Dali 大理
Erhai Lake between the Cangshan mountains and Bai villages.
- Region
- Yunnan
- Best months
- Mar, Apr, May, Sep, Oct
- Nights to budget
- 3
- Airport
- Dali Huangcaoba (DLU)
Why visit Dali
- Cycling the Erhai Lake loop is the classic Yunnan trip
- Bai minority architecture is distinctive and intact
- Slower and cheaper than Lijiang
What to see
- • Erhai Lake loop
- • Three Pagodas
- • Dali Old Town
- • Cangshan cable car
- • Xizhou village market
- • Shuanglang
What to eat
- Rushan cheese
- Bai fish hotpot
- Erkuai rice cakes
- Rose flower cakes
- Yunnan coffee
Getting there
Dali to Kunming 2h, to Lijiang 1h30.
Dali has no metro; use DiDi or taxis, and allow more time for distances.
Practical guides for Dali
City-specific topic pages are being written city by city. In the meantime these national guides apply everywhere.
- Visa & entry
Whether you need a visa for China, and the three routes that get most travellers in without one.
- Payment & money apps
Alipay and WeChat Pay now accept foreign cards.
- eSIM & connectivity
How to get online in China without losing access to Google, WhatsApp and Instagram.
- Safety
China is statistically one of the safest countries for travellers.
- Getting around
Metro, taxi, ride-hailing and buses — how each works and which to use when.
- High-speed rail
The world’s largest high-speed network — how to book, board and not miss your train.
- Food & eating
How to order, what the regional specialities actually are, and how to handle dietary needs.
- Hotels & booking
Which sites actually work for foreigners, and what to check before you pay.
- Attraction tickets
Almost every major attraction now requires a timed online reservation, often days ahead.
- Money & costs
What a day actually costs, where the money goes, and how to budget by tier.
- Language & communication
How far English gets you, and the handful of Chinese that changes the trip.
- Apps you need
The short list of apps that make the trip work, and what each one replaces.