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Dali
Dali, a historically
and culturally famous city of China, is renowned for her
historical interest. During the Tang and Song Dynasties,
it was the capital of Nanzhao and Dali Kingdoms, the political,
economic and cultural centre of Yunnan, an important gateway
of cultural exchange and trading with southeastern Asian
countries, and an important pass of the ancient "Silk
Route of the South". It has long enjoyed the reputation
of "a land of letters".
Dali is situated in the southwest of Yunnan
and at the intersection of the Yunnan-Burma Highway and
Yunnan-Tibetan Highway. It is 400 km. away from Kunming
and one day's bus ride will bring you to Dali via Chuxiong
Prefecture. Dali municipality covers an area of 1,457 square
km. and is inhabited by 400 thousand people, composed of
the Bai, Han, Hui, Yi, Lisu and other nationalities, among
whom the Bai nationality makes up 64% of the total.
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Dali City stands against Cangshan Mountain
in the west and adjoins Erhai Lake in the east, and is embraced
by undulating hills around. The elevation of the city proper
is 1,974 metres. Dali is a highland city in low latitudes
and its climate is of subtropical highland monsoon type.
The weather is temperate, the annual mean temperature being
15 C and rainfall 1,078 mm. The monsoon season falls on
June through October, and there is no marked seasonal changes
in a year. Abundant sunshine makes the weather warm, but
the wind is very strong, so Xiaguan of Dali is known as
"A City of Wind."
As "a land of letters", Dali was
the cradle of the Bai culture. In the long history of the
past, the ancestors of the Bais and the Yis had created
the brilliant Erhai Culture and left numerous illuminating
historical and cultural relics. Within the boundaries of
Dali, there are many ancient pagodas, steles, places of
historical interest and frescoes. The ancient Dali City
is still standing there elegantly and toweringly. The most
outstanding places of interest in Dali are: the ancient
city proper of Dali, the Three Pagodas on the ruins of Chongshengsi
Monastery, Nanzhao Stele, the Tablet Commemorating Kublai
khan's Conquest of Yunnan, the remains of Taihe City, the
Tomb of Du Wenxiu, the scroll of pictorial history of Nanzhao
(Tang Dynasty), Pictures on Buddhist themes Painted by Zhang
Shengwan of Dali (Song Dynasty), and the Frescoes in Xingjiaosi
Temple of Shaxi (Ming Dynasty). All these are the witnesses
of the brilliant history of this ancient city.
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Cangshan Mountain and Erhai Lake are the
best scenic spots in Dali, which are reputed as the "Snow-covered
Cangshan Mountains and Jade-Green Erhai Lake". Cangshan
Mountain stands erect like a huge screen. Its snowcapped
pinnacles and the streams in between under fleecy clouds
make a beautiful picture. The placid and crystal clear Erhai
Lake comprises the following famous scenic spots: the Three
Islets, the Four Sand Bars, the Five Miniature Lakes and
the Nine Curvatures. The magnificent Three Pagodas, the
Lofty Cangshan Mountain and the Colourful Butterfly Spring
add lustre to what is already beautiful. The Wind, Flowers,
Snows and the Moon make a perfect natural picture that renders
this ancient city even more attractive. So, people adorn
it as "A Corner of Mother Nature" and "Switzerland
in the East."
The folk ways of the minority nationality
are richly colourful. The architectural layout of "Sanfang
Yizhaobi" (a courtyard with rooms on three sides and
a screen wall on the remaining side) and "Sihe Wutiangjing"
(one big courtyard with four smaller ones at the corners
of the main one) of the Bai nationality is elegant yet unsophisticated.
"Every household has a water well and every family
owns a number of potted flowers" are the tradition
and common practice of the Bais. The attire of the Bai girls
are brilliant and graceful, simple yet harmonious. The national
minorities in the Dali area have many traditional festivals
and gatherings, namely: the Benzhu Festival (worshipping
the guardian saint or the local god of a Bai community),
the Flower Festival, the March Fair, Raosanling Festival,
Torchlight Festival and Lake Tour Festival. Among them,
the March Fair is the most magnificent of all.
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Dali today is full of vitality and prosperity
in both the urban and rural areas. With the development in
machinery, electricity, textile, chemicals, papermaking, tea
processing, marble products and so on, it has now become an
industrial base in the west of Yunnan Province. The mainstay
in the economy of the city is the production of cigarettes,
tea, marble articles, clothing, cement and electric power.
The Dali marble, Tuocha (white tea), furniture, tie-dyed cloth,
straw woven hats, and plywood are well known both at home
and abroad. In agriculture, Dali mainly produces rice, wheat,
broadbeans and maize. The species of rice "Dianyue No.
1" turns out 1,014 kilograms per mu (1/15 of a hectare)
creating the highest record in China. And one crop of broad
beans ranked the first in our country, yielding 514 kilograms
per mu. In recent years, medicinal and perfuming crops are
popularized. In sum, both in the city and around the countryside,
Dali has become wealthy and prosperous, indeed a land of "fish
and rice" in the west of Yunnan. |
