The pagodas were built during the Nanzhao and Dali kingdoms, the local states that ruled this region between the eighth and thirteenth centuries, at a time when Dali was a major center of Buddhist learning and a stop on the route between China, Tibet and Southeast Asia. The main pagoda, Qianxun Ta, is about 69 meters tall with sixteen storeys, and was completed in the ninth century. Two smaller ten-storey pagodas, each about 42 meters, were added roughly a century later, set at an angle to the main tower.
Surviving the earthquakes
Dali sits in a seismically active zone. A major earthquake in 1514 destroyed much of the surrounding temple complex and damaged the main pagoda, but the towers stayed upright, and a later quake in 1925 left the main pagoda standing while the temple around it collapsed. The pagodas are square, brick-built, with closely spaced eaves that step in as they rise, and their proportions are the reason they remain the symbol of Dali.
The reconstructed temple
Behind the pagodas, the Chongsheng Temple was rebuilt on a grand scale in the 2000s, ascending the mountainside in a series of halls and terraces. It is a reconstruction rather than historic fabric, but the scale is impressive and the view back down over the pagodas and the lake from the upper halls is the best photograph in Dali.
Practical notes
The site is a short drive northwest of Dali's old town, at the foot of the Cangshan range. Allow two hours including the climb through the temple halls. Electricity shuttles run up the slope if the walk is too much. Go in the morning for clear views of the mountains before cloud builds on the peaks.
