People visit the Foreigner's Street in Dali ancient town of Southwest China's Yunnan province, Aug 2, 2014. [Photo/Xinhua]

Visitors to the ancient city of Dali will be charged an entrance fee starting from Sept 1 this year in order to cover maintenance costs, a government press conference announced on Saturday. The ancient city will charge 30 RMB ($4.9) for every tourist visiting the site with travel agents and will collect one percent of business income generated by shops and stalls in the city, according to an announcement from the ancient city protection administration bureau. Individual travellers are free of charge as long as they don't enter several particular scenic spots of the city.