Xu Xiake 徐霞客 in Dali
Xu Xiake (1586 - 1641) was China's first travel blogger. During the third lunar month in 1639 he travelled through Dali and recorded his experiences in his diary, posthumously published as 徐霞客游记. Is it still possible to retrace Xu's steps on the Dali plain?
The temple in Mangdao 芒岛, built in 1899, is one of few surviving examples of Dai Buddhist temples having survived the Cultural Revolution by being converted into grain storage.
Fei Hsiao-Tung and Chang Chih-I: Earthbound China: A Study of Rural Economy in Yunnan
Fei is the father of modern sociology in China: western-trained, he came to Yunnan at the end of the 1930s when China's eastern universities relocated west. In "Earthbound China" he applied modern empirical techniques that he had pioneered around Shanghai to the Chinese hinterland. The economical development, and subsequent societal changes, of three un-named, but typical villages in Yunnan is analyzed in great detail in this fascinating study.
A number of Chinese historic texts covering life and politics in Yunnan have survived over the centuries. I have translated a few of them.
Donglianhua is a Muslim caravan town with plenty of historic architecture.
Jim Goodman: Children of the Jade Dragon: the Naxi of Lijiang and their mountain neighbours the Yi
In the first half of the 1990s Lijiang had barely made its appearance on the Chinese tourism stage, even less so the then remote mountains of Ningland and Lugu Lake. Jim Goodman's account of the Naxi and the Yi draws back to a time where not everything was staged for mass tourism: an account of a lost world.
Sculpture making in the Dali region.
Hometown of many Bai merchants, Xizhou boast some impressive architecture.
Upcoming Festivals
| Name | Date |
|---|---|
| Yinongwu | 13 Aug |
| Longkan Ghost Festival | 13 Aug |
| Camel Festival | 13 Aug |
| New Moon Ritual | 13 Aug |
| Baijie Festival | 13 Aug |
| Ghost Month | 13 Aug |
| Ghost Month Ritual | 14 Aug |
| Dicang Fair | 15 Aug |
| Wild Mushroom Festival | 16 Aug |
| Mule Fair | 17 Aug |
| Benzhu Worship (Fengyu Area) | 17 Aug |
| Benzhu Worship | 19 Aug |
Markets this Friday
| Dali | 大理 |
|---|---|
| Duomei | 朵美 |
| Xiangtu | 象图乡 |
| Junhua | 均化 |
| Hecun | 萂村 |
| Jiancao | 捡槽 |
| Gunipen | 沽泥盆 |
| Waxi | 瓦溪 |
| Wuxing | 五星 |
| Pingchuan | 平川 |
| Liuhe | 六合 |
| Caicun | 才村 |
| Dali | 大理 |
| Heqing | 鹤庆县 |
| Baidangping | 白荡坪 |
| Yangbi | 漾濞彝族自治县 |
| Shaxi | 沙溪 |
| Shuanglang | 双廊镇 |
| Zuòyì | 作邑 |
| Yousuo | 右所镇 |
| Longjie | 龙街 |
| 寅街村 | |
| Xishan | 西山乡 |
| Shalong | 沙龙镇 |
| 大栗树 | |
| Midian | 米甸镇 |
| Xiazhuang | 下庄镇 |
| Jijie | 鸡街乡 |
| Wachang | 瓦厂乡 |
| 西庄 | |
| 龙洞村 | |
| 汤涧 |
| Honghe | 红河 |
|---|---|
| Xinhua | 新华乡 |
| Mengla | 勐拉 |
| Lengquan | 冷泉镇 |
| Lengdun | 冷墩 |
| Sancun | 三村 |
| Dongshan | 东山镇 |
| Shitouzhai | 石头寨 |
| Xinjie | 新街 |
| Maandi | 马鞍底 |
| Baoshan | 保山市 |
|---|---|
| Manglong | 芒龙 |
| Zhaotong | 昭通 |
|---|---|
| Shuanghe | 双河 |
| Diqing | 迪庆 |
|---|---|
| Zhonglu | 中路 |