What would make the Kingdom of Dali's survival possible? I trust that no Mongol campaigns in Far East Asia would be helpful, but wouldn't a non-Yuan China have expansionist drives as well?
If it's the case, would a Chinese suzerainty be sufficient to counter these, as for Vietnam? Mongols did that, but it backfired when Ming took over.
If Dali Kingdom manages to lives on, would a long history of independence for this region (since Nanzhao's times) be enough to forge a cultural unity on Bais?
A Vietnam-like independence would be enough to provides important changes enough to the chinese western expansion in Tibet or Turkestan?
Other thoughts?