I am moving from Beijing as a foreigner to Dali. I bought a house and apartment not far from Old City directly across from Dali University.
In Beijing I have been teaching business English for It professionals as well as doing big data consulting for social media (data storage architecture Web analytics data warehousing etc etc) .... Looking to have a more peaceful and quiet life.. Less stress... I am partners in a bar and cafe in Beijing... I am thinking I want to do a cafe or bar in Dali ... Preferably old city... But new city is not off the table... Any thoughts or input to what is needed in Dali... One other thing... Someone told me there is a size limit for motorcycles and scooters in Dali. No bigger then 150 cc... If this is the case, not sure what to do with my bikes
What's needed in Dali is less bars, hotels and coffee shops.
I've been thinking to start a business in Dali too, but all the obvious choices have already been taken a few times over.
Dali is a pretty good place to relax, but in my opinion not a great place to do business. From what I hear many of the foreigners that run businesses either had a huge horde of cash to begin with (retired), or they spend their weekends travelling the countryside teaching English. I suspect many shops are not actually profitable.
I can't even count the number of times foreigners have come to Dali, bought a house, started a business and then returned home a few years later. So, I'd be careful before going all in.
I take it you live in Shan Shui Jian?
Ducatti 796 BMW 1200GS.... I might just leave them in Beijing. Plus a TMax 530
Yes I bought in Shan Shui Jian... I actually wanted to open a coffee shop with single brewed cups... Take longer but much better coffee... Well along those lines. The few times I have been there I tried to find good coffee and was never able to. But I understand the all in. Looking at my budget I can get 5 to 7 years at a loss before I need to activate plan B. I can still consult and return to Beijing for work... Plus my business in Beijing will remain... I want to try and stay in China and have an easier life. Many of my Beijing friends have already moved there and settled down. As well I have very good Guanxi with the local police...
There are lots of bars, hotels, and coffee shops in Old Dali, it's true. At least as far as the coffee shops are concerned, they all look very quirky and individualistic on the outside, but then you realize they're all kind of cut from the same Chinese bohemian cookie cutter.
The handful of foreign run places I know of (Bad Monkey, Sun Island, Bakery 88) seem to be doing very well. As long as you can build something that stands out from the crowd, and broadcast the fact that it's foreign-owned, I wouldn't discourage you from entering the market.
If there are, as you say, lots of former Beijingers now in Dali with some money to spend and looking to take it easy, then I'd open something with them in mind, more than tourists.
I have been to Dali twice as a traveller and really see it as so much different than the rest of China. It is almost like a SE Asian area. It is so far from Beijing that it is an after thought. Isn't there some saying about being far away from the Emperor?
Maybe it is, but Dali if it does not should market itself as a summer destination or a year round destination for retires and the wealthy from the East. I live in Zhejiang and it is hotter that f... here. For a month, the temperature has topped 40c (that's 103f to us who use God given scales). This week, it is actually getting cooler.......highs only 38c or 100f. I was out in Dali last summer in late July ad did not need air conditioning. Open the window and I was nice and cool.
Dali is very clean with lots of scenery. I have said this before recently, but honestly I could retire there and never ever leave. Hell, ask me. Even if I could hit the f..king Powerball lottery, I would have a home there.
Property in Dali is getting more expensive, but it's still not ridiculous if you're buying with foreign dollars. If you want to see ridiculous check out property in Sanya (or any large city in China for that matter).
Hopefully the Easterners won't figure this place out too quickly. Once they turn the lake into sewage I'm outta here.
@Kernalpax & An. Coward
Would you mind sharing the sqm price in Shan Shui Jian?
I am planning to buy some property in Dali as well and I would like to live a bit further out of the old town but if the price is right, who knows?
About the bikes, check it out at the train station, they have a logistics center, where you can basically cargo freight everything from cows to (I guess) bikes. You probably have to empty the gas tanks and get them papers and all sorts of documents and other safety stuff but I think it should be possible. I would say get them shipped to kunming and ride them to Dali. Because it's probably one of the nicest 'easy access' roads in Southern China.
I think the average price is going to be something like 10,000rmb per square meter, at least according to the real estate listings I saw. It could be higher or lower depending on the unit. Usually the ground floor is quite a bit cheaper.
