Heqing Silverware Village

Heqing's Xinhua village has hammered silver for over a thousand years, and today it is a living workshop town: hundreds of family studios where Bai silversmiths forge jewelry, teapots, and Buddhist ritual objects from pure silver, following techniques passed down since the Tang.

Visitors can watch the forging, commission custom pieces in hours, and buy at maker's prices - a hand-beaten silver bracelet or teapot costs a fraction of what it would anywhere else. It is Dali's best craft destination, an hour's drive from the old town.