Dali travel guide

Top 6 sights in Dali

Ranked by Wikipedia language editions — proven fame.

1. 

   1© Tdxiang at English Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0

   Three Pagodas of Chongsheng Temple

   Three pagodas standing at the corners of an equilateral triangle outside the old town. The central one is about seventy metres and ninth-century Nanzhao work; the flanking pair are tenth-century. Earthquakes that levelled everything around them left all three standing.

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2. 

   2© 蒋亦炯 · CC BY-SA 3.0

   Chongsheng Temple

   A Buddhist temple near the old town of Dali in Yunnan. First built in the ninth century, it was the royal temple of the Dali kingdom, and the Three Pagodas belong to it.

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3. 

   3© 蒋亦炯 · CC BY-SA 3.0

   Sacred Heart Cathedral of Dali

   A Catholic church of 1927 built in the Bai manner, with upswept eaves, carved brackets and painted beams — a Chinese temple in all but its cross. It stands in the old town of Dali and is still in use.

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4. 

   4© Xin · CC BY-SA 4.0

   Taihe City Ruins

   The walled capital of the Nanzhao kingdom in the 8th century, on the slope between the Cangshan range and Erhai lake. Only stretches of rammed earth wall remain, but the Dehua stele of 766 still stands within the enclosure.

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5. 

   5© Kcx36 · CC BY-SA 4.0

   Nanzhao Dehua Stele

   A stele raised in 766 outside the Nanzhao capital, its long inscription setting out the kingdom's case for breaking with the Tang after two Chinese armies were destroyed in the campaign. It is the oldest monument of its kind in Yunnan.

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6. 

   6© Xin · CC BY-SA 4.0

   Stele of Kublai Khan occupied Yunnan

   A stele set up in 1304 recording the Mongol conquest of Yunnan under Kublai Khan half a century earlier. Its Chinese text gives the Yuan account of the campaign that ended the Dali kingdom.

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