Dali Travel Guide

 Willettsworld Says:  Dali Museum is located on the main street that runs north-south through the old town, just inside from the South Gate. It was originally the mansion of the Qing governor and later served as the headquarters of Du Wen Xiu, leader of the Muslim Uprising of 1856. Inside are... 

 Willettsworld Says:  These are the views over Dali from Zhonghe Shan in the Cangshan Mountain range. You can see everything in the old town itself such as the walls, gates and reservoirs, the three pagodas and Chongsheng Temple and Er Hai Lake. 

 Willettsworld Says:  This temple lies on Zhonghe Shan which is a mountain peak in the Cangshan Mountain range, to the west of the old town. It was originally built in the Ming dynasty and serves both Taoists and Buddhists. I was virtually the only visitor at the temple so it's a nice peaceful... 

 Willettsworld Says:  This market is located outside the West Gate of the old town on a road that leads up to the chairlift that climbs Zhonghe Shan. The market is a great place to come to and witness everyday local life with Bai women dressed in traditional minority clothes and carrying baskets... 

 Willettsworld Says:  A chairlift ascends up Zhonghe Shan, which is the easiest way to get to Zhonghe Temple. Just follow the road that leads up the hill from the West Gate of the old town. I reached the chairlift station and had to register in a book as there had been some robberies in the hills... 

 Willettsworld Says:  The Palace of Eleven-face Kwan-yin is a Ming style building of five open rooms with double eaves, in which was there is a nine meter high statue of Eleven-face Kwan-yin and eight embodiments of Kwan-yin (standing and seated statues of 4 meters high). 

 Willettsworld Says:  The Hall of the Guardian Kings contains, in the middle, a 5.7m high Mahakala Buddha, on both sides of who stand four 5m high Guardian Heavenly Kings. Mahakala Buddha is very important Guardian King in the Secret School. And he is the reincarnation of Siva and Mahesvara and... 

 Willettsworld Says:  One of the first buildings you'll come to inside the Chongsheng Temple is that which houses the Nanzhao Jianji Bell. It was cast in 871 A.D. and is 3.86m high and weighs 16.3 tons. Its sound is said to be heard some 40km away. 

 Scott3000 Says:  The German Bakery 88 in Dali is one of the best bakeries I've come upon in my travels around the world. Karine, the German Baker began selling loaves of bread out of a house equipped with ovens in 2006, and eventually grew into her own place on Bo Ai Lu.Bakery 88 is simple,... 

 melosh Says:  Even though we arrived in Dali with my Mandarin speaking son, the taxi drivers seems united in asking for a taxi fare about three times the amount indicated in the guide books to take us from new Dali to old Dali. My son who had visited Dali previously and thought that even... 

 melosh Says:  Even though we arrived in Dali with my Mandarin speaking son, the taxi drivers seems united in asking for a taxi fare about three times the amount indicated in the guide books to take us from new Dali to old Dali. My son who had visited Dali previously and thought that even... 

 Willettsworld Says:  I hired a bike from a travel agent type place on Bo Ai Lu to get around a few of the sights outside the old town. I cycled out of the old town past markets and local shops in the Old Town to the Three Pagodas and back again in order to get the chairlift up to Zhonghe Temple... 

 Willettsworld Says:  The main inhabitants of the region in and around Dali are the Bai, who number about 1.5 million. In Dali they make up 65% of the population and the best place to go and witness their daily activities is in the market that lies in a street straight outside the West Gate. The...