While the Chinese character ‘bai' (白) means white, and the Bai people refer to themselves as speakers of the ‘White Language' and people of the ‘White King', the original significance of white in terms of Bai culture remains a mystery to this day. The Bai language belongs to the Tibeto-Burman language family, and is completely distinct from Mandarin. The population is numbered at nearly 1.5 million people, making it one of Yunnan Province and China's largest minorities. The remarkably fertile Dali valley, home to the Bai for more than 1000 years, has been a key to economic success, as the Bai are among the most prosperous of China's ethnic minorities . Surplus farming along the plain, fishing and material transport industries on the Erhai Lake, and Dali's tourism boom all play a role in the comfortable existence of the Bai in the Erhai Valley. Local Batiks, or more simply put, tie-dye workshops, have become another trademark item in and around Dali.

To the average Chinese person, it is quite easy to distinguish a Bai man or woman who is wearing traditional Bai dress. The women commonly wear colorful dresses usually with lighter colors such as shades of pink or orange. Younger women are easily distinguished by a colorful round pink or red headdress with a flat white top. Married woman will neatly coil their long braids underneath their thick, circular headdresses. Men often wear white shirts or undercoats with a dark blue or black vest.