SCENES & SIGHT

3,000 years ago, primitive humans inhabited the area of Erhai Lake . As early as the 2nd century B.C., Dali was on the map of the Kingdom of the Central Plains as Yeyu County . In 738, Pilouge, a chieftain of the Bai Tribe, united the six tribes of the Erhai region with the support of the Tang Dynasty, and established the State of Nanzhao , which was destroyed in 902. Duan Siping, also of the Bai Tribe, established the State of Dali in 938. During the 500-year period of Nanzhao and Dali, Dali City was the political, economic and cultural center of Yunnan Province . Emperor Khublai Khan of the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) eliminated the State of Dali , establishing in its place Yunnan Province . The Dali area was renamed Taihe County , and this name persisted during the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368-1911), before it was renamed Dali in 1913. In 1983, Dali County and Xiaguan City merged into Dali City . The city is one of the 24 leading historical and cultural cities and one of the 44 State-designated Scenic Centers in the country.