Dali Travel Reviews

We did not know what to expect as this was as our first trip to China - we are into the outdoors so we picked Yunnan as a destination, as it was knownfor its scenic beauty. We had heard about China’s progress in the past 30 years, but that did not prepare us for the amazing infrastructure, the excellence of telecommunications what is essentially a remote part of China- Imagine perfectly paved mountain roads with not a single pothole and 5G signal even in the most unlikely of places - mountain tops, deep gorges etc . The tour destinations and highlights were amazing. Just when we thought we had reached the height of our tour the next day gave us more jaw dropping sights. We have traveled a lot all over the globe, but we must say this trip gave us the biggest bang for the buck in our experience Our tour organizer, China Highlights was great. - ours was a private tour, just the two of us - the car was comfortable and everything ran like clockwork. Every tour guide we had on each part of our tour deserve special mention: May from Kunming, Scarlett from Dali, Eleanor from Lijiang and Anna from Shangri-La displayed passion, knowledge and dedication to their role. They were motivated good natured, humorous, and anticipated our every need. They were always concerned about our comfort and satisfaction. Our Driver Mr. Wang who drove us from Dali to Shangri-La, was safe and steady. Given the wonderful service that we received from these individuals and from China Highlights, we are already planning our next trip to China within the next few months. China, we love you and wish we had discovered you sooner!

We booked a 9-day tour of Kunming-Dali-Lijiang-Shangri-la with China Highlights in late March with Leeky. We are very well taken care of by our guides: Lulu in Kunming, Scarlett in Dali, Martin in Lijiang, and Betsy in Shangri-la. All our guides are local people, which is a great advantage for their local knowledge. Be it local history, customs, food and shopping tips. This trip started in Kunming which is a mile high city and ascended higher and higher. Those who are not familiar with high altitude will be better off listening carefully to their advices. Special shout out to Scarlett, our guide in Dali who went out of her way to take care of us even after we moved on to another city.. She had very good burgers delivered to our hotel when we did not want to venture out for dinner. Hotels selected by China Highlights are all fine. Breakfasts at the hotels are all good, especially if you like Chinese breakfast. We think veggies and chicken meat are much tastier than back home. Late March could be colder than forecast at times. While we were there, most flower blooms were pinkish. Cherry blossoms are at their peak together with crabapples. At Kunming Botanical Garden, there are more flower varieties to see. It’s off the beaten track however, accessible using the Didi app. It’s not crowded and it is very pleasant to walk there. Allow 2 hours for walking around.

Dali is a beautiful ancient town. We visited Er Hai 洱海, a huge lake. It was really scenic. Our guide, Frank, got us to walk along the lake. It was beautifully breathtaking. Frank filled us with a lot of interesting information about the place. We also learnt much about the culture of the land - the minority tribes, of which he belonged to one of them - Bai. Like us, Frank was a foodie and his recommendations were excellent, too. We also enjoyed our stay at Shaxi, a quaint ancient town in Dali, despite the fact that it was a little too commercialised. Nonetheless, it has many scenic places. Our trip would not have been that meaningful had not for Frank. Thank you, Frank! I think this private tour by China Highlights is a really enjoyable one.

One of the highlights was strawberry picking, and the farmers market was such an exciting experience! We also got to try our hand at making tie-dye prints, which was so much fun. We visited a Chinese embroidery shop and ended up buying some beautiful pieces. Of course, we couldn’t miss the Three Pagodas, which were absolutely stunning. And our first-ever tea-tasting experience was amazing—plus, we brought some tea home to remember it by!

We had a phenomenal trip of Dali and Shaxi with Daisy. She was kind, courteous, smiling, on time and constantly went out of her way to accommodate and help us with anything and everything. She has in depth understanding of the area, history, things to do, where / what to eat, historical perspective, good locations for photographs, and much more. Can't recommend her enough for Dali and Shaxi, 5 stars all the way!!

China Highlight as a tour agent was fantastic. The driver and tour guide assigned were great. We went Dali and Frank the tour guide coordinated well with the driver. Frank is so knowledgeable and experienced as a tour guide. So he was able to bring us to all the places where the food all tasted great and environment was perfect. He also knew the best photo taking spots and helped us take so many nice pictures. He also brought some local fruits for us and cut them up during lunch. His efforts are totally commendable!

Daisy our guide made Dali magical.She was knowlegabke, fun abd empathetic. She takes the most anazing candid photos and curates the highlights

Amazing Day in Dali with my Family & we have a good Tour Guide name Daisy.We love this trip especially with her talent taking beautiful.

What a delight! China Highlights organised a wonderful 2 days in Dali, thanks to Albee for arranging and to Scarlett for looking after me so well. Making flower cakes was a wonderful experience, and Scarlett showed me how to navigate the old city. The only problem….. 2 days isn’t long enough! This is such a beautiful area with mountains and lake.

Special mention to Frank. He was extremely knowledgeable about the history and heritage of the area and the visit to the three pagodas was made more interesting with his vivid explanation of meaning of each location. He also helped take excellent photos and brought very fresh fruits (pears and pomegranates) for us to try! Food selection was great and delicious too! Importantly, he carried THREE umbrellas at all times to make sure we were never wet!

Alice Dali. All have been very caring and wanting to ensure that everything was just right for us to enjoy our time with them. The drivers have been lovely too, getting us to and from each visit location efficiently and timely.

Alice Dali is an amazing tour guide. With her bubbly personality and knowledge, we understand rich culture of Dali and we have enjoyed our trip in Dali very much.We highly recommend Alice and China High nightlights.

This is our first trip to Dali at Yunnan using China Highlights and we are very blessed to have Alice Liu Dali as our guide. She is very committed & went beyond miles to meet our requirements. She is knowledgeable & is hardworking. A big thumbs up for her.

Alice Liu ,Dali, is a fantastic tour guide. She has provided excellent service and gone extra miles to meet our needs. Alice speaks fluent English and she has a bubbly personality that makes our trips so much fun.

First time visiting Dali and I had a great guide in Alice Liu. I learnt so much about Dali and the local Bai people's customs and culture from her. She is cheerful and always eager to share her knowledge. In addition, she took good care of my family during our time in Dali.

China Highlights helped to arrange our trip and everything was smooth. Our tour guide Alice Liu in Dali was very knowledgeable about the local culture and history and made our trip memorable. Thanks for the great trip!

Alice Liu Dali is a fantastic tour guide. Alice has provided excellent service and has gone extra mile to meet our needs. She speaks fluent English and has a bubbly personality that makes our trips so much fun.Highly recommend Alice Dali and China Highlights.

China highlight is our appointed private tour operator. Great correspondence prior and during the trip.Alice Liu- Dali is an awesome tour guide. She is friendly, knowledgeable and helpful. We felt safe and comfortable with her company. Her bubbly character cheer up our spirit everyday.I strongly recommend her to anyone that plan to visit Dali -Yunan.

Our guide, Daisy, was so kind with us and even just for one day trip, she showed us the lake, pagodas, the old town, and the beautiful tea house. She gave us recommendations of restaurants, local food and all the highlights in Dali. She is also really good with pictures.

Our guides at Dali was Daisy. We were so blessed to have such experienced drivers and knowledgeable guides throughout our trip. All of them made sure that we were safe, comfortable and not too overwhelmed by the sightseeing attractions.

our guide Frankie has helped us with everything and made the entire trip easy for us, he is great, the best.

The China Highlights and tour of Dali was absolutely wonderful. The tour guide Daisy was so nice, knowledgeable and provided an excellent, memorable experience of Old Town Dali, Erhai Lake, the Three Pagodas and so much more. I have been on many tours and this one was the best, exactly what we were looking for, including the pace, the food, the attention to details, care and professionalism. Everything was positively great!

Our family tour with China Travel was absolutely wonderful. The China highlights of Dali was planned with the great care and help from Vanessa, and the actual tour guide, Daisy, who was knowledgeable, flexible, helpful, and provided an excellent, memorable experience for my family. We toured several locations and I especially liked the pace of Old Town Dali, the scenic view of Erhai Lake, and the history of the Three Pagodas, and so much more. I have been on many tours and this one was the best, exactly what we were looking for, including the pace, the food, the attention to details, care and professionalism. Everything was positively great! Highly

Dali - our guide Alice gave us a comprehensive insight into Dali, its lifestyle and people and she shared with us many many stories about her hometown too. We told her we wanted to buy some Pu'er tea to bring back home and she brought us to a place where we ended up staying 2 hours studying and savouring different kinds of tea. Our hotel was in a great spot and it is in a heritage building but renovated so the rooms are quite modern. Somehow I wish we spent more days in Dali.

More hiking and biking with our guide Daisy enthusiastic, generous and fun. she took us to an amazing Bai village where the market and the tie-dye skills fascinated us.