Why digital nomads are flocking to the Chinese city of Dali – nicknamed ‘Dalifornia’ – but is the good life as golden as promised?

The atmosphere in Dali has invited comparisons to California, in the US, for its anything-goes reputation, mild climate and burgeoning tech community

The Chinese city has become a refuge for digital nomads and burned-out workers looking to ‘lie flat’ – but how long can its status as ‘Dalifornia’ last?

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Digital nomads and burned-out big city workers are flocking to the Chinese city of Dali – which some have nicked “Dalifornia”, comparing it to California. Photo: AFP

Published: 7:15am, 25 May 2023

Whenever John Wang, a 40-year-old Chinese tech entrepreneur, hears the song Hotel California by the Eagles, he cannot help but sing along – with one minor modification. During the chorus, Wang and his friends like to belt out their welcomes to the “Hotel Dalifornia” instead.

The renaming of the titular resort is an ode to Dali, a city of 774,000 in southwest China that, over the last three years, has become a refuge for digital nomads and burned-out workers seeking a reprieve from harsh pandemic controls and the grind of big-city life.

The atmosphere there has invited comparisons to California, in the United States – or at least to the California that exists in the popular Chinese imagination.

Standing between mountains and lakes in Yunnan province, Dali is a former capital of an independent kingdom, and its cultural significance dates to the eighth century. Pagodas, temples and an ancient city – known as Old Town – have been preserved for hundreds of years, and the allure of the area is reinforced by views of Cangshan Mountain to the west and Erhai Lake to the east.

Graffiti painting of the word “Dalifornia” in Dali, China. Photo: John Wang

Its natural landscapes and historic architecture have made it a haven for backpackers and other tourists since the 1980s. The city’s early popularity among international visitors and the cultivation of cannabis in Yunnan province, which spurred the local marijuana market until authorities began cracking down in the 2000s, have contributed to an anything-goes reputation.

That, combined with a burgeoning tech community and a mild climate, inspired the “Dalifornia” nickname among locals.

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