Dali
is located at the foot
of the Cangshan Mountain
by Erhai Lake, Yunnan
Province. It is an
ancient city of the Bai
Autonomous Region, is
widely acclaimed as the
"Oriental Switzerland"
and the "Chinese
Geneva". Situated at the
foot of Cangshan
Mountain and on the bank
of the Erhai Lake, it
covers an area of 1,800
square kilometres, and
has a population of
432,000 million. It has
an average annual
temperature of 15.1篊 and
an annual rainfall of
1,079 mm. The rainy
season comes from May to
October.
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 splendour.
In spite of all, the
summit of Cangshan
Mountain, 4,000 metres
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 fro 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 (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. |