Dali Travel Guide - Brief Information on Dali

Dali in Chinese Pinyin:  dà  lǐ
Dali in Chinese Writing:    

Dali in Chinese Pronunciation:  Click the button to learn how to say Dali Mandarin Chinese. Or you can download it to your hand device to play it to a conductor when buying a train ticket to Dali.

Dali Overview:  Dali is an ancient city with a history of four thousand years. It was the capital of Nanzhao Country of the Tang Dynasty, and Dali Country in The Song Dynasty. Dali is located in the northwest of Yunnan province, with Chuxiong to its east, Puer to its south, Baoshan and Nujiang to its west and Lijiang to its north. It is 338 Kilometers from Kunming city, and covers an area of 29,459 square meters.

Dali is a minority city with Bai, Yi, Hui, LIli, Miao and Han people. In 2008 Dali had a population of 3,474,800 people, 50.47 percent of which are minority people.

Map of Dali:  Here is a rough map of Dali showing where Dali is located on the map of China.

 

Dali Climate & Weather:  Dali is a city with low and high altitudes, which result in the plateau monsoon climate at low latitudes. Due to its geography, the temperature here is always favorable ranging from 12℃ to 19℃ with small temperature change throughout the four seasons. Dali is a city suitable to visit the whole year. While the dry and wet season here is very clear, it is always dry in the winter (November - April), and wet in summer. Rainfall during this period is 90% of the whole year's rainfall.Below is a yearly climate averages for Dali, Yunan Province, China.

Language in Dali: There are several minorities living in Dali and several languages are spoken. Bai language is the common language of Dali as the Bai minority is largest here. The Bai language is divided into south, central and north. The South Bai language is used by people living near Erhai Lake. There are slight differences between the three languages, but people can generally understand each other.

Dali Transportation: As an important transportation hub of West Yunnan Province, Dali is 377 kilometers from Kunming. You can get to Dali by plane, train or bus from Kunming, by plane from Xishuangbanna, and bus from Lijiang.

By Air:   It takes about 40 minutes from Kunming to Dali and about an hour from Xishuangbanna to Dali.

By Train:  A train ride to Dali from Kunming costs 52 Yuan to 136 Yuan and takes 8-9 hour.

By Bus:  The Dali Passenger Transportation Center and Dali Passenger Transportation Service Station are located on Jianshe Road. These two stations offer express coach services to the major neighboring cities of Kunming, Lijiang and Zhongdian (Shangri-La). Buses to Kunming take 5 hours. Ticket prices are 89-103 RMB, and leave every 30 minutes. Buses to Lijiang take 3 hours. Tickets are 50 RMB, and buses leave at 08:30, 09:30, 14:00 and 19:00. Buses to Zhongdian leave at 9:00 and arrive at 15:00. Tickets are 85 RMB.

Transportation to the attractions around Dali:
Xiaguan to Dali Old Town: 1.5 yuan
Dali Old Town to Butterfly Spring: 4 yuan
Dali Old Town to Erhai: 4 yuan