Charming Ancient Town of Dali

The ancient town of Dali in Yunnan province was used to be the residence of King Piluoge of the Nanzhou State (year 738-937).  You can image the scale of Nanzhou Kingdom when looking at the present state of Dali.  Unlike other ancient town, the local people still live there. They run their shops, do house work and social and network around this ancient town, and help keep the town in its original colour.  There are three ethnic tribes in Dali: the Bai, the Dai and the Yi, each have their own different colourful costumes.

The Bai is one of the biggest ethnic minorities in Dali, comprising of around 34% of the total population.  Most of them reside in Dali. They have their own language and culture.  Although they are basically monogamy, they have the tradition of man marrying into woman’s family, adopting the wife’s surname.

At first glance, the Dai people look very much like the Thais, with similar costumes and festival such as the Water Splashing Festival.  They have the tradition of sending the boys to Buddhist temples for a period of time.  The Dai are indeed closely related to the people living in Vietnam, Laos, Thailand.

Half of the Yi ethnic minority in China live in Yunnan. They love singing and dancing and have their own musical instruments.  The biggest festival is the Torch Festival.