To Dally in Dali  

Back around the time of the Tang and Song Dynasties (618-1279), for about a half century Dali was a power center, a place of culture and commerce. It had its ups and downs, including an overlong visit from Kublai Khan and Company. Then, not so long ago, while still largely unknown to the traveling public, Dali gained some discreet fame as an out-of-the-way rough-and-ready spot for trekking Western backpackers to put in some hanging-around time.

Today, along the bar and restaurant-lined pedestrian streets at the center of things, food and drink varies from the local Bai cuisine, to burgers, pizza, full-blown continental and (remarkably) perhaps the most delicious tacos this California expat has ever sampled (at Caf? de Jack near “Foreigners’ Street” on Boai Road). A modern mountaintop airport services the area, as do nonstop air-conditioned buses and trains.