大理 Dali

大理市是大理白族自治州的州府，位于风光绮丽的苍山之麓，是滇缅、滇藏公路交汇地，滇西的交通枢纽。现为国家对外开放城市、全国首批公布的24个历史文化名城和44个风景名胜区之一、全国文化先进市、中国优秀旅游城市。

大理还是一座千年古城，唐代的南昭国、宋代的大理国都曾将大理作为都城，悠久的历史和璀璨的文化，给大理留下了丰富的文物古迹。大理面临洱海，背靠苍山，至今仍保持着纵横交错、棋盘格局式的街道和雄伟壮观的南北城楼，城楼上“文献名邦”四个大字格外引人注目。最初东西南北各有城门，上有城楼，后毁。城内民居石墙青瓦、门窗雕龙画凤，显得古雅质朴。家家户户都有大小一不的花园，四季鲜花竞放。从苍山流下来的清泉穿街过巷，从千家万户门前流过，实为“家家流水，户户养花”。城西北的崇圣寺三塔和城西南的弘圣一塔，巷山脚下的元世祖平云南碑和一年一度的三月街，更使古城显得别有一番情趣。

作为著名的白族聚居地，大理具有浓郁的白族风情，三坊一照壁、四合五天井的民居文化内涵深刻；三月街、石宝山歌会等民间节庆妙趣横生；白族三道茶品味悠长。在整个云南之旅中，再没有其他地方能象大理那样让你深切感受到独特的白族风情及文化了。

Lying at the foot of Cangshan Mountains, Dali is the capital of the Bai Autonomous Prefecture. Dali is a pivot of the south Yunna Province with the Yunnan-Burma Highway and the Yunnan-Tibet Highway crossing it. Dali was proclaimed as one of the first batch of 24 cultural and historical cities by the State Council. Dali is one of the 44 places of interest at the national level, the national open city and the excellent tourist city of China.

Dali is an ancient city with a history of more than a thousand years. Both the Kingdom of Nanshao in the Tang Dynasty (618-907) and the Kingdom of Dali in the Song Dynasty (960-1279) designated Dali as their capital. The long history and splendid culture endowed Dali with a rich reserve of relics. Facing the Erhai Lake and backing against on to Cangshan Mountains, Dali maintains its traditional crisscross network of thoroughfares and the two gate towers in both north and south of the city. The four Chinese characters that mean the City of Documents on the top of the tower are the most noticeable. Long time ago, there were gate towers in north, south, east and west. Two of them were destroyed later. Houses in the city are covered with black tiles and surrounded by stonewalls. All the doors and windows are carved with dragons and phoenixes, plain but elegant. Each household has a small garden. Flowers can be seen all the time throughout the year. Streams from Cangshan Mountains flow in front of the residential houses. That explains why some people say Dali is a city with streams and flowers in every household. Relics in this city add wonder to the city. The most famous ones are the Chongsheng Three Pagodas in the northwest of the city, the Hongsheng Pagoda in the northwest of the city, the stone steles at the foot of Xiangshan Hill recording how Emperor Shizu of the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) claimed Yunnan. 

 As a famous place inhabited by the Bai people, Dali takes on traditional characteristics. The March Street Festival and the Shibao Mountain Singing Gatherings are celebrated here. People enjoy the unique three-course tea etiquette. There is no other places in the entire Yunnan Province as Dali that has such strong and unique Bai flavors.