The Dali Ancient City is one of the 24 Historical and Cultural Cities of China which was first proclaimed by the State Council on February 1982 as well as within the national 44 famous sceneries throughout the nation. The ancient city was built in year 1382 within the reign of Ming Dynasty. However, the construction of the ancient city had been continued throughout the later dynasties and therefore outcome with the precious leftovers that we can discover within this unique place nowadays.
Dali, a famed ancient city has lots to offer as there are many important historic sites and cultural relics left by history that can be found here. With the name of being "Ancient", ancient towns, ancient pagodas and ancient steles have made up the majority of the scenic spots throughout Dali. Taihe Town, Yang Jumie Town, Dali Town (today's Xizhou County) and Longwei Town (today's Xiaguan) are some of the highlights for ancient towns at Dali. On the other hand, the Three Pagodas of Chongsheng Temple, Hongsheng Temple Pagoda, Snake Bone Pagoda, and Fish Bone Pagoda are all the most significant ancient pagodas that situated within Dali. For ancient steles, Dehua Stele of Nanzhao period, a stele to memorize Yuan Shizu conquered Yunnan, Wu Hualou Stele Group and Shanhua Stele are just part of the well known steles that can be found within this ancient town.
Covering an area of about 6000 kilometers square, the ancient town is surrounded by a city wall with average height of over 21 meters and 20 meters thick. There are four city gates surrounding the city wall in which each one on the four directions. Even though it is an ancient town, a proper city planning had been applied as well. There are five streets that stretch from south to north accordingly and eight lanes from east to west. Moreover, market places within the town are arranged neatly as well in a chessboard layout. These entire elements have always ensuring its status as a great destination that worth for visit.