This place was WAY better than Kunming!! Oh man. Way nicer people and far better scenery. What's unique about Dali is that it's divided into the Ancient City and the new city, Xia Guan (lower town). The new city is modern; deluxe hotels and large shopping malls, while the Ancient City is a well-preserved relic from the 8th century. Nowadays, Dali Ancient City is mainly set up for tourist visitors. In fact, there's even a street named "yangren jie" which means "foreigner street" lined with shops selling bootleg CD's, crispy crust pizza, and cheap garb.
The Dali Ancient City lies on the western edge of Erhai Lake. The altitude here is 6,330 feet, almost the same elevation as Lake Tahoe. Behind it soar the Jade Green Mountians and the awesome Cang Shan at 13,330 feet. To me this city reminds me a lot of Bishop, CA and the corridor along Highway 395. Dali is famous because it used to be the end node for trade along the Burma Road during the 9th century. To protect it from rival kingdoms, Dali is surrounded by massive stone walls and thick gates on all four sides. The
The Three Pagodasonly group to have successfully taken the city by force was Kublai Khan and his Mongol Army. Like a bawws.
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