Dali City
| Dali 大理市 | |
|---|---|
| County-level city | |
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Wuhua Tower, a landmark spot in Dali | |
.png) Location of Dali City (pink) and Dali Prefecture (yellow) within Yunnan province of China | |
  Dali Location in Yunnan | |
| Coordinates: 25°36′N 100°16′E / 25.600°N 100.267°E | |
| Country | People's Republic of China |
| Province | Yunnan |
| Autonomous prefecture | Dali |
| Area | |
| • Total | 1,468 km2 (567 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 2,007 m (6,585 ft) |
| Population | |
| • Total | 652,000 |
| • Density | 440/km2 (1,200/sq mi) |
| Time zone | China Standard (UTC+8) |
| Postal code | 671003 |
| Area code(s) | 0872 |
| Website | http://www.dali.gov.cn/ |
| Yunnan e-Portal | |
| Dali | |||||||||
| Chinese | 大理 | ||||||||
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| Postal Map | Tali | ||||||||
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Dali City (Chinese: 大理市; pinyin: Dàlǐ shì; Bai: Darl•lit; Hani: Dafli) is a county-level city in and the seat of the Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture, in northwestern Yunnan province, People's Republic of China. Dali is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Yunnan, known for its natural scenery and historical and cultural heritage.[1]
History
The Dali area was formerly known as 苴咩 (jūmiē). Dali is the ancient capital of both the Bai kingdom Nanzhao, which flourished in the area during the 8th and 9th centuries, and the Kingdom of Dali, which reigned from 937–1253. Situated in a once significantly Muslim part of South China, Dali was also the center of the Panthay Rebellion against the reigning imperial Qing Dynasty from 1856–1863. It was severely damaged during an earthquake in 1925.[2]
Dali is also famous for the many types of marble it produces, which are used primarily in construction and for decorative objects. In fact, Dali is so famous for the stone that the name of marble in Chinese is literally "Dali Stone" (Chinese: 大理石; pinyin: dàlǐ shí).
Dali is now a major tourist destination, along with Lijiang, for both domestic and international tourists.
Old Town and new city
Dali is 40 minutes north-west of the provincial capital, Kunming, by air, and 7 hours by train although the journey is expected to be quite comfortable. The Dali government's urban planning keeps its old and new districts separate, to encourage tourism. The "new city" is known as Xiaguan (Chinese:下关; pinyin: Xià guān)and is south of the old city ( Chinese:古城; pinyin: Gǔ chéng). The old city was built during Ming Dynasty emperor Hongwu's reign (1368–1398). Owing to the building laws, the old city is still marked with the traditional Chinese house style.
Geography
Dali is located on a fertile plateau between the Cangshan Range to the west and Erhai lake to the east. It has traditionally been settled by the Bai and Yi minorities. It is also the capital of the Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture.
Climate
Tempered by the low latitude and high elevation, Dali has a mild subtropical highland climate (Köppen Cwb), with short, mild, dry winters, and warm, rainy summers. Frost may occur in winter but the days still generally warm up to 15 °C (59 °F) or more. During summer, a majority of the days features some rainfall, and daytime temperatures rise to 24 °C (75 °F). A great majority of the year's rainfall occurs from June to October. The december 2013 also witnessed heavy snowfall. the snowfall turned both the towns (old and new )into snowy city.
| Climate data for Dali (1971−2000) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 23.3 (73.9) |
23.5 (74.3) |
26.2 (79.2) |
29.5 (85.1) |
31.4 (88.5) |
31.6 (88.9) |
29.3 (84.7) |
28.7 (83.7) |
28.8 (83.8) |
27.1 (80.8) |
24.4 (75.9) |
24.5 (76.1) |
31.6 (88.9) |
| Average high °C (°F) | 15.3 (59.5) |
16.7 (62.1) |
19.7 (67.5) |
22.5 (72.5) |
24.8 (76.6) |
25.0 (77) |
24.4 (75.9) |
24.3 (75.7) |
23.3 (73.9) |
21.2 (70.2) |
18.1 (64.6) |
15.8 (60.4) |
20.9 (69.7) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 8.2 (46.8) |
10.2 (50.4) |
13.1 (55.6) |
15.8 (60.4) |
18.7 (65.7) |
20.2 (68.4) |
19.9 (67.8) |
19.2 (66.6) |
17.8 (64) |
15.4 (59.7) |
11.4 (52.5) |
8.1 (46.6) |
14.8 (58.6) |
| Average low °C (°F) | 2.2 (36) |
3.9 (39) |
6.7 (44.1) |
9.5 (49.1) |
13.1 (55.6) |
16.4 (61.5) |
16.7 (62.1) |
15.8 (60.4) |
14.4 (57.9) |
11.6 (52.9) |
6.8 (44.2) |
2.8 (37) |
10.0 (50.0) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −3.7 (25.3) |
−2.6 (27.3) |
−2.4 (27.7) |
1.0 (33.8) |
5.6 (42.1) |
8.5 (47.3) |
11.8 (53.2) |
10.5 (50.9) |
6.1 (43) |
4.2 (39.6) |
0.1 (32.2) |
−4.2 (24.4) |
−4.2 (24.4) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 20.4 (0.803) |
28.1 (1.106) |
41.6 (1.638) |
24.8 (0.976) |
61.9 (2.437) |
164.5 (6.476) |
185.6 (7.307) |
209.1 (8.232) |
167.6 (6.598) |
96.2 (3.787) |
40.7 (1.602) |
10.8 (0.425) |
1,051.3 (41.387) |
| Avg. precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm) | 4.0 | 6.7 | 8.5 | 9.9 | 10.8 | 17.4 | 20.0 | 19.5 | 17.7 | 12.8 | 6.2 | 2.6 | 136.1 |
| Source: Weather China | |||||||||||||
Sites of interest
Dali is one of Yunnan's most popular tourist destinations.
- Dali museum
- Chong Sheng Temple
- Guanyin Palace of Copper Rain (rebuilt in 1999)
- Jianji Great Bell of Nanzhao (recast in 1997)
- Three Pagodas
- Butterfly Spring
- Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils film city
- Shaxi, Yunnan: a historical town in Jianchuan County on the ancient tea route
- Shuang lang: on the opposite side of the lake, once a small fishing village, now a rather high-class tourist destination, most buildings and businesses having overtaken the village since 2012. The coast is now completely built up by tourism estates.
Culture
- Third Month Fair (Sanyue Jie)
Economy
Transportation
Local transport
Local transport modes include buses, taxis, bicycles, and boat (on the Erhai Lake).
Air
- Dali Airport is currently a domestic airport with the following destinations as of early 2014: (Kunming 20 min, Xishuangbanna 25 min, Chengdu 80 min, Chongqing 70min, Shanghai Hongqiao, Beijing, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, and Guiyuan). The airport is 13 km (8.1 mi) to the east of Dali City (via Weishan Road or Airport Road). Xiaguan - airport taxi fare Y60. Dali old town - airport taxi fare Y90.
Road
- There is a Freeway between Dali and Kunming.
- From the bus stop near the west gate in Dali there are daily buses to Shangri-La County and express buses to Kunming. Travel time by road to and from Kunming is about 4 hours and 30 minutes. Express buses to Lijiang and minibuses also leave from here. A bus leaves for Shaping every Monday morning for the market.
- The three biggest long-distance bus stations of Xiaguan (the "new city") are all located on Jianshe Road. There are daily trains and long-distance buses to Xiaguan from Kunming. From Xiaguan, there is a direct bus (No.4) to the Old Town of Dali. The bus No.8 links the railway station, the East and the North bus station of Xiaguan with the old city of Dali.
- China National Highway 214
Rail
Dali has rail connections to Kunming via the Guangtong-Dali Railway and Lijiang via the Dali-Lijiang Railway. Daily train service is available to and from Kunming (1 day-train and 2 sleeping trains) and to Lijiang. As the railway network expands in Yunnan, train service will become available to Shangri-La County and Ruili.
Gallery
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Dali old town (1999)
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Dali old town (1999)
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Dali old town (1999)
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Dali old town (1999)
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Dali old town (1999)
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Dali old town (1999)
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Dali old town (1999)
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Temple renovation in Dali (1999)
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Cleaning an altar (1999)
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Buddha statue in Dali (1999)
References
- ↑ "Dali Attractions". Travel China Guide. Retrieved 17 December 2014.
- ↑ National Geophysical Data Center. "Comments for the Significant Earthquake". Retrieved 31 July 2012.
- ↑ Forbes, Andrew ; Henley, David (2011). China's Ancient Tea Horse Road. Chiang Mai: Cognoscenti Books. ASIN: B005DQV7Q2
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dali City. |
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Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Dali. |
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