A family of tourists feed a flock of seagulls on Erhai Lake. The seagulls migrate from Siberia, Russia, every year in late autumn, according to residents in Dali. Shao Xiaoqin / For China Daily

Su Jinning used to commute more than an hour a day to work in Beijing, sometimes driving through thick smog. Now, he spends his mornings under a blue sky, walking the 5 kilometers from his home to a small market to shop for fresh vegetables.

"I can breathe here, and the water is clean," said Su, who quit his job with a State-owned company in 2015 and moved with his family to the ancient town of Dali.

Many urbanites have made the switch to this quiet corner of Yunnan province in recent years - and going by the people China Daily talked to, the vast majority have come from the nation's capital.

Su, 46, now runs a bar with a friend, which is far more relaxed than his old regimen: starting the day with copious amounts of coffee, sitting for hours in front of a computer screen, and spending his nights wooing clients over dinner.

He said his weight ballooned to 90 kilograms. "There was a gym in my office building, but I didn't like exercising there," he said, adding he has lost 15 kg since arriving in Dali.

Su's business partner, Zong Hao, 30, used to run a printing company in Beijing. He said he wanted to flee the rigid office environment and the city's skyrocketing rental prices.

Chen Yang and his wife, Lu Yuehua, saw a similar opportunity to "escape the rat race" when they visited Dali in 2013 to help a friend look into starting a business there. They liked it so much, they decided to open one, too.

Friends back in Beijing originally poured cold water on the idea, calling it unrealistic. However, Lu said the thought kept her awake at night - and within a few days, the couple had decided to buy a villa and convert it into a guesthouse.

"The climate in Dali is better than any other place I've visited," said Chen, 58, who used to work as an engineer. "It's beautiful in spring and autumn, and is comfortable in summer and winter. You can find beautiful scenery everywhere."

The couple's move had a ripple effect. Several of their friends have followed them to Dali, while Chen estimates more than 60 families from Beijing have bought houses near their guesthouse.

Until April, Qiao Xiaolin, 37, had been running a guesthouse near Dali's old town that catered to parents traveling with children.

"As long as Beijing was being hit by heavy smog, my hotel was full," she joked, adding that many guests had talked about buying a house after visiting the area. "The demand is so strong that it's pushed up prices," she added.

Jiwu, an online real estate agency, said the average price for a new apartment in Dali was about 8,280 yuan ($1,208) a square meter in April. In Shanshuijianvilla, a villa community in the mountains, prices are closer to 15,000 yuan, Qiao added.

This compares with an average monthly salary of 4,390 yuan, according to online recruitment company Jobui.