Dali as I was told my a local is established in the 8th century and was razed by the Mongols and rebuild in 14th century is “the valley of eternal spring”, now whether it’s true or not I am not sure but I was there in the Autumn of 2010 and it was a pleasant weather. The old town is surrounded by temples a lot of them and the nearby town is located by the Erhai Lake which I did a bit of ferry cruise. It was a backpacker’s stop before going to nearby Lijiang. The people are very friendly and I did few days relaxing after the altitude sickness from Shangri-la.