The top 4 highlights of Dali

Dali, a word referred to romantic place, can be described into a sentence “The snow on Mt. Cangshan reflects the moonlight in Erhai Lake; wind from Xiaguan blows flowers in Shangguan.”. In these sentence, “wind, flower, snow, moon” are all covered which are the top four words to describe Dali.

During my trip, I just came across with the top 5 beautiful places in Dali which were titled by me as “4 fairy lands”.

No. 1 fairy land - Three Pagodas
The Three Pagodas is a landmark of Dali. It witnesses the cultural development of Dali. The main pagoda which was built between 834 and 840 is named Qianxun Pagoda. With a height of 69.13 meters, it is one of the typical Tang Dynasty architectures.

Just near the Three Pagodas, there is a large-scale temple called Chongsheng Temple. During the ancient times, there were nine Dali Kingdom emperors retired from the political fields and began their temple lives in Chongsheng Temple. In the Buddhism booming period, people in Dali Kingdom were all in Buddhism belief, so Dali also enjoyed a fame of “Buddhism Kingdom”.

The Three Pagodas has experienced thousands of years. It had witnessed more than 30 comparative serious earthquakes, but still stood there.

 

Chongsheng Temple is one of the temples which can bring me the amazing feeling deeply. The preservation of it is well. When standing on it, the grand view ensures us to see the world clearly. Surrounded by the Mt. Cangshan in three directions, and faced the Lake Erhai, the pagodas are in a great location.

 

 

The base of Three Pagodas are in square shapes, with lion-carving stone columns surrounded. And the main pagoda Qianxun Pagoda is a 16-floor pagoda which brings a magnificent feeling to the world.

 

No. 2 fairy land: Butterfly Spring
Butterfly Spring is a place with love story. With a custom, on Apr 15 each year, the youngs of Bai minority will come to Butterfly spring and look for their Mr. Right or Ms. Right by singing songs.

Butterfly spring is famous for spring, butterfly, and tree. The clean spring without pollution, the colorful butterflies decorate the spring, the Hehuan Tree with white flowers, it is more like a Shangri-La.

Butterflies are flower with wings, and flowers are butterflies in the dream. Butterfly spring plays a holy land in the literature world. Zhaungzi expressed that he would like to be a butterfly which was living in paradise without disturbs in the world. And another romantic story about butterfly will be a famous literature work “The Butterfly Lovers”. So Butterfly Spring brings the dense butterfly culture in Dali.

 

 

 

No. 3 fairy land: Dali Ancient TownWhen walking on Dali Ancient City, you can get touch with the ancient culture easily. Even you just stroll here and there, nothing to do, you can find what is a dream land.

When modern people are busy for their better lives, people sitting in the Dali Ancient town may tell you what is a leisure life you can enjoy. A book, a pice of paper, a foreign man with T-shirt and looking for his road to the guesthouse, bars in different decoration styles, all of these will tell you “the time is solid”. 

 

The architectural style of Dali Ancient Town is in black roof and white wall. With about 1,200 years, in the central of the town, there is still standing the famous building - Wuhua Pavillion. In the ancient time, Wuhua Pavillion was once used to entertain guests in the ancient time. Wuhua Pavillion was rebuilt in 1998, a four-floor building, as one of the landmarks of Dali Ancient Town.
 

No. 4 fairy land: Lake Erhai
Cruising on the Lake Erhai is a great experience. Sitting in the cruise ship, appreciating the charming scenery, dancing with Bai minority ladies, all of these will lead you relax yourself unconsciously.

If you are interested in the tea culture, you can have a seat to see the traditional Bai minority tea ceremony. In the custom, there are three cups of tea in the lifetime. The first cup of tea is bitter which may be the taste of young people. The second cup of tea is sweet which may be the taste of middle age. And the third cup of tea is mixed which may be taste of the old. This tea ceremony can be traced back to the early Tang Dynasty. This performance can be a highlight of your Dali tour.