Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture.

The Three Pagodas combine different architectural profiles and the history of objects recovered during repair. Zhoucheng’s tie-dye belongs within Xizhou town, where courtyard houses carry another material history. Shaxi’s market space and Weishan’s old town add separate county settings to the prefecture. Cangshan and Erhai connect mountain and lake conservation without making their habitats interchangeable. The shared Bai autonomous-prefecture name holds these stories together while leaving their local differences visible.

The Three Pagodas at Chongsheng Temple, Dali.

Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture

Three Profiles at Chongsheng Temple

The central square pagoda and two octagonal towers form a group whose shared setting does not erase their different profiles and periods.

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The Three Pagodas in a modern photograph; this is not a record of the 1925 earthquake.

The Tilt Left by the 1925 Earthquake

A municipal account links the lean of two smaller pagodas to the 1925 earthquake, while also recording damage and the loss of objects.

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Objects Found in the Pagodas and the Buddhist Worlds of Nanzhao and Dali

A small beaded Garuda found inside Qianxun Pagoda opens a view onto Buddhist imagery, metalworking and the wider assemblage recovered from the towers.

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Tie-dye materials at the Yan family courtyard in Xizhou, Dali; used here as a regional comparison.

Zhoucheng Tie-Dye Begins with a Needle

Before a Zhoucheng cloth reaches the indigo vat, its maker has already shaped the pattern with thread, folds and knots.

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Bai tie-dyed textiles in museum collections in Kunming, rather than a Zhoucheng workshop.

Where Zhoucheng’s Tie-Dye Patterns Come From

Butterflies share Zhoucheng cloth with flowers, landscapes and commissioned designs; their meanings are multiple rather than fixed.

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A worker stands beside a large dye vat and handles cloth in an outdoor Dali work area.

Tie-Dye Workshops and Changing Household Economies in Zhoucheng

Household teaching, new materials and village workshops show how Zhoucheng’s tie-dye economy has changed without reducing craft to a single story of tradition or commerce.

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Bai architecture in Zhoucheng, photographed in 2007.

How Bai Courtyards Organize Everyday Life

Xizhou’s courtyard houses use wings, screen walls and small light courts to shape movement, shade and shared domestic space.

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Inside Zhoucheng’s Bai Tie-Dye Museum

At the Pu Zhen museum, courtyard architecture, family craft histories and a dyeing workshop bring different parts of Zhoucheng’s textile world together.

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Bai tie-dye in the Dali region; the display at Xixiufang is in Xizhou and the second dyeing view is identified as Dali town.

Zhoucheng and Xizhou: Two Views of Local Bai Culture

Zhoucheng’s tied cloth and Xizhou’s painted courtyards belong to connected places. Looking at their different materials makes local cultural history more precise.

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Shaxi, Jianchuan, Yunnan. The Yujin Bridge view is identified separately in the source record.

Sideng Street in Shaxi: The Space Left by a Valley Market

A documented route connects Yujin Bridge, village gates, Sideng Street and its market square, showing how passage and exchange shaped Shaxi.

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Market Streets and Courtyard Forms in Xizhou

Sifang Street and Xizhou’s courtyard compounds connect a town’s caravan trade with the spaces of household life.

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Weishan town streets and gates. The older town view is dated 1991 in its source record.

Weishan: Nanzhao Memory and an Old Town

In Weishan’s old town, a Ming-era street grid and a museum incorporating Dengjue Temple give Nanzhao memory a setting within later architectural layers.

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A forest dominated by Pinus armandii at Cangshan, Dali, as identified by the photographer.

Cangshan’s Forest Belts: How a Mountain Enters Conservation

Cangshan rises behind Dali as a mountain landscape, but conservation records reveal geography across elevations and jurisdictions.

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Ottelia acuminata photographed at Black Dragon Pool, Lijiang; a plant comparison from a different location.

Native Fish and Lakeside Plants in Erhai’s Highland Wetlands

Erhai is not only a lake beside a city. Conservation records identify native fish and aquatic plants that make its wetlands habitat.

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Places

Three Pagodas of Chongsheng Temple

The square Qianxun Pagoda and two smaller octagonal towers preserve different architectural histories. Earthquake records, repairs and recovered objects add other layers to the group.

Zhoucheng Village

Zhoucheng is a village within Xizhou town. Its tie-dye histories connect stitched resist patterns, household learning and changing materials or markets.

Xizhou

Xizhou’s courtyard buildings combine screen walls, galleries and small light courts. Merchant-house histories and nearby village textile work reveal different forms of local material culture.

Pu Zhen Bai Tie-Dye Museum

The museum in Zhoucheng brings courtyard forms, tie-dye histories and demonstrations into one public setting. Its activities also include learning, training and cultural-product work.

Shaxi and Sideng Market

Sideng’s market space preserves a valley town’s relationship between trade, buildings and gathering. Its local setting is one part of a wider mountain-route history.

Weishan Old Town

Weishan’s streets and museum settings bring Nanzhao memory into a present Yi and Hui autonomous county. Ancient political history and contemporary communities remain different subjects.

Cangshan

Cangshan’s forest changes with elevation and sits within a protected mountain-and-lake region. Administrative boundaries and habitat types add different scales to its conservation story.

Erhai Lake

Erhai’s native fish, aquatic plants and shore wetlands are named conservation subjects. The lake forms one part of a protected landscape connected with Cangshan’s mountain catchment.

Photo credits and rights

The Three Pagodas at Chongsheng Temple, Dali.Ngguls · 2026-02-23 15:11:42 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Photo source ↗ Rights information ↗ Resized without cropping or upscaling; converted to WebP.
The Three Pagodas in a modern photograph; this is not a record of the 1925 earthquake.A Chinese user · 2015-08-14 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Photo source ↗ Rights information ↗ Resized without cropping or upscaling; converted to WebP.
Silver-gilt Garuda inlaid with crystal beads, a Dali Kingdom object excavated from the main pagoda at Chongsheng Temple in 1979. Photographed at Yunnan Provincial Museum.Kcx36 · 2025-09-18 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Photo source ↗ Rights information ↗ Resized without cropping or upscaling; converted to WebP.
Tie-dye materials at the Yan family courtyard in Xizhou, Dali; used here as a regional comparison.Kcx36 · 2022-08-01 14:50:49 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Photo source ↗ Rights information ↗ Resized without cropping or upscaling; converted to WebP.
Bai tie-dye in the Dali region; the display at Xixiufang is in Xizhou and the second dyeing view is identified as Dali town.Richard Weil · 2008-09-24 04:57:29 · CC BY-SA 2.0 Photo source ↗ Rights information ↗ Resized without cropping or upscaling; converted to WebP.
Bai architecture in Zhoucheng, photographed in 2007.G41rn8 · 2007 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Photo source ↗ Rights information ↗ Resized without cropping or upscaling; converted to WebP.
The Pu Zhen Bai Tie-Dye Museum in Zhoucheng, shown on its Dali government profile. Its listed teaching and exhibition functions connect the documented household history to a public institution; this exterior view does not depict household labor.unknown · unknown Photo source ↗ Resized without cropping or upscaling; converted to WebP.
Bai tie-dye in the Dali region; the display at Xixiufang is in Xizhou and the second dyeing view is identified as Dali town.Richard Weil · 2008-09-24 04:58:14 · CC BY-SA 2.0 Photo source ↗ Rights information ↗ Resized without cropping or upscaling; converted to WebP.
Shaxi, Jianchuan, Yunnan. The Yujin Bridge view is identified separately in the source record.Yangpeifu · 2023-09-11 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Photo source ↗ Rights information ↗ Resized without cropping or upscaling; converted to WebP.
The townscape of Xizhou, Dali.Luca Casartelli · 15 August 2015, 14:21:23 (UTC) · CC BY-SA 3.0 Photo source ↗ Rights information ↗ Resized without cropping or upscaling; converted to WebP.
Weishan town streets and gates. The older town view is dated 1991 in its source record.Sumin Chou · 1991-11-19 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Photo source ↗ Rights information ↗ Resized without cropping or upscaling; converted to WebP.
A forest dominated by Pinus armandii at Cangshan, Dali, as identified by the photographer.nekonoir on Flickr · 2008-11-10 · CC BY-SA 2.0 Photo source ↗ Rights information ↗ Resized without cropping or upscaling; converted to WebP.
Ottelia acuminata photographed at Black Dragon Pool, Lijiang; a plant comparison from a different location.阿橋 HQ · 2004-10-21 11:12 · CC BY-SA 2.0 Photo source ↗ Rights information ↗ Resized without cropping or upscaling; converted to WebP.