Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture 大理白族自治州 is much bigger than its famous lake. Erhai 洱海 and the old town sit in the middle, but the prefecture runs north to the Tea Horse Road towns of Shaxi and Jianchuan, west to the salt village of Nuodeng, and south to Weishan, where the Nanzhao kingdom began.
People come for the slower pace: whitewashed Bai courtyards, mornings by the water and cheap, sour-spicy home cooking. Repeat visitors all say the same thing: spend less time at lakeside photo stops and more in the old towns and local restaurants around them.
How locals do it
The usual rhythm starts with two or three nights on the west shore, in the old town or the lakeside village of Caicun 才村. Mornings go to the lakeshore path, afternoons to Xizhou 喜洲, for its merchant courtyards and rice fields. Our Dali guide covers the lake, both shores and where to sleep.
Then give half a day to Xiaguan 下关, the windy modern city at the lake's southern tip where the train station is. It has little to see and a lot to eat: the family fish restaurants and Hui halal kitchens that Dali people use themselves.
Heading on to Lijiang, the slow way is by road through Shaxi and Jianchuan instead of the direct train. Sleep a night in Shaxi 沙溪, see the Shibaoshan grottoes, then walk Jianchuan's old town. There's a Sunday market below the old Jianyang Tower; confirm the day locally.
Two side trips reward people with more time. Weishan Old Town 巍山古城, about an hour south of Xiaguan, is a Ming-era grid of low wooden shopfronts laid out between two old towers; come for breakfast and stay until lunch. Nuodeng 诺邓古村, about two and a half hours west by road, is a Bai salt-well village stacked up a steep hillside and famous for its cured ham. It only makes sense with an overnight stay.
Timing adds a lot. The Third Month Fair 三月街, a week-long Bai market with horse races at the foot of Cangshan, starts on the 15th day of the third lunar month (April or early May). Rao San Ling 绕三灵, from the 23rd to the 25th of the fourth lunar month (late May or June), sees Bai villagers walk and dance between temples along the west shore. The Bai also hold their own Torch Festival in midsummer. For a longer loop through Yunnan's old salt and caravan towns, see our salt and caravan towns route.
Where locals eat
Prices as of 2026; check before you go.
Selemu 色了木
A Hui halal canteen at 98 Boai Road 博爱路 in the old town, on the corner with Yu'er Road. Order fried ersi (chewy rice-cake strands tossed in the wok) or braised beef with rice.
Suxinyuan halal snacks 素馨园清真小吃
A local favorite, also on Boai Road. Order cold chicken rice noodles or rice noodles in a dark braising sauce.
Yutian Fish Restaurant 玉田鱼馆
A three-generation Bai fish house on Guanping Road 关平路 in Xiaguan, with low stools and no printed menu: you point at ingredients in the kitchen. Get the sour-spicy fish with toasted chili and the stir-fried pork liver.
Haiyan Restaurant 海燕饭店
An old-school Bai kitchen by Xingsheng Bridge 兴盛桥 in Xiaguan. Order crucian carp in sour quince broth (menus call the fruit "papaya") and chicken braised with erkuai rice cake.
Hou Siniang's Eryuan cooking 侯四娘洱源右所特色菜
Home-style cooking from Eryuan, just north of the lake, in a small lane restaurant. Guesthouse owners eat here; order the stir-fried beef and the sour-spicy crucian carp.
Weishan breakfast noodles 巍山扒肉饵丝 · 一根面
Weishan's morning bowls are the region's best-known breakfast: ersi topped with slow-braised pork, or "one noodle," a single long hand-pulled strand coiled in broth. Eat early, when the old-town shops are serving locals.
Hidden corners and free viewpoints
Jade Belt Road on Cangshan 苍山玉带路
A stone path cut along the mountainside at about 2,600 m, nearly level for kilometers, with the whole of Erhai below. Ride the Zhonghe chairlift 中和索道 up from just outside the old town and walk south.
Jianchuan Old Town 剑川古城
A Bai caravan town with its Ming street plan intact and hand-written couplets on almost every door. Walk from the south gate past Jianyang Tower 剑阳楼 to Ximen Street's protected Ming and Qing houses and Jingfeng Park, where the Confucian and Guandi temples share one garden.
Shibaoshan Grottoes 石宝山石窟
Carvings from the Nanzhao and Dali kingdoms cut into red sandstone: kings with their courts, Buddhas, guardians and a fertility shrine that local women still visit. A short drive from Shaxi.
Fengyu 凤羽古镇
A quiet Bai farming town in Eryuan county, north of the lake, surrounded by fields and low hills. Come at first light, when mist often lies over the valley.
Wuliang Mountain Cherry Valley 无量山樱花谷
A tea plantation in Nanjian county, south of Xiaguan, where rows of winter-flowering cherry trees turn the green terraces pink. One of Yunnan's few big flower sights in early winter.
Honest verdicts
- Shaxi and Jianchuan: worth a night of your Dali time, because their old streets are quieter and less rebuilt than anything on the lakeshore.
- Eating in Xiaguan: worth the taxi ride from the old town, since its fish restaurants cook for locals at local prices.
- Dali Old Town's main streets: overrated by midday, when Renmin Road 人民路 and Foreigner Street 洋人街 feel like one long mall, so walk them early and eat on the side streets.
- Three Pagodas of Chongsheng Temple 崇圣寺三塔: the thousand-year-old pagodas are superb, but reviews are split on whether the huge rebuilt temple complex behind them justifies the ticket and the long walk.
- Shuanglang 双廊: the best sunsets and lake-view rooms in Dali, but restaurants are few and peak-season rooms run to about ¥1,000 a night, so treat it as a one-night treat, not a base.
- Qianshi Mountain 千狮山 in Jianchuan: This paid park of stone lions isn't worth the ticket; the free streets below are the real sight.
Getting there and around
- By train: About 2 hours by bullet train from Kunming to Dali Station 大理站 in Xiaguan, and about 1.5 hours on to Lijiang. A newer line runs west to Baoshan. Book with your passport; see trains.
- By air: Dali Airport, east of Xiaguan, has flights from Kunming and other large Chinese cities.
- Beyond the lake: By road, Shaxi and Jianchuan are about 2 hours north, Weishan about 1 hour south of Xiaguan and Nuodeng about 2.5 hours west. Buses run, but connections are slow; with a driver you can link two towns in a day. We can arrange one at a fixed price.
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