Dali City should not be confused with Daly City, California.
| Dali | |
| Native Name: | Chinese: 大理市 · Dallit sil |
| Settlement Type: | County-level city |
| Mapsize: | 250px |
| Pushpin Map: | Yunnan#China |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location in Yunnan |
| Pushpin Mapsize: | 250 |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | China |
| Subdivision Type1: | Province |
| Subdivision Name1: | Yunnan |
| Subdivision Type2: | Autonomous prefecture |
| Subdivision Name2: | Dali |
| Seat Type: | Municipal seat |
| Seat: | Haidong |
| Area Total Km2: | 1,738.63 |
| Population As Of: | 2021 |
| Population Footnotes: | [1] |
| Population Total: | 771,128 |
| Population Density Km2: | 443.5 |
| Timezone: | China Standard |
| Utc Offset: | +8 |
| Coor Pinpoint: | Dali Prefecture government |
| Elevation M: | 1975 |
| Postal Code Type: | Postal code |
| Postal Code: | 671003 |
| Area Code: | 0872 |
| Blank Name: | Climate |
| Blank Info: | Cwb |
| Footnotes: | Yunnan e-Portal |
| L: | "Great reason" |
| P: | Dàlǐ shì |
Dali City (Bai: Dallit sil or Guiphet) is the county-level seat of the Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture in northwestern Yunnan. Dali City is administered through 12 township-level districts, two of which are also commonly referred to as Dali.
Xiaguan (Chinese: 下关镇), formerly transliterated as Hsia-kuan, is the modern city centre and usually conflated with Dali City by virtue of being its seat. This town is the destination of most long-distance transportation heading to Dali and is sometimes referred to as Dali New Town (Chinese: 大理新镇) to avoid confusion.
Dali Town (Chinese: 大理镇), formerly known as Tali, is another division of Dali City, located 10km (10miles) north of Xiaguan. This town, commonly referred to as Dali Old Town (Chinese: 大理古城) to distinguish it from the city seat in Xiaguan, is usually the Dali referred to in tourist publications. The old town is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Yunnan, known for its natural scenery, historical and cultural heritage, and vibrant nightlife.[2]
Dali City is located in western Yunnan, approximately 250km (160miles) northwest of the provincial capital of Kunming.
Dali is situated in the transition area between the dramatic valleys of the Hengduan ranges on the eastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau and the distinctive mountains of the western Yungui Plateau. The county-level city surrounds Erhai Lake between the Cang Mountains to the west and Mount Jizu to the east. The county seat at Xiaguan is located at the outlet of the lake into the Yangbi River. Dali Old Town is situated on a fertile plain between the Cang Range and Erhai. This plain has traditionally been settled by the Bai and Yi minorities.
Its low latitude tempered by its high elevation, Dali has a mild subtropical highland climate (Köppen Cwb) with short, mild, dry winters and warm, rainy summers. Frost may occur in winter but the days still generally warm up to or more. During summer, a majority of the days features some rainfall and daytime temperatures rise to . A great majority of the year's rainfall occurs from June to October. December 2013 was particularly marked for its high snowfall.