Dali 大理镇 |
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Town | |
Dali Old Town
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Location in Yunnan | |
Coordinates: 25°42′N 100°10′E / 25.700°N 100.167°ECoordinates: 25°42′N 100°10′E / 25.700°N 100.167°E | |
Country | China |
Province | Yunnan |
Prefecture | Dali |
County | Dali City |
Elevation | 2,007 m (6,585 ft) |
Population (2010) | |
• Total | 82,556 |
Time zone | China Standard (UTC+8) |
Dali Old Town Dali |
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Chinese name | |||||||||
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Chinese | |||||||||
Postal | Tali | ||||||||
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Bai name | |||||||||
Bai | Darl·lit | ||||||||
Hani name | |||||||||
Hani | Dafli |
Transcriptions | |
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Standard Mandarin | |
Hanyu Pinyin | Dàlǐ Gǔchéng |
Wade–Giles | Ta⁴-li³ |
Dali Town (Chinese: 大理镇; pinyin: Dàlǐ Zhèn) is a township-level division in Dali City, Yunnan, China. The town contains the historic centre of the county-level city of Dali and is also commonly known as Dali Old Town (Chinese: 大理古城; pinyin: Dàlǐ Gǔchéng). The modern centre of Dali City, however, is 10 km south of the old town at Xiaguan. Being the county seat of Dali City, Xiaguan is often labelled as Dali on maps and is sometimes referred to as Dali New Town (大理新镇) to distinguish it from Dali Town. The old town has become well-known as a tourist site in part thanks to its picturesque location and historic Bai architecture.
Dali has long been a regional centre of commerce, being located at a crossroads of trade routes between Tibet, China, Burma, and Southeast Asia. The Bai people first settled the region 3000 years ago. Dali first emerged as the capital of the Nanzhao Kingdom in the 8th century. Later, the town served as the capital of the Kingdom of Dali until its conquest by the Yuan conquest of the area.
The old town of Dali has been preserved in a 1.5 by 1.5km wide townsite surrounded by its ancient walls. Due to its relatively well-preserved architecture, the town has developed as a major tourist attraction in recent decades. Major sites of interest include the Three Pagodas, Dali Museum, the ancient city gates, an artificial town built as the set for Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils, and the Cang Mountain Range to the west.