The Past Prosperity of Dali
4-Day Dali and Tea Horse Road Experience Tour
When you heard about Dali for the first time, you might have been attracted by the beautiful scenery of the Cangshan mountains and Erhai Lake. However, the amazing landscape is just one part of the charming Dali. The hardworking and talented Bai people have created an abundant historical and cultural treasure trove in Dali.
In this 4-day Dali tour, you will start from Dali and explore Jiangchuan, Shaxi, and Nuodeng, which are ancient towns on the lost Tea Horse Road. Go beyond the usual tour attractions to find the great things bequeathed by the Bai people’s traditions and history.
Tour 'Wow' Points
Recall the Fading Memories of Caravans in Shaxi Ancient Town
Visit the last remaining market town on the ancient Tea Horse Road — Shaxi. The shining wall, the ancient stage, bridge, and grand courtyard still tell stories about the horse caravans.


Take Part in Traditional Salt and Ham Production
Discover a place of product origin on the ancient Tea Horse Road. Experience making salt, one of the important trade goods, and salt and taste the delicious ham preserved by the local salt.


Relax Yourself in an Old and Peaceful Village
Enjoy a big meal of local ham, then try the wonderful foot bath with a herbal infusion made by the local Bai people, which will relax you ready for sweet dreams in the starry night.


Why Choose Us

Your Wellbeing is Our Priority.
- 1-to-1 travel expert
- Vaccinated guides
- Private Rides

Your Trip is Perfectly Planned.
- Less crowded
- Exclusive Exciting Experiences

Your Booking is Risk-Free.
- No cancellation fee (up to 22 days before departure)
- Free changes
Finish Your Booking in as Quick as 1 Day
1. Tell us your dream travel idea
2. Work out your unique plan with 1 to 1 expert advice
China Highlights, Asia Highlights, and Global Highlights collaborate to provide families and couples with personalized and stress-free experiences in diverse destinations.


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China 29 days trip
We have thoroughly enjoyed our trips in China. From our guide in Xi’an to the guide in Kwelin , they are all excellent. 韩颂 in Beijing, Susan in Xi’an, Alvin in Huang Shan, Sally in YiZhang , Peter in Zongzhing, Doyle in 昆明,Daisy in Tali, Martin in Lijiang and the last Vincent in Guilin. They all performed their services well. We are happy to have met them, hopefully we will keep in touch. more
Nov 2023,
Tiong-Oen Pouw
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Family of 6 travelling in Dali
I was part of a family of 6 traveling through Yunnan for 8 days. The trip organised by China Highlights was well planned and took into account our specific interests area which were photography, DIY classes and culture.Our guide in Dali, Daisy Shi, took care of us well with her knowledge of the local ways, sights and in particular her thoughtfulness to my aged parents who were part of the group. Thanks to her for our wonderful stay in Dali and we hope to make a longer stay in Dali. more
Nov 2023,
Nay
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What a fantastic and flawless job done
What a fantastic and flawless job done by China highlights to arrange our 18 days tour of Yunnan province and Tibet area. It was our second trip with China Highlights. Our guides and drivers were great and helpful in all aspects in all cities we visited.In Kunming our guide "Ms. May" and driver "Jack" were exceptional .They were very professional and also very compassionate and very willing to take care of our personal needs beyond their line of job. Same was our guide in Dali "Ms. Daisy"In general we really enjoyed our trip with China highlights .Maria & J. KhanOrlando, Florida more
Oct 2023,
Maria
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Dali with Daisy
We had a great time in Dali together with our very caring and amazing guide Daisy. She accommodated to all our interest - especially in learning more about local crafts and took us to an interesting die tie house. And we learned a lot about the Bai culture from her. Daisy is also a great photographer and took the most beautiful memories of us during our visit. more
Sep 2023,
Simone
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Amazing Time in Dali & Sanxixi
我与家人非常开心的享受Daisy(China Highlights)在Dali 和 Sanxi 的导游服。她亲切又仔细的讲解给我们听并有问必答。She has made an extra effort to walk extra miles to give us wonderful experience. Daisy, thank you for everything. 有您在真好! more
Aug 2023,
CK
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Thank you 施小梅(shixiaomei)
My family and I had the pleasure of 施小梅(shixiaomei)‘s tour guide services in Dali and Shaxi. She was attentive, caring, knowledgeable about local history and constantly walking the extra mile to give us a wonderful experience. We have enjoyed our stay in Dali and Shaxi because of her. more
Aug 2023,
Molly
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Wonderful trip to Dali
Our trip to Dali was led by Daisy. It was such a beautiful city, rich in nature, culture, history, and of course good food. We were really lucky to be paired with Daisy - she was such a warm-hearted, thoughtful, and flexible guide. She was incredibly attentive to our energy levels throughout the day, knew so much about Yunnan’s history, and even led us tea tasting when it wasn’t originally on the itinerary. We are grateful for the chance to visit the beautiful Dali and to have Daisy guide us, and we would definitely use China Highlights for future trips more
Jul 2023,
Amy Y
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Nancy Lee - China Highlights , Professional Guide
I am impressed by Nancy Lee’s professionalism. She has high energy , thoughtful , eloquent and resourceful and execute well in all our requests . She is detailed and highly recommend her excellent service to all who visit Yunnan . To add on, Nancy has excellent skills in photo taking! Driver Tang is very helpful , thoughtful and has a great sense of humour . I enjoyed my Dali , Shaxi trip from 17-20April 23 and will definitely engaged Nancy more
Apr 2023,
Beautifoo
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Enjoyable and memorable trip
Personally, we are very happy and fortunate to have Nancy been appointed as our dedicated local guide to both, Shaxi and Dali. Nancy is very professional, helpful, resourceful and thoughtful guide which made our ladies’ trip a very enjoyable and memorable. We love ? her. more
Apr 2023,
Jane Foo
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Unforgettable Yunan trip
We have a wonderful tour guide Ms Nancy Lee who make our trip so memorable. She is so knowledgeable with China History, a great facilitator.and very professional. Nancy is very accommodative and goes all way out to make our trip a fun and interesting. We will also want to express our gratitude to Mr Tang, our driver who is so attentive, makes us laugh and entertain us with great songs and jokes. They looked after us on a five days trip to Shaxi and Dali. We will definitely engage their services again when we are back. Fantastic experience! Highly recommend to use China Highlights. more
Apr 2023,
Patricia T
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Thanks for the memorable experience! I love Dali!
With Nancy as our tour guide, we really get to see a lot of authentic local attractions and taste local cuisine in Shaxi and Dali. She is knowledgeable and provided good advice. We really appreciate her as our tour guide. The driver Mr Tang is a very safe and patient driver. He has also given us a lot of laughter along the way. Very humorous. more
Apr 2023,
Hazel Tan
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A great tour of Dali, a beautiful city!
Our China Highlights tour guide, Grace, was very knowledgeable about the local sites, culture, history, and mythology. She was also very helpful in providing information about transportation between the airport and the hotel, and communicating with the hotel staff in Mandarin when we needed help with that. The activities China Highlights arranged were really fun and worthwhile and the car that took us around made it possible to see the key sites but not waste time trying to figure out how to get to the sites by ourselves. A great tour of a beautiful city! We were highly satisfied. more
Jan 2023,
Nadav Katz
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Stunning nature and beautiful culture
We had a fantastic time traveling with China Highlights to Lijiang, Shaxi and Dali. The dry winter season was perfect without the crowds and with beautiful blue skies most of the time. The first part of the tour we enjoyed with our great guide Lee and for the second part the amazing Daisy took over. more
Dec 2022,
Elizabeth H
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Dali is Delightful with Nancy
A most delightful 3-day trip to Dali was had this past Golden Week thanks to #ChinaHighlights and our most amazing tour guide Nancy! Nancy was able to navigate and keep our travel group of 16 persons on task with a full itinerary including: Shaxi SiDeng Street, Xinjiao Temple, Erhai Lake cruise, a tour of Xizhou (Bai tie-dying and silk art), a cable car ride to Cangshan Mountain, Three Pagodas, and the Ancient City of Dali. Despite several pre-trip COVID-related challenges that included itinerary changes, we were AGAIN in the best of hands with CH, our driver, Mr. He, and Nancy. Dali was absolutely breathtaking and we were so fortunate to have Nancy leading us on a most memorable journey where we met the people of Dali, enjoyed the local fresh foods, along with the most perfect weather - we couldn’t imagine anyone taking a trip to Dali without Nancy! more
Oct 2022,
Erin
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Bai-curious in Dali
We had a fantastic time in Dali, our host Alice was very knowledgeable and flexible. She enhanced the good times with her positive and laid back attitude. We learned much about the Bai culture and took part in the torch festival celebration. We had an amazing bike ride round the lake and a memorable trip up the mountain in a cable car. China Highlights and Alice made every part of the tour straightforward and gave us great peace of mind when navigating the COVID rules. We can't wait to visit again in future with family and friends. more
Jul 2022,
Michael H
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Outstanding days in Dali
We have asked China Highlights to organize our Yunnan vacations. Our experience in Dali was outstanding: the program was good, and our guide Carrie Li was wonderful! She made us feel part of the culture, of the history. more
Jul 2021,
Bruno Duarte Alves
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A Day in Dali
We only had one day in Dali. Alice with China Highlights made Dali come alive for us. She explained the clothes, houses and history by taking us to the local market and walking us through the streets of Dali. We visited Dali houses, saw an Embroidery School, an Old Antique Market and the fishing village near the lake. She did a great job showing us Dali and yet keeping us away from crowds and tourist attractions. more
Jul 2021,
244pattm
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Thank you China Highlights
to the wonderful guides including Peter (Lijiang), Baima (Shangrila) and the all-knowledgeable and effervescent Nancy in Dali. It has been a holiday we will remember forever. Thank you China Highlights- we already look forward to booking our next holiday with you. Best wishes, Jo, Brett, Mia (16 years) and Tom (14 years) more
Jul 2021,
joannasQ1065GL
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Lovely Time in Dali
Nancy really went above and beyond to let us try delicious foods, experience local culture, teach us about history and art, and adapt the trip to what we wanted! Everywhere we went was worth going to (local market, silk artisans, horse carriage ride, local lunch with a family, etc). I would highly recommend the experience! more
Jul 2021,
Amy Vernon
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Tour Guide Nancy - amazing!!!
We are finishing our 1.5 day tour with Nancy today, and we are sad to leave her as we head to a new city! She has shown us around her hometown of Dali and it has been such a beautiful experience. Nancy is so friendly, her English is great, and she has been very helpful and flexible. Super sweet woman and we feel so grateful to have had her as our guide, even for just a short time. Nancy did a great job giving us authentic (non-touristy) experiences. more
Jul 2021,
acd1520
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Tour Map
Itinerary Quick Look
Here is a suggested itinerary. We are happy to customize a tour according to your interests.
Starting from Dali, you will drive to Shanxi and visit the ancient town of Jianchuan on the way. It enjoys the reputation of the real cultural center of the Bai ethnic minority. The residential houses, the city gates, the temples, and the bridge are still in the ancient Bai style.
Visit a workshop where a typical handicraft of Bai people, Buzha, is carried out. It comprises colorful cloth with embroidery and wormwood to keep insects and evil spirits away. A Buzha master will show you this beautiful folk art. It is a great chance to meet people who love and protect the culture of their nationality.
In the afternoon, explore the historical temples and the Buddhist caves hidden in the Mt. Shibaoshan which tell the stories of the ancient kingdom in Dali area.
Tour Shaxi Ancient Town in the morning. Visit Xingjiao Temple, Square Street, the ancient stage, and the Yujing bridge. Listen to the stories of horse caravans in a private museum devoted to Tea Horse Road trade caravan paraphernalia.
Before arriving Nuodeng, drive up a mountain for an incredible yin-yang symbol view made by the Nuodeng River, a tributary of the Lancang (Mekong) River.
Uncover its stories recorded on the old Taoist temple, the old pavilion, the traditional residential houses, the ancient salt well, and the family ham-making workshop. Witness how local people produce salt and preserve ham, which used to be popular goods traded on the Tea Horse Road.
Relax yourself in this old and peaceful village. Enjoy a big meal with ham, try the wonderful foot bath with the herbal soup of the local Bai people, and have a good dream in a starry night.
Drive from Nuodeng to Dali. Your private guide and driver can escort you to your hotel in Dali or to the airport or train station for your next destination.
Hotel Selection
—the Icing on the Cake
Boutique hotels are recommended to enrich your travel experience.



Price includes:
- Private air-conditioned business car with big windows and ample space
- English speaking local guide
- Activities, hotels, and meals listed in the itinerary
- 24/7 helpline for while you are traveling
Tour code: dal-2
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