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The Bai group is distributed in 31 provinces，autonomous regions and municipalities. The Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture in Yunnan Province is its most concentrated region of residence. According to the Yunnan Economic Yearbook of 2008（《云南经济年鉴》），the total population of the Bai people in Dali Prefecture is 1，116，800，accounting for more than 60％ of the total population of the Bai people. In addition to Dali Prefecture，the Bai also live in Lijiang（丽江），Bijiang（碧江），Baoshan（保山），Nanhua （南华），Yuanjiang （元江），Kunming （昆明），and Anning（安宁）of Yunnan Province；Bijie（毕节）and Liupanshui（六盘水）of Guizhou Province；Liangshan（凉山）of Sichuan Province；Hefeng（鹤峰）of Hubei Province；and also Sangzhi（桑植），Yuanling（沅陵）and other counties and cities of Hunan Province.
Dali Prefecture is located in the west of Yunnan Province，with Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture（楚雄彝族自治州）to the east，Baoshan City（保山市）and Nujiang Lisu Autonomous Prefecture（怒江傈僳族自治州）to the west and Pu'er City（普洱市）and Lincang City（临沧市）to the south and Lijiang City（丽江市）to the north. It lies at east longitude from 98°52′ to 101°03′，and north latitude from 24°40′ to 26°42′，having a jurisdiction of 12 counties and cities including Dali City（大理市），Xiangyun County（祥云县），Midu County（弥渡县），Binchuan County（宾川县），Weishan Yi and Hui Autonomous County（巍山彝族回族自治县），Nanjian Yi Autonomous County（南涧彝族自治县），Eryuan County（洱源县），Jianchuan County（剑川县），Heqing County（鹤庆县），Yangbi Yi Autonomous County（漾濞彝族自治县），Yunlong County（云龙县）and Yongping County（永平县），and ranges over a vast area from the Nujiang River（怒江）in the east，the Jinsha River（金沙江：the upper Yangtze River）in the south，Chuxiong（楚雄）and the Yuanjiang River（沅江）to the west. The territory of the state covers an area of 29，460 square kilometers. Within this，mountainous areas account for 83.7％，while plain regions only account for 16.3％. It has the following characteristics in terms of mountain terrain and climate resources.
Figure 1-11 Hedianba in Xiangyun County（祥云禾甸坝）
Most of it belongs to the intersection of the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau（云贵高原） and the longitudinal valleys in west Yunnan，located at the southern end of the Hengduan Mountains（横断山脉），and mainly consists of three terrains：mountains，plains and river valleys. The terrain is high in the northwest and low in the southeast，having two major landforms：the plateau lake basin and longitudinal valleys of the Hengduan Mountains. The highest point is the main peak of Xuebang Mountain（雪邦山）in Jianchuan County which is 4，295 meters above sea level. The lowest point is the Bingli（丙栗）Bazi（basin）by the Nujiang River in Yunlong County which is only 730 meters above sea level. So，the relative height difference is 3，565 meters. There are 108 large and small bazi s surrounded by mountains and rivers in this region.
There are two main mountain ranges：the Yunling Mountains Range（云岭山脉） and the Nujiang Mountain Range（怒江山脉），both running north to south. The famous Cangshan Mountain （点苍山）is juxtaposed with Luopingshan Mountain （罗坪山），located in the middle of the autonomous prefecture and divides Dali into two different geographical environments：the eastern part belongs to the Yangtz para-platform area，and the west belongs to the Yunnan-Tibet geosynclinal fold region. In addition to the Cangshan Mountain which is often regarded as the most beautiful in west Yunnan，there are also many other well-known mountains，including the Xuebangshan Mountain（雪邦山），Laojunshan Mountain （老君山），and Shibaoshan Mountain （石宝山）in Jianchuan County；Luopingshan Mountain （罗坪山）in Eryuan County；Jiudingshan Mountain（九顶山）in Heqing County；Zhibenshan Mountain（志奔山）and Hutoushan Mountain（虎头山）in Yunlong County；Wuliangshan Mountain（无量山）and Ailaoshan Mountain（哀牢山）in Nanjian County；Weibaoshan Mountain（巍宝山），Ma'anshan Mountain （马鞍山）and Wenhuashan Mountain （文华山）in Weishan County；Liangwangshan Mountain（梁王山）and Shuimushan Mountain （水目山）in Xiangyun County；Taijishan Mountain （太极山）and Daheishan Mountain （大黑山）in Midu County；and also Jizushan Mountain （鸡足山）and Bijiashan Mountain （笔架山）in Binchuan County，all of which are over 2，300 meters above sea level.
Figure 1-12 Cangshan Mountain（苍山）
Dali Prefecture is located at the watershed of Jinshajiang River （金沙江），Langcangjiang River（澜沧江），Nujiang River（怒江）and Honghe River（红河）. There are more than 160 rivers of various sizes in the territory，flowing from the northwest to the southeast and forming a fan shape. Among them，the Erhai Basin，Yunlong（云龙） and Yongping（永平）belong to the Lancang and Nujiang River systems. The Jizushan Mountain（鸡足山）area in the eastern part of Erhai Lake belongs to the Jinsha River system. The Weishan（巍山）and Midu（弥渡）areas to the south of Erhai Lake belong to the Honghe River system. The main lakes include Erhai Lake in Dali City，Zibi Lake（茈碧湖），Xihu Lake（西湖）and Donghu Lake（东湖）in Eryuan County；Jianhu（剑湖）in Jianchuan County；Tianchi Lake（天池）in Yunlong County；and Qinghai Lake（青海湖）in Xiangyun County. Erhai Lake is the second largest lake in Yunnan Province，with an area of more than 250 square kilometers，a lake capacity of 2.743 billion cubic meters，a maximum water depth of 21.3 meters and an average water depth of 10.6 meters. It is renowned as a“pearl on the plateau”.
Figure 1-13 Jinshajiang River（金沙江）
Figure 1-14 Erhai Lake（洱海）
With the low latitude plateau monsoon climate，there is basically no clear winter or summer but only dry and rainy seasons. Except for some river valleys and alpine regions，most of the regions have a mild climate with no brutal heat in summer and no bitter cold in winter. The annual average temperature is 14℃-19℃ in the southeast，12℃-14℃in the northwest，and about 15℃ in the middle. There are thus local sayings such as“the weather is always like in February and March，and the flowers are always blossoming like in the spring（天气常如二三月，花香不断四时春）”. The average annual precipitation is about 1，100 mm，and is mostly concentrated in June，July and August，accounting for about 60％ of the total annual precipitation. The precipitation in the same area is affected by the trend of the mountains. Generally，the amount of rainfall on the windward slope is abundant，and the rainfall on the leeward slope is less.
Figure 1-15 The Primeval Forest in Cangshan Mountain（苍山原始森林）
Dali's animal，plant and mineral resources are abundant. In terms of plants，there are 170 families，755 genera and 2，330 species of seed plants. There are 5 families，10 genera and 10 species of gymnosperms，among which Ginkgo Biloba，yacca，Taiwania flousiana，Taxus chinensis and dove trees are rare species. Trees of economic value include walnut trees， Chinese varnish trees，lacquer trees and camphor trees. Nearly a thousand kinds of flowers have been found in Dali，including the world famous camellia，azalea，orchid，and Magnolia wilsonii. In terms of animals，there are more than 50 different species of wild animals，notable among which the Yunnan snub-nosed monkey， Trachypithecus phayrei， Macaques， Assamese macaques，clouded leopards，Panthera pardus，Asian Golden Cat，rasse，red pandas，black bears and sun bears are on the list for national protection. There are a total of 150 bird species，including rare birds such as Pavo muticus，Temminck's tragopan，Syramticus humiae，Lady Amherst's pheasant，White Crane，Aquila chrysaetos，and Mandarin Duck. As regards to minerals，nonferrous metals economically worth mining include manganese，iron，tin，lead，zinc，copper，nickel，brocade，and gold，and non metallic minerals include marble，coal，and salt，among which Cangshan marble is world-renowned because of its excellent quality and long history.
The exceptional living environment and abundant natural resources have long made Dali a cradle for human civilization. Regarding the changes in the environments of the early human settlements，there is a beautiful legend in the Dali area：Dali was a vast ocean in ancient times，and people lived in the mountains. Later， the water gradually receded， and the Dali bazi was revealed. However，due to the dense forest barrier，people could not migrate to the land. At this time，two cranes traveled to and from the river bank every day. People followed the direction of their flight and finally managed to get down to this place，a beautiful and rich land.
Figure 1-16 Cangshan Marble（苍山大理石）
From archaeological findings in Dali，the early residents in the Erhai Lake area did have a history of living in the mountains. To further research this，Wu Jinding（吴金鼎），Zeng Zhaoyu （曾昭燏），Wang Jiechen （王介忱）and others from the former Central Research Institute spent 20 months making scientific archaeological investigations and excavations on Cangshan Malong（马龙）and other sites. Based on their findings，detailed descriptions were made possible of the environment around these sites.“The prehistoric sites are mostly gentle slopes of mountains. Each site contains from four to more than ten terraces. Probably the residents of that time were from the same lineage or the same tribe scattered on the same hillside，and each family ran its own farmland. ”
In recent years，Zhang Xilu （张锡禄），a native scholar of Dali，made a comprehensive study of archaeology and ethnology and concluded that the change of the residential environment in the west bank of the Erhai Lake can be divided into four stages. He believes that the sites of the Neolithic period，from 2，200 to 2，500 meters above sea level，mostly sheltered from the wind and facing sun，were suitable for human habitation；the sites of the Han （汉）dynasty and the Jin （晋）dynasty，from 2，000 and 2，200 meters above sea level，were mostly located on the foot of Cangshan Mountain；the sites of the Nanzhao（南诏）and Dali（大理）periods，with an altitude of 2，000 meters，formed the Bai ethnic villages along the line of the present-day 214 national highway；the sites of the Yuan（元）dynasty，the Ming（明）dynasty and the Qing（清）dynasty were around 1，975 meters above sea level，and mostly became the Bai villages found distributed along the Dali-Lijiang Highway as well as those along Erhai Lake
.
Figure 1-17 Erhai Lakeside（洱海之滨）
It should be added that Dali's early human settlements，in addition to those on the gentle and sunny slopes of mountains，also included those on the lakeside or riverside，such as the sites in Dali Yinsuodao Island（银梭岛）and Jianchuan Haimenkou（剑川海门口）. Therefore，although the settlements to the west of Erhai Lake have gradually moved to a lower position，it is still the case that human beings have been living on the lakeside since ancient times.