Yunnan's Bai kingdom — Three Pagodas, Erhai Lake, and tie-dye at 2,000m
Dali is the ancient capital of the Nanzhao and Dali kingdoms that ruled Yunnan for 500 years before Kublai Khan's conquest — today a walled old town of cobblestone lanes, Bai minority architecture, and artisan workshops on the shores of Erhai Lake, flanked by the snow-capped Cangshan Mountains. The city is known for its tie-dye fabric, Yunnan rice noodles, Dali beer, and the young Chinese traveller scene that gathers around the old town's café-lined streets.
Dali was the capital of the Nanzhao kingdom (738–902 CE) and then the Dali kingdom (937–1253 CE), which controlled the Yunnan plateau for over five centuries and maintained trade routes to Southeast Asia, Tibet, and the Tang Dynasty court. Kublai Khan conquered Dali in 1253, incorporating Yunnan into the Yuan Dynasty for the first time, but the Bai people preserved their language, architecture, and the Three Pagodas complex that still dominates the plain.