Dali City
| Dali City 大理 |
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|---|---|
| — County-level city — | |
| 大理市 | |
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 Dali City
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| Coordinates: 25°36′N 100°16′E / 25.6°N 100.267°E | |
| Country | People's Republic of China |
| Province | Yunnan |
| Autonomous prefecture | Dali |
| Area | |
| • Total | 1,468 km2 (566.8 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 2,007 m (6,585 ft) |
| Population | |
| • Total | 590,000 |
| • Density | 401.9/km2 (1,040.9/sq mi) |
| Time zone | China Standard (UTC+8) |
| Postal code | 671000 |
| Area code(s) | 0872 |
| Website | http://www.dali.gov.cn/ |
| Yunnan e-Portal | |
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, northwestern Yunnan province of Southwest China.
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[edit] History
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.
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: dali shi).
Dali is now a major tourist destination, along with Lijiang, for both domestic and international tourists.
[edit] Old Town and new city
Dali and Yunnan's capital Kunming are only a 40-minute flight apart. Dali's newly finished administrative district that houses the newly opened Dali International Convention Center is in Longshan District. The Dali government's urban planning keeps its old and new districts separate, so those coming here for the first time often feel they have entered a time tunnel.
The "new city" is known as Xiaguan and is south of the old city. The old city was built during Ming Dynasty emperor Hongwu's reign (1368–1398). Owing to the distance between them, the old city is still peaceful and quiet.
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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.
| Climate data for Dali (1971−2000) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| 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 (77.0) |
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 (69.6) |
| Average low °C (°F) | 2.2 (36.0) |
3.9 (39.0) |
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 (37.0) |
10.0 (50.0) |
| 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 (41.39) |
| 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 | |||||||||||||
[edit] Sites of interest
Dali is one of Yunnan's most popular tourist destinations, both for its historic sites and the "Foreigners' Street" that features western-style food, music, and English-speaking business owners, making it popular among both western and Chinese tourists.
- 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, a small fishing village where the guesthouse owners of Dali come to take a break of the busy life in Dali.
[edit] Culture
- Third Month Fair (Sanyue Jie)
[edit] Economy
[edit] Transportation
[edit] Local transport
Local transport modes include buses (11 routes in the city proper), taxis, bicycles, and boat (on the Erhai Lake).
[edit] Air
- Dali Airport (destinations: Kunming 20 min, Xishuangbanna 25 min, Chengdu 80 min, Chongqing 70min). The airport is 13 km to the east of Dali City, taxi fare Y50.
[edit] Road
- There is a Freeway between Dali and Chuxiong.
- 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 3 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
[edit] 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.
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Dali, Yunnan |
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