Our Trip to Dali

11. The Three Stone Pagodas

Just north of town lies Dali's most famous historic landmark, the Temple of the Three Pagodas (San Ta Si). The three towers lie at the very foot of the tenth peak of the massive Cangshan range. Founded in 825, the temple had been destroyed, but the three pagodas survived. The four sided, 16-story middle pagoda, Qiantun Ta, is the tallest, at 226 feet. The two other 8-sided, 10-story sisters rise to 138 feet. The pagoda builders of Dali came from Xi'an, which had been the Tang Dynasty capital at that time.