Place · region

Lake Erhai

Also known as Erhai

Lake Erhai is a large highland lake in western Yunnan, China, lying beneath the Cang mountains. The plain beside it was the centre of the six chiefdoms united as Nanzhao in the 8th century and of the later Dali Kingdom, whose capitals, Taihe and Yangjumie, stood near its western shore. It remains the heart of the Bai people's homeland around the city of Dali.

Lake Erhai
Image: Ariel Steiner (Asteiner) · CC BY 2.5 · Wikimedia Commons

Mentioned in 5 state histories

NanzhaoDa ChangheDa TianxingDa YiningDali Kingdom

See also

Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Lake Erhai. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/lake-erhai
MLA
“Lake Erhai.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/lake-erhai. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Lake Erhai.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/lake-erhai.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Lake Erhai’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/lake-erhai (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻