Dali
Dali straddles the corridor between the Cangshan range and Erhai Lake in Yunnan, a position that made it an important centre of the Nanzhao and Dali kingdoms. On the mountain-facing side of the city, Chongsheng Temple is Dali’s principal Buddhist complex, set above the Erhai plain. Its Three Pagodas are among Yunnan’s defining monuments: the central Qianxun Pagoda dates to the ninth century, with two smaller towers to either side. The complex is closely associated with the Buddhist tradition of the Bai people, the region’s main ethnic community. Below Cangshan, Dali’s older quarters, temple grounds and lakeside settlements spread across a broad north–south basin, where topography still shapes the city’s form and movement.
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Dali is best known within Yunnan for its historic walled Old Town, a low-rise district of lanes, courtyards and traditional gateways. The city lies between the Cangshan Mountains to the west and Erhai Lake to the east, a setting that has shaped settlement here for centuries. Dali is closely associated with the Bai people, whose presence is evident in local architecture, food and festivals. North of the old town, the Three Pagodas of Chongsheng Temple form one of the area’s best-known Buddhist monuments. The wider Dali plain played an important role in the histories of the Nanzhao Kingdom and the Kingdom of Dali. Browse additional webcams from the Dali area to extend your view of western Yunnan.
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Mountain ranges and river valleys define much of Yunnan, shaping a province where farming, tea production and transport routes change sharply with altitude. Kunming, the provincial capital, lies near the Stone Forest, a vast karst formation included in UNESCO’s South China Karst World Heritage property. Farther northwest, the upper Yangtze, Mekong and Salween run through parallel valleys in the Hengduan Mountains, a defining feature of the region. Yunnan is home to 25 officially recognised ethnic minority groups, while Pu’er tea takes its name from the city of Pu’er. Continue through nearby webcams to explore different parts of Yunnan.
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Built around the Yellow River and Yangtze basins, China grew into a vast modern state with landscapes that run from the Tibetan Plateau and the Himalayas to the Gobi Desert and the shores of the South China Sea. The Yangtze, Asia’s longest river, crosses the country west to east, linking mountain regions with major cities and fertile plains. Beijing’s Forbidden City, the former imperial palace of the Ming and Qing dynasties, remains a defining monument of its long imperial era. The Great Wall follows northern terrain in many separate sections, while regional cuisines, tea traditions and festivals reveal striking local variety. Explore other places across China’s regions to put this setting in a broader geographic context.
190 webcams