The county is the home of the AAAAA-rated Yanmen Pass Scenic Area along the Great Wall, as well as the Bianjing Drum Tower, the Ayuwang Pagoda, and the Zhao Gao Forest Park.

Because the English word "county" only typically describes the area,[1] it's more common to use a transcription of the Chinese form of the name when talking about its seat of government.

[5] That city's native name was transcribed using the character 代,[2] now read dài in Mandarin but with an Old Chinese pronunciation that has been reconstructed as /*lˤək-s/.

[citation needed] The town was also briefly known as Sizhou under the Northern Zhou and early Sui after Si Prefecture was relocated to Shangguan in 579 from its original seat northwest of Xinzhou.

[16] Present-day Dai County lies to north of the historic heartland of ancient Chinese civilization in the Fen, Wei, and Yellow River valleys.

The "White Di" (Baidi) are recorded originating in north Shaanxi west of the Yellow River but had settled in the Hutuo Valley by the 6th century BC.

[19] The Zhou state of Jin pushed sporadically northward through both invasions and bribery of the Di's ruling class[19] until its disintegration at the end of the Spring and Autumn period.

King Yong (posthumously known as the "Wuling" or "Martial-&-Numinous King") of the Jin successor state of Zhao adopted nomad-style clothing, equipment, and cavalry tactics in 307 BC; in campaigns in 306 and 304 BC overran the Loufan (t 樓煩, s 楼烦, Lóufán) and "forest nomads" (林胡, Línhú) of the Hutuo Valley and the lands to the northwest of the Yanmen Pass, opening up to the Eurasian steppe.

He protected them by erecting long earthen barricades along what is now considered the Outer Great Wall, as well as a fortress overlooking Yanmen Pass in present-day Dai County.

[2] Under the First Emperor's rule, an administrative overhaul abolished China's former states and provinces, making the relatively small commanderies the highest level of regional government.

Zhao's former holdings in northern Shanxi west of Mount Heng formed Qin's Yanmen Commandery, with its seat at Shanwu in present-day Youyu County.

Credit became muddled, however, when the khan's Chinese wife Princess Yicheng responded to his pleas by sending a false report to her husband about an attack on the Turkish homeland.

After the Turks withdrew, the emperor chose to renege on most of his promises; the event built animosity in the Chinese army ahead of the collapse of the Sui.

[29] The area has been strategically important and fortified since the Warring States period, although the present works date to the 14th century during the early Ming.

Other tourist attractions in Dai County include the Ayuwang or Ashoka Pagoda, a dagoba dating to the Yuan; the Daizhou Confucian Temple (t 代州文廟, s 代州文庙, Dàizhōu Wénmiào); the Bianjing Drum Tower (t 邊靖樓, s 边靖楼, Biānjìnglóu); the Yang Ancestral Hall (t 楊家祠堂, s 杨家祠堂, Yángjiā Cítáng); the Zhao Gao National Forest Park (t 趙杲觀國家級森林公園, s 赵杲观国家级森林公园, Zhào Gǎo Guān Guójiā-Jí Sēnlín Gōngyuán); and the Dongduanjing Archeological Site (t 東段景遺址, s 东段景遗址, Dōngduànjǐng Yízhǐ).

[16] Buses connecting the county seat Daixian to the East Passenger Station of the provincial capital Taiyuan run about every 30 minutes.