DALI AND KUNMING
Dali and Kunming are where most journeys through Yunnan begin: old-town lanes below Cangshan, Erhai Lake, and a provincial capital with temples in its western hills. Residential practice open to foreigners is thin here, so this page names the one academy we have confirmed and says plainly which temples are for visiting rather than staying.
Cangshan, Dali Photo credits
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Trains from Kunming reach Dali in under two hours. The one residential practice we have confirmed near Dali is Taiji Zhe Academy below Cangshan: its last published month cost US$4,000 with hotel and meals, and its 2027 dates are not yet out. Otherwise Yunnan is for visiting temples: the Three Pagodas, Jizushan and Kunming’s Western Hills.
Ask us about a stay near Dali and Kunming| Place | Type | Getting there from Dali and Kunming | Price | English |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Taiji Zhe Academy | Residential Daoist tai chi programme | Trains from Kunming to Dali take 1 h 55 min to 2 h 24 min (59 trains on 10 November 2026; the fastest, D8770, leaves at 07:07 and arrives at 09:02), from Kunming South 2 h 18 min to 2 h 47 min. The academy is at 69 Upper Yita Road, about 1 km from the old town’s South Gate. From Dali station the tourist centre’s shuttle to the old town takes about 40 minutes for 5 yuan; the academy says the airport is about 40 minutes away by car. | The last published intensive, 15 October to 15 November 2026, cost US$4,000 for four weeks with a hotel room and three meals. No 2027 dates had been published by 7 November 2026; the academy says it enrols all year and announces each international class as it is arranged, so ask for dates, fees and places before you travel. | English-speaking contact by WhatsApp and email; classroom translation is not confirmed. |
The three pagodas north of the old town, with the rebuilt Chongsheng Temple behind them. The operator’s visitor notice gives hours of 08:00–17:30 from 1 November to 30 April and 07:10–19:00 from 1 May to 30 October, free entry for holders of a refuge certificate and no photography inside the temple halls; it does not publish the ticket price. On 1 November 2026 the site passed to the Dali city heritage office, so confirm hours before you go. Checked 7 November 2026.
A Buddhist pilgrim mountain east of Dali with temples up to the Golden Summit. The Dali tourism group lists the gates open 08:00–18:00 and the cable car and shuttle buses 08:30–17:30, with free entry for holders of a refuge certificate; no official ticket price could be read, and none of the temples publishes lodging for lay visitors. Checked 7 November 2026.
The scenic area’s own notice lists the Huating and Taihua temple compounds as a free zone; only the Longmen Grottoes (30 yuan), the cable car (25 yuan one way) and the shuttle (10 yuan one way) are charged. Opening hours are not published on the pages we read. Kunming’s Yuantong and Qiongzhu temples publish no official hours or prices online. Checked 7 November 2026.
From Dali, trains reach Lijiang in 1 h 36 min to 2 h 30 min (7 trains on 10 November 2026); from Kunming in 3 h 29 min to 4 h 34 min, the fastest, C86, leaving at 10:15. We found no residential practice open to foreigners in Lijiang or Shangri-La, and the Theravada temples of Xishuangbanna have published no retreat dates since 2013, so for a stay with practice the nearest choices are the places on our Chengdu page and the Wudang Mountains. Compare more places to stay and practise in our guides:
We have not visited these places. Travel times are the timetable figures for the date shown; confirm dates, prices and admission with each host.