Dali Bai Nationality Autonomous Region History - Page 2

Dali in History

Dali culture is long in history. As early as in the years of the Hanwu Emperor of 109 DC, Yeyo County was set up here. In the Song and Tang Dynasties, Nanzhao kingdom and Dali Kingdom were set up here, lasting over 500 years. Once it was the center of politics, economy, and culture for Yunnan. The name of Dali originated from the Song Dynasty Kingdom. It means ruling the county by regulations and laws. In the ancient times, Dali was the relay station to go India and Burma. Now the Yunnan-Tibet road and the Burma-China road cross here. There is a magnificent four-lane hi-speed expressway linking Dali to Kunming. The old road requiring a 12 grueling hours now can be driven by car in 3-4 hours depending on how you value your life. We took the trip by car and it was a most enjoyable scene the whole trip. On the way are many good restaurants where you can feast on good food while they wash your car for free. The road is a wonder of engineering as it cuts through the mountains and you look at the hundreds of stone handwork on the cut hillsides. Scenes of the Chinese rural countryside with their fields and villages dot the side of the road. Rail and airplanes are also available to get to Dali.

Cultural Dali

Dali is among the first group of 24 historical and culturally renowned cities containing 44 interesting tourist spots and a natural reserve. It is the home of five golden flowers. Natural scenes in Dali are very mystical and beautiful. The Nationalities styles are colorful and versatile.

Erhai Lake has been known as Bright Pearl on the Plateau. It is in the shape of a human ear and is named after that shape. It is a fresh water lake, 7500 feet above sea level. The lake is 25 miles long and ranges from 3 to 7 miles wide. The coastline of the lake is 85 miles. The deepest part of the lake is 80 feet deep. We took a boat ride on Erhai Lake. Trips begin at nine. There are numerous boats. We paid 175 yuan ($21 US) each for our ticket. The entire trip lasted for about eight hours. The boat portion was about 5 hours. We stopped and various islands for an hour or less. There we found many people selling many goods. Bernice purchased a Bai outfit. There was food aboard the boat. You can sit inside or out on the deck. After the boat reached to end of the lake our tour operator met us with a van and we visited many locations. We were treated to lunch, a 40-minute ethnic dance/food performance by a Bai group. We visited the ancient walled city of Dali with its colorful shops. We were given ample time to shop and sightseeing. At the end we were taken back to our hotel. We had hired an English-speaking guide to explain things to us. We bought many gifts. Generally we paid 1/4 to 1/3 third the price that was asked.