Art & Alternative Culture in Dali

Visiting local art galleries in Dali Old Town

Yunnan Province is one of my favorite places in China so far. The weather is perfect, there's lot of great hiking, and really interesting, historical places to visit. On my travels around Yunnan last year, I went to Lijiang, Shangri-la, Shaxi Village, and finally the city of Dali on my way back to Nanning. Like many of the others, Dali has a long and fascinating history and some beautiful nature nearby.

One of the biggest ethnic minorities in Yunnan are the Bai people, and the old part of Dali city was once the capital of the Bai Kingdom in the 8-9th centuries, until it was destroyed by the ethnically Mongolian Yuan Dynasty. During the Ming Dynasty in the 14th century, it was rebuilt as the old town that continues to exist now, although it was heavily damaged by an earthquake in 1925. The area has been culturally diverse, as a home for the Bai people, then becoming predominately Muslim during the Yuan and Ming dynasties. (Thanks Wikipedia for the info!)

The city is divided into two parts, connected by highways (you can catch public buses that run between them). The newer part is called Xiaguan (下关镇) and the older part is (大理镇) or Dali Old Town (大理古城). The old town is much more interesting, so it's worth finding a hotel or hostel in that area. Thanks to the prevalence of alternative culture in Dali, in the form of art, music, and so on, it's popular on the backpacker path, so you'll find a lot of cheap hostel options near the Old Town.

Our hostel in Dali Old Town

In the Old Town you can wander around a number of pedestrian only streets with the usual restaurants, cafes, souvenir shops, etc. that you'll find in most Chinese tourist destinations. The fun thing about Dali is that there are a lot of art galleries and studios mixed in as well that are worth checking out. You'll also find some really nice, hipster coffee shops and bars. 

One gem that we stumbled upon is an American style diner, complete with chrome and vinyl seats, a tall counter, a cabinet full of beautiful looking pies, and real burgers. It's a little pricey but well-worth it, especially if you haven't had any western food in a while and you're craving it. 

Erhai Lake

There's also a large lake, called Erhai, near Dali Old Town that you can visit. You could take a public bus or taxi there, but we chose to walk. Walking was fun since it took us through some little farming communities and rice fields next to the city. The lake itself doesn't have a lot of places to walk around unfortunately, but there are boat tours available if you really want to see more of it. It was too crowded for us with big bus tours, so we just enjoyed the view from the shore.

Within the old town there are a few places of interest to stop by as well, like a temple and a large city gate. But the main draw, for me at least, was the good food and drink and the art galleries.