Dali Dining

Dali Dining is as beautiful as the sceneries here. Especially, the dishes historically cooked by the Bai, the main ethnic group in Dali, should not be missed when you come to Dali. To some extent, Dali is a melting-pot for many different cultures. Whether in the small stalls, or in a restaurant with a strong Bai style, you can taste a lots of different and delicious food in Dali.

What to Eat in Dali

Dishes in Dali

When it comes to Dali, the first thing that everyone thinks of is the beautiful scenery and the outstanding people. It is a beautiful place with beautiful mountains and waters.

Sand-pot Fish（砂锅鱼）

Sand-pot fish is a famous local dish of Dali. Put slender chicken and more than ten seasonings like dried mushrooms into the sand-pot. Then add some bow fish or carp caught in Erhai Lake into the pot. Stew them slowly. Then, a delicious dish can be made.

Steam Pot Chicken(汽锅鸡)

Steam pot chicken, got the name from cooking with steam pot, is one of the famous dishes in Yunnan. The main food material is chicken and the main cooking method is boiling. The steam pot chicken has the effect of tonifying deficiency, nourishing the body, enriching the blood, invigorating the spleen and stimulating the appetite.

Pawpaw Chicken(木瓜鸡)

Pawpaw chicken belongs to the iconic cuisine of the Bai people. The dish is made of local chicken and the special sour pawpaw. When you taste this dish, the fresh and tender meat makes you have a big appetite. What's more, the dish is rich in nutritional value. Papaya chicken is particular about fresh. Therefore, it tastes very delicious.

Local Eight Bowls of Dishes(土八碗)

The Dali Bai people use the eight bowls of traditional dishes to treat guests. The eight dishes usually include red meat, steamed fish, bean curd sheets, fungus tofu, crispy meat with bamboo shoots, glass noodles, lily meatballs, etc. The dishes are a combination of sour, sweet, numb, spicy, and each dish has a unique meaning.

Dali Hot and Sour Fish(大理酸辣鱼)

Dali hot and sour fish is one of the traditional Dali cuisines, a wonderful taste experience consisting of sour, slightly sweet and spicy. The sour taste and fruity aroma of white pawpaw blend perfectly into the fish. The sour pawpaw has a fruity aroma. The meat of the carp is delicious. The fish soup is thick, the taste is strong and salty, and the tofu absorbs the fishy taste and the spicy of the seasoning, which makes it fresh and tender. Although the taste is strong, it still preserves the deliciousness of the fish.

Snacks in Dali

In Dali, in addition to ethnic cuisine, some snacks are delicious. In a street, there are often mobile stalls selling unseen snacks. Some of you may not have seen them, but you may wish to try them. Maybe you will not forget those snacks.

Rushan(乳扇)

Rushan is a cow's milk cheese of Yunnan, China. It is traditionally made by the Bai people. It is flat and has a leathery texture, served fried or grilled and rolled up on a stick. The Mandarin name means "milk fan" as it is said to resemble a folding fan.

Xizhou Baba(喜洲粑粑)

Xizhou Baba is a kind of snack that is popular in Dali, which is also known as the Posu(破酥) with good color, aroma and taste. It is the most famous Bai nationality traditional snack in Xizhou, and it is must-eat when you come to Xizhou.

Cold Chicken Rice Noodles(凉鸡米线)

The cold chicken rice noodle is definitely the rising star of the snacks in Dali Ancient Town. If you do not have a taste of the cold chicken rice noodles in Dali Ancient Town. The your Dali Tour is not complete.

Raw Hide(生皮)

Cut the baked pork (mostly from the hip and rear lag) and pork liver into filaments, and then add onions, garlic, parsley, stewed plum, spicy noodles, soy sauce, etc. As the condiments, put the filaments in the condiments for eating. This is known among the people as “eating raw hide”.

Er Kuai(饵块)

Er Kuai is one of the most conventional local food, a rice-based dish. The rice is first washed, soaked, stewed and then mashed into a paste, before being molded into various lumps, slices and shreds. It is usually grilled over burning charcoals with a sugar, walnut, or sesame filling.

Drinks in Dali

Three Courses Tea(三道茶)

At first, the Three Courses Tea was an etiquette for Dali Bai people to treat the son-in-law. After the development of this etiquette, it has become the highest etiquette for the Bai people to treat guests. The three courses tea is divided into bitter tea, sweet tea and aftertaste tea. Most of the bitter tea is baked, named after the bitterness of the taste, also known as Xianglei among local Bai people. The sweet tea is sweetened by adding walnut slices and brown sugar to the tea. The aftertaste tea has a kind of unspeakable taste after adding honey, pepper, and some Rushan.

Where to Eat in Dali

Top 6 Dali Specialty Restaurants

Meizijing Restaurant(梅子井酒家)
Add: No. 130 Renmin Road, Dali City, Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture(大理白族自治州大理市人民路130号)
Tel: 0872-2671578
Taibailou Restaurant(太白楼)
Add: No. 52 Foreigner's Street, Dali City, Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture(云南省大理白族自治州大理市洋人街52号)
Tel: 0872-2672112
Xinghuacun Restaurant(杏花村饭店)
Add: No. 165 Yu'er Road, Dali City, Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture(大理白族自治州大理市玉洱路165号)
Tel: 0872-2670087
Zaihuishou Restaurant(再回首)
Add: No. 198 Renmin Road, Dali City, Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture(大理白族自治州大理市人民路198号)
Tel: 0872-6895609;18687285766
Cang'erchun Restaurant(苍洱春饭店)
Add: No. 84 Upper Section of Renmin Road, Dali City, Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture(大理白族自治州大理市人民路上段84号)
Tel: 0872-6900907;13238729057
Piaoxiang Restaurant(飘香酒馆)
Add: No. 132 Lower Section of Renmin Road, Dali City(大理市人民路下段132号)
Tel: /

Most Authentic Bai Restaurants

Nanzhaoyuan Private Restaurant(南诏源私房菜馆)
Add: Cai Village Wharf, Dali City, Yunnan(云南省大理市才村码头)
Tel: 0872-2380676;13324958315
Sifangjie Restaurant(四方街食店)
Add: Next to Yan Family Compound, Sifang Street, Xizhou Town, Dali City(大理市喜州镇四方街严家大院旁)
Tel: 13987296586
Shijing Private Restaurant(石井私房菜)
Add: No. 330 Lower Section of Yuer Road, Dali City, Yunnan Province(云南省大理市玉洱路下段330号)
Tel: 0872-8898172
Jixianghong Restaurant(吉祥红餐馆)
Add: Next to Feiyan Temple, Shuanglang Scenic Zone, Dali City, Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture(大理白族自治州大理市双廊风景区飞燕寺旁)
Tel: 15887348404

Most Popular Food Street

Fuxing Road(复兴路)

Fuxing Road is the main street from the south to the north of Dali Ancient Town. From the 15th year of the Hongwu Period of the Ming Dynasty (AD 1382) to the Republic of China, the street pattern and residential buildings have not changed a lot. In the past, the residents here were more skilled in the handicraft industry. By the 1990s, Dali Ancient Town became a major tourist town, and Fuxing Road changed to a pedestrian street with tourist attractions such as tie-dye clothing, Heqing silverware, marble crafts, Burmese jade, Pu'er tea, etc.

Huguo Road(护国路)

Dali Foreigner's Street was originally called "Huguo Road", meaning that the people of Yunnan at the beginning of the Republic of China opposed Yuan Shikai as the emperor. Huguo Road is east-west, 1000 meters long and 7 meters wide. It is paved with bluestone slabs, starting from the Yunnan-Tibet Highway in the west.

Yuer Road(玉洱路)

Yuer Road runs through the Dali City and is the only way leading to Cangshan Mountain. There are many hotels and restaurants on both sides of the road. The shops are densely populated and it is a very busy pedestrian street.

Boai Road(博爱路)

Boai Road is located beside the foreigner's street in Dali Ancient Town, with a lot of shops.

Renmin Road(人民路)

Renmin Road is a orderly place with slow pace, full of freedom and tranquility. With the development of Dali tourism, the Renmin Road has gradually prospered, and various shops have begun to appear.

Keep Reading

Attractions

Hotel

Travel Guide of 1 Day Dali Cangshan Mountain Hiking Tour to Jade Belt Cloud Trail Dali Qicai Paragliding Base The 30 Most Beautiful and Unique Villages in Dali 6 Month Learning Taiji, Kung Fu, Sanda, Taiji in Dali, Yunnan Shaxi old town, it is going to be another Lijiang? Dali Cigarette Factory Erhai Lake Sightseeing Bus Tour Jinhua (Golden Flower) Tie-dyeing Workshop and Training School in Zhoucheng Village, Dali Erhai Lake Cruise-Big Boat 7-Seat GL8 Van in Yunnan Things to Do and Attractions in Dali How to Plan Dali Tours Kunming-Dali Railway Yunnan New Hope Dengchuan Diequan Dairy Co.,Ltd Dali Useful Numbers Dali Geography Dali Economy People and Population in Dali Yunnan Tour Operators in Dali Dali-Lijiang freeway wins national golden award Cherry Valley in Dali stuns tourists Fish, a must-have dish for Dali people Dali Halal Restaurant in Dali City Wood-carving Craft Protection in Xingyi Classic Woodcarving Furniture Factory, Jianchuan County of Dali Top Family and Kids Friendly Attractions in Dali Gilding Craft of Bai Ethnic Minority in Heqing County, Dali "Erzi Song" Folk Dance of Bai Ethnic Minority in Yunlong County, Dali Midu Folk Song in Midu County, Dali Dali Foreign Affairs Office Tile cats: Yunnan’s native ridge beasts Frenchman opens restaurant in Dali, fusing local flavors into western dishes Bus Schedules of Dali North Bus Station Bus Schedules of Dali East Bus Station Dali Shuanghe Bus Station Dali Express Bus Station Dali Xingsheng Bus Station Dali North Bus Station Train Schedules of Dali Railway Station Flights Schedules of Dali Airport Xiadui Mosque in Dali Ancient village in Dali generates new vitality Panzhihua to Dali Bus Schedule and Bus Tickets Booking Dali to Puer Bus Schedule and Bus Tickets Booking Dali to XishuangBanna Bus Schedule and Bus Tickets Booking Dali to Chuxiong Bus Schedule and Bus Tickets Booking Dali to Lincang Bus Schedule and Bus Tickets Booking Dali to Dehong Bus Schedule and Bus Tickets Booking Dali to Nujiang Bus Schedule and Bus Tickets Booking Dali to Baoshan Bus Schedule and Bus Tickets Booking Dali to Shangri-La Bus Schedule and Bus Tickets Booking Best Places to Visit in Dali Kunming to Dali Bus Schedule and Ticket Booking Rushan in Dali Rubing in Yunnan Dali Weather in August Dali Weather in September Dali Weather in October Dali Weather in November Dali Weather in December Dali Weather in July Dali Weather in February Dali Weather in March Dali Travel Weather in April Dali Weather in May Dali Weather in June Dali Weather in January Dali Transportation – Long Distance Bus Dali Transportation – By Train Dali Transportation – By Air Shanghai- Dali Flights Changsha- Dali Flights Guiyang - Dali Flights Chengdu - Dali Flights Chongqing - Dali Flights Qu Yuefang - Master of Yi Embroidery and Paper-cut in Shijiao Town, Dali Bai Opera Tie-dyeing Skills of Bai Ethnic Minority in Dali Raosanling Ceremony of Bai Ethnic Minority in Dali Dali tie-dying workshop combines tradition with fashion How to Plan Hiking Tour around Dali Top Things You Must Do in Dali During Your Yunnan Tour Laundry Services in Dali Old Town, Dali Lijiang-Dali Transportation: By Long-distance Bus and By Train Dali Fengyi Airport Tie-dyeing in Dali Dali East Bus Station Dali Gucheng International Travel Company Kunming-Dali Transportation: by High-speed Train, Bus & Flight Johnny Li-English-Speaking Tour Guide in Dali Kunming - Dali High Speed Train: Route, Tickets, Schedule, Times & Fares Pu Min-English-speaking Tour Guide in Dali Pueraria Montana (Gegenhui) Festival of Bai Ethnic Minority in Dali How to Get to Dali from Kunming Haidenghui Festival of Qingsuo Village in Dali Entertainment of Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture History of Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture Culture of Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture Birding Travel Tips and Birding Places in Dali Worship of the Communal Gods of Bai Ethnic Minority Drinking in the Foreigner Street in Dali Old Town Xiyi of Dali Performance Photos of The Three Pagodas and Chongsheng Monastery in Dali The Photos of Dali Ancient Town How to Travel from Kunming to Dali Dali-Shangrila Transportation March Street (Sanyuejie) Festival of Bai Ethnic Minority in Dali Location Map of Dali in China History of Yi Ethnic Minority The Fishing Opening Festival of Erhai Lake in Dali Dali International Orchid and Camellia Fair Erhai Lake Cycling Tips in Dali The Photos of the Erhai Lake in Dali Kunming - Dali Trains

Erhai Lake, Dali Shaping Monday Market in Dali Yangbijiang River in Dali Heihuijiang River, Dali Jade Belt Cloud Wandering Road of Cangshan Mountain in Dali Luocha Pavilion in Cangshan Mountain, Dali Baohe Temple in Cangshan Mountain, Dali The Relics of Longweicheng Old Town in Xiaguan Town, Dali Heqing Confucius Temple in Dali Taihe City Ruins of Nanzhao Kingdom in Dali XiaoPutuo Island of Erhai Lake in Dali Ancient Building Complex of Ximen Street Jianchuan County, Dali Caicun Village Wetland Park of Erhai Lake in Dali Longkan Wharf of Erhai Lake in Dali China Dali Rural Film History Museum Xiaguan Tuocha Tea Factory in Dali Zhihua Mosque in Dali

Zhonghefang Hotel in Dali