Dali Ancient Town lies in the Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture of Yunnan, about 300 km from Kunming and roughly 2 hours away by high-speed train. Founded in the Ming dynasty, the town has a grid of streets where Bai “three rooms and one screen wall” houses, city gate towers and canals threading through the streets create a distinctive charm.
To the west, the 19 peaks of the Cangshan range stretch on end, capped with snow for much of the year; to the east, Erhai Lake spreads wide, with villages, wetlands and pastoral scenery around its shores. Cycling the lake loop, taking a boat on the water, or riding a cable car up Cangshan are classic ways to explore Dali.
