
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One of
the China's first-class tourist cities, Dali is located in the center
of Yunnan, the southern end of the Hengduan Range of the
Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau. It covers an area of 1,468 square kilometers,
and has a population of 480,000. It is home of more than 20 ethnic
groups, including the Bai, Han, Hui, Yi, Tibetan and Naxi, of whom the
Bai accounts for 65 percent.
Dali is well known for its literary scholars and their works, and is
called the "Geneva of the East" for its long history and colorful
culture, numerous cultural and historical sites, beautiful natural
setting, comfortable climate, and rich natural and tourism resources.
It is one of the 24 state-level cultural and historical cities and one
of the 44 top tourist attractions in the country. The Cangshan
Mountains and Erhai Lake were named national nature reserves in 1993.
The Dali Tourism Bureau, under the local government, was established
in January 1985. With 15 employees, it is located at 245 Fuxing Road,
in the ancient city of Dali. It has General Office, Business Section
and Comprehensive Services Section. Under it, there is Tourism
Administration and Inspection Brigade, the Dali Hotel, the Dali
Hongshan Tea Shareholding Co. Ltd., the Xizhou Village Hotel and the
Dali Customs Travel Agency. The administration has published A Tour
Guide of Dali, Introduction to Dali, Map of Scenic Spots in Dali
(Chinese-English), Landscapes of Dali, The Ancient City of Dali,
General Introduction to Dali and Extensive Review of Dali.the
administration has co-produced a TV film titled: Dali-An Ancient
Capital, together with the Yunnan Provincial Tourism Administration.
The Dali Tourism Bureau has also helped television stations from
France, Germany and other countries to produce TV films about the
local natural scenery and customs. In addition, it has exchanged
tourism-promotion materials with a dozen of travel agencies of other
provinces. The Dali Tourism Bureau has drawn up its 1994-2005
development plans based on local tourism resources, facilities and
commodities.
Since November 1996, the Dali Tourism Bureau has made continuous
improvements in its services and facilities. Now there are 128 tourism
businesses, 23 travel agencies, 275 tourist coaches and cars, six
pleasure boats, 23 tourism-related restaurants and more than 70
tourist attractions. In 1998, the city received 4.27 million domestic
and foreign tourists, of whom 67,600 were overseas tourists. The
income from tourism totals 1.088 billion yuan a year. There are
130,000 people engaged directly or indirectly in the tourist industry.
Dali's tourism services cover food and beverages, lodging tours,
purchase of souvenirs and recreation.
The development of tourism in Dali is attributed to the guidance of
the Government and promotion of local residents. Tourism has been
developed as a pillar industry of Dali. The construction of the Dali
Airport and Customs Office, Guangtong-Dali Railway, Chuxiong-Dali and
Dali-Lijiang Highways, program-controlled, wireless and mobile
telephones, optical cable transmission systems and IC card phone
booths have made Dali more attractive to domestic and foreign
tourists, and a bright future unfolds for the area. |
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City Flower of Dali |
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The azalea is a popular flower worldwide, and Yunnan
is home to the most varieties in the world. The Cangshan Mountains are
known as a natural garden of azaleas among botanists. The azalea
flowers on the Cangshan Mountains are exuberant, the biggest being
dozens of meters high, and the smallest only several centimeters high.
The beautiful flowers, purple and red, blossom from February in early
spring to October in late summer. The scene is beautiful here, as
described in the lines, "spring is here, the flowers along the
mountain roads are beautiful. Red flowers blossom everywhere, and the
red-flower-covered mountains are reflected in the limpid lake water."
The azaleas in Huadianba, forming a veritable "sea of azalea
blossoms", are more beautiful than those in other areas of the
mountains. The azaleas of Dali are famous for their richness,
brilliance and unique shapes, no wonder that Dali chose azalea as its
Municipal Flower. |
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Tourism Logo |
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The
Three Pagodas of Chongsheng Temple are famous Buddhist relies, which
were listed as a key cultural site under the State protection in 1961.
Three huge monoliths in the northern part of the city, they add luster
to the natural scenery of the Cangshan Mountains and Erhai Lake. The
three brick pagodas have become the symbol of Dali. They were built in
different styles. The main one, the Qianxun Pagoda, is 69.13 meters
high and was built in the late Tang Dynasty. The smaller pagodas to
the north and south of it are 42.4 meters high and were built during
the existence of the State of Dali, from the time of the Five
Dynasties to that of the Southern Song Dynasty. The two smaller
pagodas join the Qianxun Pagoda to produce a magnificent group. In
1978, the State Bureau of Cultural Relics earmarked special funds for
the maintenance of the pagodas and sorted out 680 pieces of cultural
relics, the largest and the most important group of cultural relics
from the states of Nanzhao and Dali found so far. These pagodas and
cultural relics demonstrate the achievements of the ancient people of
southwest China. |
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Local Culture |
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Bai's Three-course Tea in Dali
The Bai People value friendship and
are hospitable. Guests are often treated with tea when they come to
Dali. Local people stress tea quality, tea-making technique and
hospitable etiquette, gradually forming "Three-dao Tea". After being
standardized, the three-course tea is described as "first bitter,
second sweet and third after tasty". The first course is called
"Roasting Tea". First, a small pottery pot is warmed on a fire, then
green tea is put into the pot. While roasting, the pot is shaken,
making the tea to be warm evenly. After 2-3 minutes, the green tea
begins turning into yellow, with a smell of burning scent. Boiled
water is poured into the pot, letting the tea powder flowing out of
the pot. The tea in the pot continues to be boiled on the fire. After
that, the tea is poured into teacups. The tea tastes a little bit
bitter, but a faint scent. The tea has function of refreshing and
quenching one's thirst. The second course is of sweet tea. The heavy
tasty tea will be mixed with boiled water, as well as some pieces of
walnut, milky fan and brown sugar. Guests can enjoy the sweet and
smelling tea by drinking and chewing them. Both Walnut and milky fan
have the function of cooling lung and nourishing kidney. The third
course of tea is required be cooked with some honey, ginger, Chinese
prickly ash and cassia bark. Guests can taste the tea using teacups.
The three-dao tea is one of the drink cultures of the Bai ethnical
group. It is also one of important etiquette of the Bai ethnic group.
Dali Dongjing Music
Dali Dongjing Music is the Bai folk music developed from imperial
court music of the Tang and Song dynasties. Known as "living fossils"
from these dynasties, Dongjing Music has variety of qupai (the names
of the tunes to which qu are composed). So far, more than 100 kinds of
qupai are preserved, such as Wearing Hat and Dress Unhurried,
Green-Pearl Curtain, Lang Tao Sha, Song of Water Dragon, General's
Order, and Lantern Festival Celebrations, Dongjing Music is as popular
as Daben tune and Bai melody among local people. Every Bai village in
Dali can perform Dongjing music. Most of the Tang and Song imperial
court music have lost in the Central Plain in China, but are inherited
in fairly complete way by the Bai people in Dali. This cannot be
separated from the Bai people who hold Central Plain Culture in esteem
and absorb them, and who are highly creative and have the tradition in
singing and dancing. Dali Dongjing Ancient Music Band was highly
praised when it was invited to stage in Kumming. Their performance
also drew the high concem of musicians and scholars who study ancient
music. In recent years, many experts came on purpose to Dali to study
Daongjing ancient music, trying to restore complete imperial court
music. Now, Dongjing music performance has become major entertainment
activities for the elder in many Bai villages.
Dali
Large-scale Tour Activity-March Street
March Street is the venue of the largest traditional gathering of the
Bai people in Dali. The festival starts from 15th of lunar March and
lasts seven days. In the past, the gathering was called Avalokitesvara
Fair. During the Yonghui Period of the Tang Dynasty, tradition has it
that Avalokitesvara gives Buddhist lectures to 17 believers in Bai
oral language, surrounded by listeners in crowds. Gradually, the place
becomes a market. In Xu Xiake's Dairy of the Tour of Yunnan, he said,
"booths are linked one by one into a market. To north is a horse
ground, gathering thousand of horses… Men and women are crowded in the
market, making it hard to distinguish from whose hands meeting with
others'. Nowadays, March Street has become a traditional trade fair,
where people are busy in trading, racing, playing lion dance,
appreciating flower exhibitions, and enjoying cultural and sports
activities."
Local Opera
The Dali Baiju Opera
The original name of the Baiju Opera was the Cuicui Tune. It is very
popular throughout the village of the Baizhu Nationality. The ancient
performance stage for the "Cuicui Tune" are still existing in the
larger villages. The Cuicui Tune has a special artistic style, and its
words are a combination of Bai dialect and the Chinese language. Most
use the rhyme pattern of Baizu Nationality folk songs of seven seven
seven five. The feelings of the Baiju Opera is natural and humorous.
The singing tune is divided in 9 Bans and 18 Tunes and the actors are
divided as Sheng, Dan, Jing and Chou. There are fixed face-dresses for
actors. The performance patterns blend with those of Dian Opera and
the Flower Lattern. There are no accompanying music for the singing
and the passage music is somewhat long, played by Suo Na. Becaue the
performers were all the farmers and the performances were spare time
activities, so the stage words of many performers were given to the
audiences during the course of the passage of the Suona music played
by the opera teachers. The themes of this type of opera included
historic opera reflecting the life of the Baizu Nationality, such as "Du
Chao Xuan", "the Firing Songming Building" and "Zhangzi Ru Beans", and
also those transplanted from the Dian Opera, such as "three Heroes
Fighting Lubu", "Wu Tai Meeting Brothers" and "Lance Fighting Little
Liang King".
There were no professional organizations for the "Cuicui Tune", and
there were only seasonal self-playing and self-enjoying amateur
organizations. After the foundation of the People's Republic of China,
artists made efforts to straighten out and dug out the Baizu
Nationality Opera of "Cuicui Tune", and established professional
organizations and made the opera into a national opera. In 1962, the
Dali "Cuicui Tune" Troupe participated the Demonstration Fair of the
National Opera of Yunnan Province, performing the traditional "Cuicui
Tune" opera of "Firing Milling Housing" and "Dou Yi Xia Ke", etc. in
Feb. of the same year, the first professional Baiju Troupe in the
history of the Baizu Nationality was formally founded, and the actors
in the "Cuicui Tune" Troupe were all combined into the Baiju Troupe of
the Dali Baizu Nationality Autonomy.
The Dali Da Ben Tone
The Da Ben tone was a folk music art in the villages of the Dali baizu
Nationality. It was usually performed by one actor singing and one
actor playing accompanying music with major 3 chord. The contents of
the singing have a somewhat complete story, singing voice, tone,
singing words and rhyme, and the characteristics are all unable to be
separated from the folk songs and music of the Baizu Nationality. The
form of the singing words of the Da Ben Tone was called "the Form of
Mountain Flower", and this form was a unique folk word form of the
Baizu Nationality. The rhymes of the Da Ben Tone mainly includes the
four major rhymes of the "Hua on Hua", the "Oil Locking Oil", the "Lao
Li Tiger" and the "Cui Yin Yin", and there were several minor rhymes
under them. The music of the Da Ben Tone was named as "Nine Bans,
Three Tunes and Eighteen Tones". It has been found out more than
eighty music stories of the traditional stories of the Da Ben Tone,
and they are very popular in the villages of Dali. The schools of the
Da Ben tone of Dali are divided into the South Voice and the North
Voice. After the foundation of the People's Republic of China, The
Communist Party and the Government paid close attentions the Da Ben
Tone of the Baizu Nationality, and organized the folk performers to
publicize the policies of the Party and sing the praise of the
socialism in the singing pattern of the Da Ben Tone. On most of the
national festivals, such as Ben Zhu Festival and 3 Moons Festival, and
on most of the occasions of moving into the new house, the Da Ben Tone
singing activities shall be taken. |
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Transportation |
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Accessibility to
Dali
In the development of tourism in
Dali, the local government has paid much attention to the construction
of "hardware" in the city. Its urban functions and tourist environment
have been improved greatly. Since 1995, the city has invested
approximately 200 million yuan to strengthen urban construction and
tourist infrastructure facilities. Dali has a well-developed traffic
network-a domestic airport, railway station, Chuxiong-Dali and Dali-Lijiang
expressways, and four deluxe pleasure ships on the Erhai Lake on the
plateau. In recent years, with the improvement of its traffic
facilities and tourist environment, Dali has appeared as an excellent
tourist city to domestic and foreign tourists.
Dali Airport
Dali Airport is located in the northeast corner of Xiaguan Town
and southeast of Erhai Lake. It is 15 kilometers from the city proper.
Since it's opening to the public in November 1995, its passenger
transport capacity handled by the Airport has increased from 50,000
people in 1996 to 210,000 people. The scheduled flights have increased
from three each week in 1996 to 35 so far. There are three airlines,
instead of original one. Dali Airport has always persisted in the
principle of "Safety First". Over the past three years, the Airport
has established a complete set of scientific and standardized
management system, and has made good achievements in quality service
and special services. Thus, it receives an honor of "Advanced
Collective" from Civil Aviation Administration of China and "A
Forestation Advanced Unit" and "Advanced Hygiene Airport" from Yunnan
Provincial Government. Flights : from Dali to Jinghong, Kunming,
Changsha and Tianjin.
Dali Railway Station
Dali Railway Station is the terminal of the guangtong-Dali Railway
managed by Yunnan Guangtong-Dali Railway Co. Ltd. It is also a
passenger transport station of the railway line. It is situated in the
Dali Economic and Technological Development Zone in the Dali Bai
Nationality Autonomous Prefecture. Lying against the Cangshan
Mountains in the west and facing Erhai Lake in the north, it is a
traffic hub leading to other prefectures in south of Yunnan Province.
Guangtong-Dali Railway Line starts from Guangtong and links with
Chengdu-Kunming railway and national highway network. The Guangtong-Dali
line, which is 206 kilometers in full length, has played an
inestimable role in developing the natural, tourist and mineral
resources in west Yunnan and bringing along local economic
development. The Railway Line is operated and managed by Yunnan
Guangtong-Dali Railway Co. founded with the investment from the
Ministry of Railways and Yunnan Province. Dali undertakes the task of
transporting passengers who enter and exit from south of Yunnan. The
Station has complete facilities, with buildings in distinctive Dali
local styles, covering an area of 10,000 square meters. Its waiting
room has a floor space of 1,200 square meters. Large relief sculpture
groups stand on the Station Square, presenting a new scene in Dali.
The Station also has a large store and other recreation facilities.
The Station warmly welcomes domestic and foreign guests with its new
outlook and warmhearted service.
Xiaguan Pier
Dali Railway Station is the terminal
of the guangtong-Dali Railway managed by Yunnan Guangtong-Dali Railway
Co. Ltd. It is also a passenger transport station of the railway line.
It is situated in the Dali Economic and Technological Development Zone
in the Dali Bai Nationality Autonomous Prefecture. Lying against the
Cangshan Mountains in the west and facing Erhai Lake in the north, it
is a traffic hub leading to other prefectures in south of Yunnan
Province. Guangtong-Dali Railway Line starts from Guangtong and links
with Chengdu-Kunming railway and national highway network. The
Guangtong-Dali line, which is 206 kilometers in full length, has
played an inestimable role in developing the natural, tourist and
mineral resources in west Yunnan and bringing along local economic
development. The Railway Line is operated and managed by Yunnan
Guangtong-Dali Railway Co. founded with the investment from the
Ministry of Railways and Yunnan Province. Dali undertakes the task of
transporting passengers who enter and exit from south of Yunnan. The
Station has complete facilities, with buildings in distinctive Dali
local styles, covering an area of 10,000 square meters. Its waiting
room has a floor space of 1,200 square meters. Large relief sculpture
groups stand on the Station Square, presenting a new scene in Dali.
The Station also has a large store and other recreation facilities.
The Station warmly welcomes domestic and foreign guests with its new
outlook and warmhearted service.
Traffic in the City Proper
Dali now
has 10 taxi companies and a taxi branch of self-employed passenger
transport society, with a total of 800 taxicabs, including Xiali and
Santana. With the support of local government and concerned
departments, taxi market in Dali has developed to a certain scale. On
February 8,1998, Dali government promulgated the Methods in Management
of Taxi Transportation in Dali. Now, all taxicabs in Dali have uniform
sign, uniform prices clearly marked, installed with uniform
calculators and protective rails. Long-distance buses carry out the
security registration system. Now, taxi market is operating towards
the direction of healthy, civilized and standard direction.
Traffic in Main Tourist Attractions (Spots)
With the development of tourism, traffic has played an
increasing important role in tourism. In recent years, Dali Government
attaches great importance to the construction of tourist
infrastructure facilities. At present, the Airport opens flights to
Xishuangbanna, Kunming, Wuhan and Tianjin. The Guangtong-Dali Railway,
or Chuxiong-Dali and Dali-Lijiang expressways can bring tourists to
Dali. There are four deluxe pleasure ships, Dayun, Cangshan, Dujuan,
Haixing, plying on the Erhai Lake. In the city, there are 10 public
bus routes and special tour routes leading to various tourist
attractions. Besides, tourists in Dali can also find convenient to
surrounding scenic areas such as Binchuan, Lijiang and Zhongdian by
public buses or special tourist buses. Convenient traffic facilities
have powerfully promoted the development of local touristm. |
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 Information
provided by
China National
Tourism Administration. |
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