Two Days in dali.docVIP

Two Days in dali if an ancient town in China is well-preserved today， it is fated to be “developed”： roads are smoothed with new concrete， ancient and historical buildings are replaced by new imitations， local markets are replaced by stalls selling cheap souvenirs and locals are evacuated to make room for a flood of tourists and businesses. Luckily， Dali is an exception in all these aspects. Unlike Beijing， where the old town constantly battles for space with high-rises（and always loses）， Dali built its new town away from the old town， keeping its history intact. Also， unlike its sister town Lijiang where most of the native Naxi ethnic people have gone， the dominant population of Dali still consists of the Bai ethnic group， a minority that has called the area home since antiquity. From the founding of the Nanzhao Dynasty in 738 to the Mongolian Empire’s invasion in 1254， Yunnan Province （and some of the bordering areas） was a sovereign kingdom of its own. Dynasties rose and fell， but Dali was always the capital. Dali’s old town as we see it today was first built in 1382， and its contemporary pattern of streets and alleyways remain unchanged from as early as the Ming Dynasty （1368-1644）. The city moves at a sleepy， unpunctuated pace. Rather than submitting to the constant roll of development and progress， Dali tends to assimilate those who go there. Young people who come here to open a bar or a hostel invariably end up as part of the town， their spirit of industry and ambition sapped by beauty and peace. They get up late， go to vegetable markets with bamboo baskets on their backs and take frequent breaks from work， because they need to rest or travel. In absence of that great pressure， the hunger for entertainment in Dali just isn’t there. By ten at night， when other cities start their raucous nightlife， Dali is already dark， quiet and asleep. Nestled between Cangshan Mountain （苍山） in the west and Erhai Lake （洱海） in the east， the town is constantly windy， and the tem