---
title: "Living in Dali as a digital nomad: cost, safety, visa, internet"
url: https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/dali
description: "Lakeside old town and China's best-known nomad hub"
dataset: 2026.10.7 (2026-10-13)
license: CC BY 4.0
---

# Dali, China

Dali scores 51.2/100 for digital nomads under balanced weights, ranking 853 of 1000 cities. Expect about $1,850 per month (country-level estimate), no dedicated nomad visa, and a measured median download speed of 17 Mbps.

Dali, in Yunnan, has become China's best-known digital nomad town, with young Chinese remote workers filling coliving spaces in the old town and along Erhai Lake. At almost 2,000 metres the climate is mild all year. For foreigners the usual China caveats apply: a VPN for Western services, mobile payments, and entry rules that depend on your passport.

Known for: Erhai Lake and the Cang Mountains, China's digital nomad scene, Spring-like climate all year, Bai culture.

## Scores (balanced weights, 0–100)

| Factor | Score |
| --- | --- |
| Overall | 51.2 |
| Cost of living | 36 |
| Safety | 76 |
| Healthcare | 81 |
| Internet | 57 |
| Visa ease | 15 |
| Getting there & around | 45 |
| Climate | 33 |
| Air quality | 63 |
| Quality of life | 55 |

## The numbers behind the scores

| Metric | Value | Level | As of | Source |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Monthly cost, one person | $1,850 | country | 2026-09 | [^2] |
| Central 1-bedroom rent | — | city | 2026-09 | [^3] |
| Outskirts 1-bedroom rent (basis of the monthly total) | — | city | 2026-09 | [^3] |
| Homicide rate (per 100k) | 0.5 | country | 2020 | [^4] |
| Political stability (0–100) | 66 | country | 2025 | [^5] |
| UHC service coverage (0–100) | 85 | country | 2023 | [^6] |
| Life expectancy (years) | 77.6 | country | 2021 | [^7] |
| Median download (Mbps) | 17 | city | 2024 | [^8] |
| Median upload (Mbps) | 12.3 | city | 2024 | [^8] |
| Starlink residential service | Not offered | country | 2026-10 | [^9] |
| Nomad visa | none listed | country | 2026-07 | [^10] |
| Entry for US / EU / UK passports | visa required / 30 days / visa required | country | 2026-10 | [^11] |
| Non-stop destinations (DLU) | 35 | city | 2026-09 | [^13] |
| Restaurants within 3 km of the centre (OpenStreetMap) | 0 | city | 2026-10 | [^17] |
| Walkability / transit (1–5) | 3 / 1 | editorial | 2026-09 | [^14] |
| Comfortable months | 4 of 12 | city | 2001–2020 | [^15] |
| Annual mean PM2.5 (µg/m³) | 21.7 | city | 2024 | [^16] |
| Human Development Index | 0.797 | country | 2023 | [^18] |
| English proficiency band | low | country | 2024 | [^19] |

## Climate (2001–2020 normals)

| Month | Mean °C | Rain mm | Humidity % | Comfortable |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Jan | 6.8 | 23 | 66 | no |
| Feb | 9.1 | 18 | 60 | no |
| Mar | 12.5 | 19 | 56 | no |
| Apr | 15.6 | 36 | 58 | yes |
| May | 18.1 | 84 | 63 | yes |
| Jun | 19.8 | 110 | 73 | yes |
| Jul | 19.4 | 184 | 79 | no |
| Aug | 19.1 | 195 | 81 | no |
| Sep | 17.6 | 128 | 82 | yes |
| Oct | 14.7 | 85 | 81 | no |
| Nov | 10.8 | 14 | 76 | no |
| Dec | 7.6 | 10 | 73 | no |

## Airports and nonstop flights

| Airport | IATA | Nonstop destinations | International | From US airports |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Dali Fengyi Airport | DLU | 35 | 1 | 0 |

Unique destinations across all airports: 35, of which 1 international (Wikipedia, 2026-09).

## Similar cities

- [Guilin](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/guilin) (49.9) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/dali-vs-guilin)
- [Qingdao](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/qingdao) (52.1) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/dali-vs-qingdao)
- [Sanya](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/sanya) (56.7) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/dali-vs-sanya)
- [Nanjing](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/nanjing) (52.5) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/dali-vs-nanjing)
- [Lijiang](https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/lijiang) (51) — [compare](https://nostos.navoy.io/compare/dali-vs-lijiang)

## FAQ

### How much does it cost to live in Dali as a digital nomad?

A single person typically spends about $1,850 per month in Dali (a country-level estimate for China). That is a 36/100 cost score, where 100 is the cheapest city in the dataset.

### Is Dali safe for digital nomads?

Dali scores 76/100 on safety. China records 0.5 homicides per 100,000 people per year (WHO, 2020) and a political-stability score of 66/100 (World Bank WGI). Both figures are national, so neighbourhood-level risk can differ.

### Does China have a digital nomad visa?

No dedicated digital nomad visa was listed for China as of 2026-07. Visitors from the US need a visa from a consulate.

### How fast is the internet in Dali?

Measured median download speed in Dali was 17 Mbps (upload 12.3 Mbps) across 41,165 M-Lab tests in 2024. Measured speeds run below advertised plan speeds everywhere, so compare cities rather than reading the number as a plan.

### Is Starlink available in Dali?

No. Starlink does not offer service in China according to its availability map (2026-10), and bringing a terminal may break local rules.

### Which airports serve Dali and how many nonstop flights are there?

Dali is served by Dali Fengyi Airport (DLU) with 35 nonstop destinations, of which 1 are international. 0 US airports have a nonstop link. Source: Wikipedia, 2026-09.

### When is the best time of year to be in Dali?

The most comfortable months are Apr, May, Jun, Sep. Mean temperatures range from 44°F (7°C) in Jan to 68°F (20°C) in Jun (NASA POWER 2001–2020 climatology).

### Dali or Guilin: which is better for digital nomads?

Guilin is the city with the closest factor profile to Dali in this dataset. Which one wins depends on your weights; the comparison page puts every factor side by side with the numbers behind them.

## Plan a trip

[Where to stay in Dali](https://navoy.io/hotels/china/dali) on Navoy, the AI travel planner behind Nostos.

## Sources

[^1]: City population (latest census or official estimate), Wikipedia (citing national statistics offices). CC BY-SA 4.0. https://en.wikipedia.org/ (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^2]: 2026 Cost of Living Index (country level), WhereNext. CC BY 4.0. https://getwherenext.com/data/cost-of-living-2026 (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^3]: Cost of Living Global 2026 (city rows), WhereToEmigrate. CC BY 4.0. https://github.com/0brien18/global-emigration-dataset (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^4]: Victims of intentional homicide per 100,000 population (national data, latest year), United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, dataUNODC. UNODC data, free to reuse with attribution. https://data.unodc.org/datareport/hom-victim (retrieved 2026-10-12)
[^5]: Worldwide Governance Indicators — Political Stability and Absence of Violence (score 0–100), World Bank. CC BY 4.0. https://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/worldwide-governance-indicators (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^6]: UHC service coverage index, World Health Organization, Global Health Observatory. CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (WHO data policy). https://www.who.int/data/gho/data/indicators/indicator-details/GHO/uhc-index-of-service-coverage (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^7]: Life expectancy at birth (years), both sexes, World Health Organization, Global Health Observatory. CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (WHO data policy). https://www.who.int/data/gho/data/indicators/indicator-details/GHO/life-expectancy-at-birth-(years) (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^8]: M-Lab NDT statistics (city aggregates, 2024), Measurement Lab. CC0 1.0. https://statistics.measurementlab.net/ (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^9]: Starlink availability map, SpaceX (Starlink). Factual status cited from starlink.com. https://www.starlink.com/map (retrieved 2026-10-07)
[^10]: Digital Nomad Visas 2026, WhereToEmigrate. CC BY 4.0. https://github.com/0brien18/global-emigration-dataset (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^11]: Official entry rules that changed after the Passport Index snapshot, National governments (immigration authorities, foreign ministries, embassies), compiled by Navoy. Facts from public government pages. https://nostos.navoy.io/data (retrieved 2026-10-07)
[^12]: Passport Index dataset (visa requirements, 199 passports × 199 destinations), Ilya Ilyankou (compiled from passportindex.org). MIT. https://github.com/ilyankou/passport-index-dataset (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^13]: Airport destinations (Wikipedia airline and destination tables), Wikipedia contributors; countries via Wikidata. CC BY-SA 4.0. https://en.wikipedia.org/ (retrieved 2026-09-24)
[^14]: Walkability and transit ratings (editorial), Navoy. CC BY 4.0. https://nostos.navoy.io/methodology (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^15]: NASA POWER climatology (2001–2020 monthly means), NASA Langley Research Center. Public domain (US Government). https://power.larc.nasa.gov/ (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^16]: WHO Ambient Air Quality Database, June 2026 update (V8), World Health Organization. CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (WHO data policy). https://www.who.int/publications/m/item/who-ambient-air-quality-database-(update-jun-2026) (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^17]: OpenStreetMap restaurants (Overpass API), OpenStreetMap contributors. ODbL 1.0. https://overpass-api.de/ (retrieved 2026-10-02)
[^18]: Human Development Index (HDR 2025, HDI 2023), United Nations Development Programme. CC BY 3.0 IGO. https://hdr.undp.org/data-center/documentation-and-downloads (retrieved 2026-09-22)
[^19]: EF English Proficiency Index 2024 (band), EF Education First. Proprietary; band cited as a fact with attribution. https://www.ef.com/epi/ (retrieved 2026-09-22)

HTML page: https://nostos.navoy.io/cities/dali