Dali Travel Photography Collection: Artistic Dali, Leisurely Dali – Which Style Do You Prefer?
Dali, a city that never lacks fans. Everyone falls under its spell, yet each person expresses their love for Dali in a different way.
Writers capture Dali with words, painters pour their affection into brushstrokes, photographers preserve its beauty with a shutter click; travelers measure Dali with their steps and remember it with their eyes.
Today, we look at a series of photos of Dali. I've titled them “A Corner of Dali,” because these are all fragmented glimpses of the city, each brimming with the photographer's passion the moment they pressed the shutter.
Location: 三塔倒影公园
Time: morning
While everything still slumbers, the towering 苍山, the tranquil lake, and the orderly forest are the first to sense the dawn light and slowly wake up…
Orange-red sunlight first lights the summit of 苍山, then gradually spreads down its slopes. The colors of the 三塔 themselves echo the hues cast by the sun, creating a breathtaking scene that lifts the spirits.
At this moment, the lake in 三塔倒影公园 becomes a giant mirror, perfectly duplicating every detail of the 三塔, 苍山, the octagonal pavilion, the deep blue sky, and the surrounding scenery. It weaves a dreamlike morning tableau where the real and the reflected merge.
Location: 崇圣寺三塔文化旅游区
Time: morning
In the rainy season, Dali is mostly veiled in mist. Dark clouds always shroud the summit of 苍山, and the 三塔 set against 苍山 share this trait.
Stepping into the 三塔 area in the rainy season, before you even reach the pagodas, you notice that 苍山’s peak has vanished behind drifting clouds.
Then you discover the “Sky Mirror” area beside the pagodas. Its bright reflective surface clearly mirrors everything the eye can see, colors and all, giving the photographer a chance to preserve the view.
Location: 崇圣寺三塔文化旅游区
Time: sunset
The entire sky is dyed gold, and its reflection in the 聚影池 leaves only the silhouettes of buildings and trees, many details melting away—commonly known as “silhouettes.”
Bare branches, the pagoda shadows, and the pool water, united by these colors, become a photograph that radiates grandeur and mystery.
Location: 三塔倒影公园
Time: night
At night, the crowds leave 崇圣寺三塔, and it returns to its serenity—aloof, detached, hidden in plain sight as an urban hermit.
When darkness falls and lights around the pagodas illuminate their crisp outlines, it once again draws all eyes, but in a way wholly different from daylight, and it makes people want to capture that instant with their cameras.
Location: 双廊
Time: noon
Sunlight breaks through the clouds and spills onto 洱海. The once dilapidated little fishing village along the shore has become a bustling tourism spot. The residents who have lived by 洱海 for generations protect the lake with all their hearts, and so 洱海 remains the same 洱海.
The water is clear, the banks are bright, and the shore paths teem with people—a scene of harmony. This is a portrait of prosperous times, of people living in contentment.
Location: 小普陀
Time: early morning
The early morning 洱海 is incredibly blue; the sunlight is soft and gentle, neither glaring nor intense, slowly spreading over the water. The distant 苍山 stretches far and wide, its contours indistinct, yet 小普陀 not far from shore is not only sharply outlined but rich in detail.
洱海 is calm, 苍山 stands high, and 小普陀 is graceful. When these three simple elements come together in a single frame, they become anything but ordinary!
Location: beside 洱海
Time: afternoon
The sun sinks westward, the wind picks up, and clouds rise behind 苍山. A vast, dark canopy of clouds sweeps across the entire sky.
The clouds are thick but cannot block the sun completely. Sunlight slips through gaps between the clouds and spills onto the water, instantly setting the once dull surface glittering.
Location: 南诏风情岛 sightseeing boardwalk
Time: noon
At noon, 南诏风情岛 basks in sunlight. Most of the rest areas on the island are shaded by trees. Green trees, red blossoms, blue sea, blue sky, a gentle breeze—everything is so leisurely, everything so carefree.
Everyone who comes here is enchanted by the surroundings, and the photographer is no exception. That's what gave birth to this photo.
Location: 南诏风情岛
Time: noon
The 本主广场 has always been the soul of 南诏风情岛. The white buildings behind the statues are landmarks of the island. The exquisite statues and the imposing architecture vividly showcase the unique character of an era.
These buildings and statues seem like a key that unlocks the mysterious world of Dali!
Location: 双廊
Time: morning
双廊 is the heart of 洱海's scenery. Seen from a high vantage point, looking down on 洱海 and 双廊, you discover a “fairyland on water.” The secret of people's deep love for 洱海 is finally revealed here.
We at last understand the truth behind the saying, “The best scenery of Dali is in 苍洱, and the best of 苍洱 is in 双廊.” One can only envy those who have lived here for generations!
Location: 蝴蝶泉情人湖
Time: noon
情人湖 in 蝴蝶泉 is the very core. This is Dali's sacred ground for love, where countless young men and women have pledged lifelong devotion to one another.
A single boat, a stretch of lake water, a few Bai boys and girls—they are enough to set our imaginations wandering. The grand romance of the Butterfly Festival on the 15th day of the fourth lunar month comes vividly to mind.
Location: 蝴蝶泉情人湖
Time: noon
Leisure is the norm in Dali, but when you arrive at 蝴蝶泉 and see the white geese roaming beside 情人湖, you realize just how deeply rooted Dali's relaxed pace of life has always been.
Location: 蝴蝶泉蝴蝶馆
Time: noon
As the largest butterfly specimen museum in China, 蝴蝶馆 may not look special from the outside. But once you step inside, you'll find it is a paradise of butterflies. Specimens of countless species are on display, so dazzlingly beautiful you can hardly tear your eyes away.
Location: 苍山玉带路
Time: noon
玉带路 is the most comfortable hiking trail on 苍山. The deep valley and dense forest make it a natural sanctuary of relaxation.
Along this 11.5-kilometer trail, you'll come across pavilions perched on the cliff edge—as if they were the retreats of hermits. Flowers blooming on the crags have weathered wind and rain and still thrive exuberantly.
Location: 玉带路
Time: noon
Sunlight illuminates the shadowed parts of the valley. Between light and shade, 苍山's allure comes to the fore. Green saturates the whole valley, giving both eyes and heart the greatest sense of release.
At the valley bottom lie rectangular rocks and pools. Looking down from above, you can see rivulets threading through gaps in the rocks, changing colors as they go, and the sight instantly conjures a feeling of coolness.
Location: 感通索道
Time: morning
On 苍山 in the rainy season, the forest gleams with green. Raindrops float in the air, and on every peak, clouds and mist constantly gather and disperse. The views from the cable car are simply stunning, and the thrill of gliding high above makes the experience unforgettable.
Location: 感通索道清碧溪
Time: morning
Nothing packs a visual punch quite like color. Red ribbons, green pools, colors of all kinds converging in one area—plus naturally formed pools—make every scene and object here worth recording.
Location: 感通索道清碧溪
Time: morning
Water is one of the most common sights on 苍山, but few places can match the water of 清碧溪. Here, water takes on a different way of presenting itself; it is no longer ordinary water—it has become a scenic masterpiece in its own right.
Location: 苍山洗马潭索道
Time: morning
苍山 is one of Yunnan's steepest mountain ranges. Those who have never been there cannot grasp its majesty and precipitousness. One cable car and one photograph are enough to show its power to anyone unfamiliar with this mountain.
Against the backdrop of 苍山's steep slopes, the cable car cabins appear tiny in the frame, making it seem as if they are diving headfirst out of the clouds high above.
Location: 苍山洗马潭
Time: morning
The gap in front of 苍山洗马潭 is where clouds and mist most easily gather. As if drawn by some guidance, the mist surges up from below the gap in a matter of moments, collecting together.
The gathering clouds obscure the distant 洱海, then keep drifting vertically higher until they merge with the clouds in the sky, creating a rare and wondrous spectacle.
Location: 苍山洗马潭
Time: noon
Winter snow and summer flowers are the two seasonal signatures of 洗马潭. Snow blankets the entire area, the alpine rhododendron shrubs vanish from sight, and only the aloof cedars stand ramrod straight.
The tender green meadows of summer have turned into an expanse of white. The landscape is unchanged, yet the green mountain has transformed. You can only rely on memory and landmarks to gradually find familiar scenes, but the charm of 苍山's snow makes up for any shortcoming.
天龙八部影视城
Location: 天龙八部影视城
Time: noon
The crisscrossing streets and buildings steeped in antiquity make you feel, for a fleeting moment, as if you've traveled back in time.
The bustling streets and the ornate, solemn architecture of 天龙八部影视城 invite you to explore the past of this place and dig deep into its stories.
Location: 天龙八部影视城
Time: noon
The structures within 天龙八部影视城 all exude a sense of solemnity. Massive pillars, upturned eaves and soaring corners display, without exception, the grandeur of “imperial architecture.”
Chinese architectural styles are blended with ethnic minority influences. Even if it is only a building, it compels you to stop and quietly absorb its architectural charm.
Location: 天龙八部影视城
Time: noon
天龙八部影视城 owes its existence to Jin Yong's martial arts novels. If its gate deserves to be remembered, it is because of the couplet flanking the entrance that summarizes the author's life's work: “飞雪连天射白鹿，笑书神侠倚碧鸳.”
Location: 鸡足山·祝圣寺
Time: morning
When the first ray of morning sunlight touches 祝圣寺, the temple is already filled with the scent of burning incense. The ancient halls stand silent while smoke drifts; this scene amplifies the temple's mystery and sacredness to the fullest.
Amid the interplay of light, incense smoke, and color, the living spirit of this ancient mountain temple is laid out before your eyes.
Location: 鸡足山·金顶寺
Time: early morning
The sun is always the natural light that photographers love to chase most, for the shock it delivers pierces straight to the soul. The sunrise at 金顶寺 on 鸡足山 captured in this picture is something countless people dream of witnessing.
愣严塔 and the ancient temple are rendered as silhouettes; the entire sky suffused with red clouds carries a sense of joy and rebirth. If you ever see such a sight with your own eyes, I think many would be moved to tears—without quite knowing why, the tears simply cannot be held back in that moment.
Location: 鸡足山·金顶寺
Time: night
The starry sky—that mysterious realm everyone yearns for. From ancient times to the present, people have never stopped exploring the stars. “Starry sky” remains an immense and timeless subject for photographers.
When 鸡足山 falls silent, everything returns to calm, artificial lights fade away, and the sky full of stars emerges above 金顶寺. The instant the photographer presses the shutter, the canopy of stars above 金顶寺 is revealed to many more eyes.
Text & Layout: Yuediannan Yijing
Photos: Some provided by Dali Tourism Group, some sourced from the internet. Contact us for removal if any infringement.
Note: When reprinting, please credit the source.
