Dali, Yunnan, China
Where Sky Meets Water – Dali 4-Day Journey
WHEN
All Year Round
PRICE
From USD 800pp excl. flights
HOW LONG
3 nights ideal length
You arrive in Dali not to chase landmarks, but to slow down — to let the rhythm of the mountains and the lake soften you. The air is crisp, the sunlight generous, and there is something deeply reassuring about being welcomed into a place where life is lived deliberately, not quickly.
DAY 1 — Fields, Food, and Ancient Traditions
The journey begins in Xizhou Ancient Town, a quiet tapestry of stone alleys, courtyard houses, and wide open skies. Rice fields stretch toward the mountains, and you walk through the soft green with nothing but wind and birdsong for company.
Lunch is rustic and local — a stone-grilled meal cooked in the fields, where the fragrance of smoke mixes with the scent of earth.
Later, you step into Nanzhao Xi City, often called the most authentic Bai cultural enclave in Yunnan. Tea is served not simply as a drink, but as a ritual — the famous Three-Course Tea, bitter, sweet, and spicy, mirroring the arc of life itself.
In the afternoon, you sit with artisans who teach you the slow patience of batik / tie-dye, your hands stained with color, your mind unexpectedly quiet.
You end the day feeling grounded — connected not to tourism, but to roots.
Make this itinerary yours
Each and every ARCH trip is tailored exactly to who you are and what you want to do. So tell us about yourself and we’ll create something that’s entirely you.
DAY 2 — Mountains, Clouds, and Sacred Places
Morning is unhurried.
Breakfast whenever you wake.
A cable-car carries you into the quiet heights of Cangshan Mountain, where clouds drift low enough to touch. The world below becomes small, distant, irrelevant.
At a small café hidden in the forest, squirrels appear like tiny hosts, unafraid and curious, climbing trees and stealing crumbs with polite confidence. Time stretches — the kind of afternoon where nothing much happens, and that is somehow everything.
Later, you walk through the grand, silent courtyards of Chongsheng Temple and the Three Pagodas. Golden roofs, ancient stones, white birds circling overhead.
History doesn’t announce itself.
It just stands, patient, enduring.
You go back to your room with the strange comfort that life has always been much bigger than any one person.
DAY 3 — High Pastures, Horses, and a Lakeside Sunset
Morning light spills over Erhai Lake as you drive toward the whitewashed buildings and blue horizons of what locals affectionately call the Santorini of Yunnan.
Up on the high pastoral fields, horses graze freely. You ride across the grasslands with mountains at your back and the lake ahead — not as an activity, but as a moment of presence, animal and human moving together through space.
By evening, you’re seated at Li Residence, a lakeside restaurant in Shuanglang where windows frame the water like living paintings. A slow meal, soft music, endless horizon.
Sunset paints the lake silver.
People fall quiet, almost instinctively.
DAY 4 — Pools, Boats, Vintage Cars, and Lakeside Wandering
On your final day, you float — quite literally.
An infinity pool suspended between mountain and lake becomes your first playground, followed by a surreal cave pool where light reflects off water onto stone like a secret dream.
Outside, a vintage car or convertible waits, engine low, ready to take you on a slow, cinematic drive along the shoreline — wind, water, road, nothing more complicated than that.
Later, you step aboard a cruise on Erhai Lake, gliding toward the tranquil Nanzhao Folk Island, where temples sit quietly by the water and the world feels impossibly old.
The last stop is coffee by the lake, maybe a short wander through the small shops of Shuanglang, maybe just sitting, maybe just watching the water, letting the day dissolve without urgency.
No one tells you where to go next.
No one asks you to hurry.
Dali teaches you something unexpected — that beauty doesn’t demand attention, it invites presence.
Hotels
Liuyue Haidongfang Cliff Seaview Hotel
5 Star
Boasting a convenient location, the hotel is just 10km from Dali Fengyi Airport and 14km from Dali Railway Station. Seeing Dali's sights from this hotel is easy with Xiahewan Wetland, Dali Senlu Mountain and Sea Cliffside Flower Realm and The Dream Land all close by.
Dali Yunqi Bishe Seaview Hotel
5 Star
Here, you will see the Erhai Lake shimmering in the sun, you will see birds flapping their wings and skimming the water, you will see the blue clouds drifting into the distance, or maybe everything in your daily life will change under the backdrop of the clear water. So romantic and poetic.
Next Steps
How do I book this tour?
Please use the inquiry form on the right-hand side of this page or email arch.official.co@gmail.com to get started. One of our travel designers will be in touch accordingly to start the process of planning your custom trip!
What is the payment schedule?
1. Deposit:
Once you are ready to book, a $500 USD per person planning fee is required to begin reserving your arrangements. This will go towards your total trip costs and will be taken off your final balance amount.
2. Full payment:
Full trip payment will be requested 60 days prior to departure. If you’re booking within 60 days of your departure, you may be asked to pay make the full payment straight away.
Payments can be made via credit card, bank transfer, WeChat or Alipay.