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Three Pagodas Temple, Dali

Dali Tours

A romantic place to retreat from the world
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Dali, a city bearing poetry and romance, is like a bright pearl inlaid between its iconic Cangshan Mountain and Erhai Lake. With unique natural beauty, profound history and culture, and leisurely pace of life, it attracts countless domestic and foreign visitors to explore its charm. To delight yourself at all the highlights of the city, let your eyes focus on our 3-day private tour, which begins from the 1,200-plus-year-old Dali Ancient City. Loafing along the weather-beaten city walls or on the flagstone-paved streets lined with some historical sites, you may still feel the glory of the past Nanzhao Kingdom. Then marvel at the loftiness of Cangshan Mountain and the tender beauty of Erhai Sea set off each other, forming a magnificent and poetic landscape painting. How could you miss taking a snapshot of the landmark Three Pagodas, a millennium legend that combines Buddhist culture, architectural beauty, and historical values? Learning to make specialty snacks in Xizhou Ancient Town and Chinese Tie-dyeing in Zhoucheng Village, as well as appreciating the exquisite architectural art in Yan’s Compound, will give you a glimpse of local Bai ethnic culture. If you are very limited in time, our guided 1-day trip is a perfect solution.

Have 5 days off? We will extend your itinerary to the Ancient Tea Horse Road for a dialogue with history. In Shaxi Ancient Town, the only remaining ancient market on the Road, chill yourself by exploring some literary and artistic studios or watching sunset on Yunjin Bridge. Then arrive at Nuodeng Ancient Town, a very primitive Bai village hidden deep in the mountains, and get an eye-opening view of myriad exquisite structures of Ming and Qing Dynasties, such as the Jade Emperor Pavilion Taoist complex. Action speaks louder than words! It’s time to contact us for your custom-made Dali tours.
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FAQs on Dali Tours

What Are the Four Wonders of Dali?

Dali is famous for its four wonders: the wind in Xiaguan (place name), the flowers in Shangguan (place name), the snow on the Mt. Cangshan and the moonshine in the Erhai Lake. Few can resist the lure of them and thus, Dali becomes a must-see destination as well as an ideal place to live for many people.

The wind in Xiaguan: Xiaguan is located at the exit of the long valley between Mt. Cangshan and Mt. Ailaoshan, which is the main source of the wind in Dali. The length and strength of the wind here are rarely seen in the world and some strange natural phenomena will happen. For example, when you're walking into the wind, your hat will fall in front of you instead of behind. It often confuses people if they don't know its special terrain topography. The wind also plays an important role in regulating the climate and people here believe that it's a kind of luck and blessing.

The flowers in Shangguan: Dali's climate is mild and humid and Shangguan is an open grassland, therefore flowers are everywhere here and growing flowers has become a life custom of the Bai people. You can see different kinds of flowers and smell different fragrances anytime and anywhere, which will be romantic.

The snow on the Mt. Cangshan: Although located in Dali, which is like spring all year around, the snow on the Mt. Cangshan doesn't disappear even through summer. During the winter, Mt. Cangshan is covered with snow, while in the midsummer, it's verdant on the mountainside while still snowy at the peak. Even if you're not planning to climb the Mt. Cangshan, you can still watch the snow at the top from a distance of almost everywhere in Dali.

The moonshine in the Erhai Lake: The Erhai Lake, which gets the name for its resemblance to the moon, has high transparency. On a fine night, it will be amazing to see a bright moon floating in the lake.

A Brief Introduction of the Ancient Tea Horse Road

The Tea Horse Road is an ancient international transportation route formed by the tea and horse trade between the inland and southwest frontier areas in Chinese history. It originated from the Tang and Song dynasties (618 - 1279) and flourished in the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368 - 1911), once extending into Bhutan, Sikkim, Nepal, India, and even to the west Asia and the Red Sea coast of the east Africa.

The origin of the ancient Tea Horse Road
As Tibet belongs to the alpine-cold region, the roasted barley flour, ghee, beef, mutton and other high-calorie food become their main courses. However, without vegetables, these foods tend to make people hot and dry and aren't easy to decompose in the body. Under this condition, tea becomes a good helper, which can not only decompose the fat, but clear the heat. Therefore, drinking butter tea has become a living habit of the Tibetan people. However, they don't grow tea.

In the inland, mules and horses were in great demand for civil service and military campaigns, which were in short supply. While there are good horses in Tibetan areas.

Thus, the complementary trade of tea and horse, namely "Tea and horse mutual market" emerged, which promoted the emergence of the Tea Horse Road. Later, along with trade, cultural exchanges also took place along the ancient tea horse road, which had an important positive impact on the integration of China's multi ethnic groups.

A simple map of the ancient Tea Horse Road within Dali

The Traditional Hand-made Tie Dyeing

The Bai Traditional Hand-made Tie Dyeing is an ancient textile dyeing technique in China. It can date back to the Eastern Han Dynasty (25 - 220) and has a history of more than 1,800 years. It generally takes the white cotton cloth or the cotton-linen blended white cloth as the raw material, and the indigo as the dye. The cloth will first be shaped by wrinkling, folding, rolling and squeezing, then be tied tightly with a needle and thread, afterwards be soaked over and over again in the dye, and finally after taking out from the clean water, you will get a bright dyed cloth, which will never fade. Besides, these cloths dyed with vegetable dyes also have an anti-inflammatory effect on the skin, which are not only healthy but environmentally friendly.

At present, there are more and more patterns and related products. If you're interested, you can consider buying some as souvenirs or gifts for your family and friends.

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