Tie - Dyeing in Dali

February 21, 2025

Tie-dyeing is an old Chinese textile dyeing technique. The Zhoucheng Bai Nationality tie-dyeing technique is the most famous one and China Culture Administration named the area “the Land for National Tie-dye”.

Puzhen Tie Dye Museum

Recommended sightseeing time:1-2 hours

Address:

Zhoucheng Village Cultural and Sports Plaza, Xizhou Town

If you travel to Dali, you must go to Zhoucheng, which is the largest natural village in Yunnan. It is known as the hometown of tie-dyeing, where "every family has a dye vat and every household produces tie-dyeing."

The magnificent Chongsheng Temple and the well-known Three Pagodas are the symbol of Dali.

The tie-dyed materials are usually white cotton cloth or a blended fabric of cotton and flax, and the dye is mainly made from indigo plants. The main tools used are jars and sticks.

The tie-dyed cloth is used to make clothes, caps, bags and so on. These products are very popular among domestic and foreign visitors and are therefore exported to Japan and Southeast Asian countries.

The museum promotes and displays the historical and cultural history of the Bai people in the form of dynamic and static combinations, and interprets the traditional exquisite Bai dyeing skills.

Bai People’s tie-dyeing is known as “pimple dyeing” in the folk, that is, before dyeing, the white cloth is overlapped or tightened with needles and threads according to the designed pattern, presenting a “pimple” shape.

After repeated impregnation, the untreated “knots” are separated into various flower shapes. The finished products are blue or white flowers with blue background.

There are many kinds of Bai tie-dyed items, using natural patterns with lucky meanings. To make the dye, wood leaves are collected and fermented in a pit until they are indigo in color.

White cloth is tied and sewn into various patterns by hand and then dyed. After the cloth is dried and rinsed, designs of bees, butterflies, plum blossoms, fish, or insects appear with an artistic affect that cannot be achieved by painting.