You can choose to study Chinese in Dali for 4 hours per day (20 hours/week) or 6 hours per day (30 hours/week). If you want to study Mandarin in China, the intensive one-on-one Chinese course is the fastest way to improve your Chinese.

We use unique teaching methods developed by Keats. Your Chinese teacher(s) will prepare your lessons according to your level of Chinese and your learning goals to ensure that you learn the most Chinese in the shortest possible time.

Accommodation is included.

• Single room accommodation with private bathroom
• Clean, safe, and comfortable
• Close to the Honglongjing Gate of the Dali Ancient Town
• Study, live and eat in one school building

Experience Dali, where nature’s grandeur meets ancient charm, for an unforgettable journey into the heart of beauty. By having an immersive Chinese class here, you can enjoy both studying and sightseeing simultaneously.

It is also one of the primary residences of the Bai Ethnic Group. Its history stretches back to the kingdom of Nanzhao (8th century).

The old walled city from the Ming dynasty contains traditional homes and towers from the Bai ethnic minority.

Dali is a great place to explore traditional Chinese culture and minority culture while learning Chinese in China.

Different types of transportation in China can be chosen when traveling to Dali to learn Chinese.

Dali City is located in western Yunnan, approximately 160 miles northwest of the provincial capital of Kunming.

You can take a flight to arrive in Kunming first and then take the high-speed train from Kunming to Dali, which takes around 2 hours. The train ticket is around RMB 150 yuan. 

The scenery along the way is stunningly beautiful. You cannot miss it if you are a mountain lover.

We offer train station pick-up and drop-off for free.

Located in the Chongsheng Temple, the Three Pagodas in Dali have more than 1800 years of history. As its name implies, the Three Pagodas are three ancient independent pagodas forming a symmetrical triangle. It’s said that nine kings of the Dali Kingdom chose to be a Chongsheng monastery in the temple. The Three Pagodas are a symbol of the history of Dali and a record of the development of Buddhism in the area. When visiting the Three Pagodas, you can see the beauty of Erhai lake.

After taking intensive one-on-one Chinese classes, you may want to put yourself into a natural environment to relax your body and mind. The Dali campus is 15 minutes’ walk to the Erhai lake.

Erhai Lake is the largest highland lake next to Dianchi (Kunming) and China’s seven biggest freshwater lakes. Its name 洱海 means ‘sea shaped like an ear’ in Chinese, implying that the lake is ear-shaped and as large as a sea. There are some small islands worth exploring along Erhai Lake. Learning Chinese in Dali offers an excellent opportunity to walk or jog along the lake bank early in the morning or evening.

Dali Xizhou Ancient Town is located in the northern part of Dali City, Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province. Hundreds of residential buildings built by the Bai minority with their architectural characteristics are standing here and waiting for you to visit. People often visit the houses of the Yan family and the Yang family. Wandering on the streets of Xizhou is like walking into a residential building museum. Along the streets, the tie-dye stands layout, the bougainvillea popping out of the wall, the fragrance of Xizhou pan-fried cake, the children chasing and playing on the street corner… all of these ordinary details integrated as a breath of history and culture rushes towards you when walking through the town.

Dali Shaxi Ancient Town is located in Jianchuan County. It is the only surviving ancient bazaar on the ancient Yunnan-Tibet Ancient Tea-Horse Road, which is essential for transporting and trading medicinal tea materials, silk fabrics, and salt. In ancient times, trading by horse driving was an adventurous business. Away from the harsh snow-capped mountains, valleys, and rapids, Si Deng Street of Shaxi town was like a “paradise” to those hard-working caravans. With the improvement of the modern highway network and the development of transportation, Shaxi town gradually declined due to its distance from the main traffic lines. Although poverty and backwardness hindered the development of Shaxi, it allowed the ancient stage and shops with a history of about 600 years to be preserved and eventually became valuable cultural heritage.

Do you like walking on the ancient town street, especially after several hours of Chinese language study at Keats School? Then you can go to visit the Dali Ancient Town.

The ancient town of Dali is located at the foot of the beautiful Cangshan Mountain. It was once the capital city of the ancient Nanzhao Kingdom and the Dali Kingdom. This is a beautiful place for people who want to enjoy a slow-paced life. With the sunshine glowing and the comfortable temperature, you can relax down here. It is enjoyable to stroll around the local shops in the ancient town and visit the ancient buildings. During the lunar month of March and April, there will be many festivals celebrated in Dali. The famous “March Street” is the most lively one among them.

Biking around Erhai Lake is the most relaxing way to appreciate its scenery. Erhai Lake is translated as 洱海 ěr hǎi in Chinese and is the seven largest freshwater lake in China, with an area of 265.5 square kilometers. Though it is a lake, local Bai group people prefer calling it the sea, for they have rare opportunities to know what a natural sea looks like, so they naturally take this giant lake as the sea. Erhai Lake is just a pool of clear blue water with tranquility and an essential part of the local ecological circle. By biking around the lake, you can experience both natural and cultural touring sites along the way.

You can try to make the Tie-dyeing handicraft here when learning Chinese in Dali, China.

Tie-dyeing is an ancient textile dyeing technique in China from the Eastern Han Dynasty. The Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture retains this traditional technique, and the tie-dyeing industry of the Zhoucheng Bai group is the most famous. Tie-dyeing generally takes white cotton cloth or cotton-linen blended cloth as raw materials, and the dye is mainly blue indigo plant. The critical technology of Bai Tie-dyeing is the twisting technique and dyeing technique. The Bai minority group has a variety of tie-dye that boasts both aesthetic value and practical functions. The Bai Tie-dyeing is featured evenly distributed patterns and an auspicious theme.

What to order in a Chinese restaurant when studying Mandarin in Dali?

Shuanglang is the birthplace of the famous Dali Spicy and Sour Fish Soup. There have been human activities since ancient times. They inhabited Erhai Lake and preyed on fish in Erhai Lake. So fish meat became the primary source of their daily foods. After thousands of years of evolution and accumulation, fishermen add papaya, chili, tofu, yam, and other ingredients when cooking fresh fish, gradually forming this traditional Dali delicacy. As the name indicates, this famous Spicy and Sour Fish soup tastes both spicy and sour with a refreshing flavor.

People in southern China like to eat rice, and Dali is not an exception. Therefore, the staple food of Dali is mainly rice or rice products, such as sticky rice noodles and sticky rice cake. One of the most famous local dishes is the Weizhou sticky rice noodles. This dish uses fresh, top-quality pork meat. The pork meat will be slow-cooked for a long time until the meat gets soft and fall apart tenderly. This dish is rich and delicious but not greasy at all.

The milk cheese fan is a sort of cheese food popular in the northwestern Yunnan province. As the name indicates, it is made of milk. The milk cheese fan is cream-colored and shaped like a folding fan, so the locals named it the Milk Cheese Fan. You can eat it raw or cook it by frying or roasting it. It can also be cooked with Yunnan ham as a formal dish. Milk Cheese Fan can also be chopped up and added to the boiled tea drink to serve as the sweet tea, the second course of the famous Dali Three Courses Tea.