Its name is originated from that of a local regime in history called Kingdom Dali, meaning "a state of great order". Many of the architectures of the city were built of marble from the ore nearby, and that is why it is also called a city of Dali stone (marble). (Both Chinese writing and pronunciation of "great order" and "marble" are the same.) Marble buildings, marble streets, marble wall foundations and marble wells make the city so bright and limpid as if it is a tranquil fairyland. Each family loves door carving and wall-decoration; every household has a flower garden. While it is freezing season in the north, hundreds of flowers are in blossom here. Among them, camellia, azaleas and orchids are the most fascinating and enchanting ones.

Dali is also celebrated for its scenic beauties of Cangshan Mountain and Erhai. Lake. And also, Dali enjoys a very high fame for its "Four Grand Scenes", namely, Xiaguan's wind, Shangguan's flowers, Cangshan's snow and Erhai's moon. Especially Xiaguan's wind, which impresses people so deeply, makes Xiaguan such a place that you should go if you pay a visit to Dali.

It is the greatest delight to you to admire the full moon on a boat at the Erhai Lake. Under the moonlight, you can have an exceptional charming picture of Cangshan Mountain looking at the handsome shadow of itself. When the moon is hazy, the reflection of the Buddhist Temples looks even more mysterious, set off by the dark blue canopy of the heavens in the still of the night. When the moon is clear and bright, Erhai turns to be a unique fairyland, an integral whole of moonbeams, mountain pose and crystalline ripples. But, unless you are personally on the scene, you would not have any idea of its splendor.

In spite of all, the summit of Cangshan Mountain, 4,000 meters high, perennially covered with snow offers a beautiful sight. Though it is in winter, you could feel the spring in the air, at the same time enjoy the translucent snowy summit, glittering under the moonlight!

The Bai nationality having lived there for generations, is the chief inhabitant. Bright and cheerful in disposition, amiable and easy of approach, the Bai people are very hospitable and conversational. Their national costume looks neat and graceful. Both sexes have partiality for white color. A Bai man usually wears a short black gown over his white jacket with buttons down the front, whereas a woman, coiling up the hair over head, often wears a black or blue gown over her white jacket. The daily attire for a maiden is very attractive, i.e., a red close-fitting jacket without sleeves. The Bai girls like to wear one pigtail tied with red string with a colourful towel wrapped round and snowy teasels waving to and from on the right. Their artistic tradition is quite distinctive, too. They like carved doors and windows, and delicately whitewashed walls. Their national music sounds very sonorous, showing the nation's bold and uninhabited character.

March Street

March Street (Avalokitesvara Market), which has a long history of over a thousand years, is a place of trading. Every year a fair is held from March 15th to 20th. Minority nationalities from seven provinces gather at a piece of grassland at the foot of Cangshan Mountain, in the west of the city with rich array of goods. All the people dressed in their holiday best, go to the market in a continuous stream. Singing, dancing, and horse-racing are being shown simultaneously in the fair. What a distinguished gathering of trade and culture!

Besides, in Dali there are many other beautiful resorts worth of visiting. They are Butterfly Springs, Chickenclaw Mountain, Grottoes of Stone Bell Mountain, the Snake-bone Pagoda, the Natural Bridge, the Mass Tombs, the Nanzhao Stele and the ancient rostrum.

Cangshan Mountain

Cangshan Mountain, two kilometers west of Dali, comprises nineteen peaks with eighteen rivulets. It is best noted for its snow, clouds, rivulets and peaks regarded as the four great wonders of Cangshan Mountain. It is where Dali marble is quarried. Stretching some 50 kilometers from south to north, the mountain is fully covered by woods, enveloped in drifting clouds and hung with springs on its steep cliff sides. The top of the peaks, the highest being 4,122 meters above sea level, is clad in snow all the year round.

Erhai Lake

Erhai (literally, Ear Lake), just as its name implies, is similar in form of an ear. Two kilometers east of Dali, it is a fresh water lake, and in the middle of it, there are islets and sandbars. Covering 250 square kilometers, the blue, rippling lake and the snow-covered Cangshan Mountain add radiance and beauty to each other. The scene is, therefore, described as "Silver Cangshan and Jade Erhai".

Three main islands and several temples and villages along the lake's dry eastern shore are worth visiting. About an hour by boat from Xianguan is Golden Shuttle Island ( Jinsuo Dao), with a small fishing community on the east side and a cave for exploring. On the shore, directly north of the island, is a rocky peninsula crowned by a pavilion and temple. Sacred Buddhist buildings, destroyed and rebuilt many times, have stood on this spot for nearly 1,500 years. Luoyuan Temple was badly damaged during the Culture Revolution but has been put back together and has great charm. Visitors can have their fortunes told by an old priest who guides them in shaking and selecting a single bamboo stick from a bundle of 100. The numbered stick corresponds to a specific fortune.

A tiny, picturesque temple island, Xiao Putuo Dao, dating from the 15th century. It is devoted to Guanyin, the Goddess of Mercy. The outside walls have been restored with pointed caves is especially nice. On the shore nearby is the fishing village of Haiyin, whose boatmen are steeped in the lore of the lake. One of their specialties is night fishing for the huge 40-kilogram ( 88-pound) 'green fish'.

Three Pagodas

The three elegant pagodas arise on the Cangshan Mountain slope overlooking the Erhai Lake, known as Chonhsheng Santa, the Three Pagodas of Saintly Worship. The outstanding Landmarks of the region, they were once part of the greatest temple complex on the Dali plain.In recent times the Three Pagodas site has become extremely popular with tourists, the inevitable result being that it is overrun with stalls selling marble wares.

The tallest of the three, Qianxun Pagoda, has 16 tiers that reach a height of 69.13 meters ( 230 feet). Its structure, similar to the Small Wild Goose Pagoda in Xi'an, capital of Shaanxi Province, is in an architectural style typical of the Tang Dynasty (618-907). The two smaller pagodas to its west and north, each 42.19 meters ( 135 feet) high with ten tiers, have a luxurious appearance with their exquisite carvings. They were built in the Five Dynasties (907-960). More than 600 rare relics of the states of Nanzhao and Dali were discovered in the three pagodas during the 1978 reconstruction, making them even more famous.

Pagodas are among the most ubiquitous structures throughout the Buddhist world. Their Sanskrit name is stupa, originally a mound or round dome or cylinder on a square base with a shaft emerging upward.

Stupas probably evolved in India from prehistoric times as burial mounds for local rulers and heroes. Legend says that in the fifth century BC Shakyamuni, the historical Buddha, asked to have his ashes interred in a stupa. Since that time stupas have become symbols of the Buddha, reminders of his earthly existence, cult objects and places of devotion.

As Buddhism spread through Asia the shape of stupas adapted itself to local architecture, giving rise to the huge variety of styles. Generally speaking there are three types of stupas, or pagodas, in China.

The Storied style: This results from traditional Chinese storied architecture and is marked by panoramic views form large windows and outer railings at each level.

The Pavilion style: This is also known as the 'single-layered stupa', with one story only.

The Close-eaved or ( Miyi) style,, or multi-eaved style: These pagodas are characterized by a spacious first story, low subsequent stories and all eaves spaced closely to one another. Windows are small or nonexistent and the interior space is cramped and dark. Colse-eaved pagodas are an early style whose popularity rested on the extreme simplicity and gracefulness of form. They are best viewed from a distance where their lines can be seen in relief against a mountain or the far horizon.The Chongsheng Santa are clearly of the third type.

The pagodas were founded for two main reasons. First, they were holy structures that invoked the Buddha's protection against the frequent disasters of floods and earthquakes. A carved marble inscription in front of Qianxunta bears the four Chinese characters yong zhen shan chuan, subdue Forever the Mountains and the Rivers. Secondly, the pagodas were reliquaries for the ashes and bones of saints and a storehouse for scriptures and precious objects.

Butterfly Spring

Butterfly Spring, 25 kilometers north of Dali, has ancient camphor trees beside it.By hiking under the last of Cangshan's 19 peaks and exploring the northern end of Erhai Lake, a visit here can be turned to good advantage. In spring, when the trees put forth fragrant flowers, thousands of butterflies' flutter among the branches and over the spring water forms a dazzling "Kingdom of Butterflies". The spectacle has become a real wonder known far and wide.The inevitable legend associated with the spring is that two lovers committed suicide here to escape a cruel king. After jumping into the bottomless pond, they turned into two of the butterflies which gather here en masse during May.

The spring, in a shady grove on the lower slopes of the Cangshan, was justifiable famous for centuries because of a breathtaking convergence every springtime of tens of thousands of butterflies at this spot. The phenomenon was documented many times.

Flower Festival

The annual Flower Festival of Dali falls on the fourteenth day of the second month of the lunar calendar. Every household places many potted plants in front of the house on the morning of the festival, and the whole town becomes a sea of colorful flowers. Villagers from surrounding areas come to the town I their Sunday best to see the flowers. The noted Italian traveler Marco Polo came to Dali in 1287 and described the flower festival in his Travels of Marco Polo.

Three Pagodas of Worshipping the Sage Temple (Chongshengsisanta)
These three pagodas are arranged in a triangle on the slope of Cangshan Mountain to the northwest of Dali. The largest of the three, Qianxun Pagoda, was built when the area was ruled by the State of Nanzhao during the Tang Dynasty (618-907). It has sixteen levels and is sixty-nine meters high. A golden bird cast in bronze hangs on each of the four corners at the top of the pagoda; according to legend, these birds ward off the demons in Erhai Lake. There is a Buddha statue in the shrine on each level of the pagoda. On the front wall of the pagoda, a panel of a marble bears the inscription Yong Zhen Shan Chuan (Rule over the Mountains and Rivers Forever). The two smaller pagodas on the north and south were built during the Five Dynasties (907-960). These are solid brick octagonal structures with ten levels, measuring forty-two meters high.