Learning Bai
Bai 白族话 is the language spoken by the Bai people 白族 in the Dali area. While Chinese has become the lingua franca, Bai is still actively spoken by many, particularly older people, but it does not have a native written form and comes in many dialects. Here we list the available resources for learning this difficult language.
The annual fair at Shaba, called the Fishpond Fair 渔潭会, starts every year on the day of the Midautumn Festival 中秋节, and runs for a week. Attracting a local crowd, it remains a much more rustic fair than the massive Third Month Fair 三月街 and livestock is still traded here.
John Israel: Lianda: A Chinese University in War and Revolution
Everyone knows about the Mao's Long March, but a few years later another long march took place: that of Chinese students leaving their cushy campuses on the east coast, trekking all the way to Yunnan where their universities reformed as Lianda, the united university. Kunming, then a total backwater, became a hotbed for new ideas, not just scientific. We liked the section of east coast girls scampering around Mengzi in their latest fashion.
A number of Chinese historic texts covering life and politics in Yunnan have survived over the centuries. I have translated a few of them.
A fake festival that has become part of Dali's intangible cultural heritage.
The Danxia, or red sandstore, cliffs around Liming are a hikers' and climbers' paradise that is just now being discovered.
C. Patterson Giersch: Asian Borderlands: The Transformation of Qing China's Yunnan Frontier
Yunnan was not always China: indeed not so long ago large parts of Yunnan were only nominally part of the empire. To make Yunnan, outside the main Han cities, a Chinese province required significant effort. Here Giersch's study on Yunnan's hinterland makes an interesting if academic read.
Special form of ham making in Nanjian.
The turn of the Yangzi made Chinese civilization possible and was the location of many important battles.
Upcoming Festivals
| Name | Date |
|---|---|
| Slight Snow | 22 Nov |
| Anniversary of Dali Bai Autonomous Region Foundation | 22 Nov |
| Tsongkhapa Festival | 25 Nov |
| Alu Festival | 26 Nov |
| Street Banquet | 30 Nov |
| New Moon Ritual | 01 Dec |
| Hat Festival | 03 Dec |
| Great Snow | 06 Dec |
| Festival of Lights | 07 Dec |
| Atai Birthday | 08 Dec |
| Mizhi Festival | 10 Dec |
| Geminid Meteor Shower | 13 Dec |
Markets this Friday
| Dali | 大理 |
|---|---|
| Hecun | 萂村 |
| Jiancao | 捡槽 |
| Gunipen | 沽泥盆 |
| Waxi | 瓦溪 |
| Wuxing | 五星 |
| Pingchuan | 平川 |
| Yangbi | 漾濞彝族自治县 |
| Baidangping | 白荡坪 |
| Huangping | 黄平镇 |
| Shuanglang | 双廊镇 |
| Shaxi | 沙溪 |
| Zuòyì | 作邑 |
| Zhongjiang | 中江 |
| Yousuo | 右所镇 |
| Xishan | 西山乡 |
| Beiya | 北衙 |
| Jijie | 鸡街乡 |
| Wachang | 瓦厂乡 |
| 汤涧 | |
| 大栗树 | |
| Longjie | 龙街 |
| Jindunjiecun | 金墩街村 |
| Xiazhuang | 下庄镇 |
| Shalong | 沙龙镇 |
| 龙洞村 |
| Lijiang | 丽江 |
|---|---|
| Shunzhou | 顺州 |
| Honghe | 红河 |
|---|---|
| Xinhua | 新华乡 |
| Mengla | 勐拉 |
| Niujiaozhai | 牛角寨 |
| Sancun | 三村 |
| Lengdun | 冷墩 |
| Lengquan | 冷泉镇 |
| Dongshan | 东山镇 |
| Longwu | 龙武镇 |
| Shitouzhai | 石头寨 |
| Maandi | 马鞍底 |
| Baoshan | 保山市 |
|---|---|
| Manglong | 芒龙 |
| Puer | 普洱 |
|---|---|
| Fuyan | 富岩 |