Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture 大理白族自治州

Homeland of the Bai, the Dali area remains perhaps the most traditional region in Yunnan: even the hordes of tourists in the old town of Dali have not managed to kill its charm.

Kiss of Life for an Old Caravan Market

Until the middle of last century, Shaxi was a flourishing village on the caravan road to Tibet. The following decades made it a place that history forgot. Now Shaxi is undergoing an award-winning restoration.

More...

Marco Polo in Yunnan?

Did the great Venetian traveller reach Yunnan? Almost certainly not, but still his accounts are the first words Europeans heard about this far-away region.

More...

古镇: Death-knell for Yunnan's Historic Towns

In China even the 'old towns' are new. Under the 古镇, or ancient town, moniker old towns are razed and their population driven out to make space for sanitized versions of Chinese history that drive the tourist dollar.

More...

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.

More...

Dali City

Dali City administers surroundings of Erhai with the lofty Cangshan mountains to the west, a region dominated by the Bai people.

More...

Yongping County

More...

Yangbi Yi Autonomous County

Yangbi is an Yi area to the western side of the Cangshan mountains. It is famous for its walnuts.

More...

Nanjian Yi Autonomous County

Nanjian's main attractions are the cherry flower in December and the Earth Forest.

More...

Midu County

Home of 'Rippling Brook' 小河淌水, a famous Yunnan folk song.

More...

Yunlong County

Called 'museum of bridges', Yunlong county is one of Yunnan's rarely visited gems: the small county town with pleasant Hushan temple mountain in the back, the historic salt town Nuodeng just a few kilometers away and the many covered bridges across the picturesque Bi River that have given the county its moniker make a trip to Yunlong a trip back in time.

More...