Lijang

Old Lijang is right out of a storybook for a village in ornamental ancient China. A maze of smooth bluestone streets, lined with sturdy timber frame homes & shops that have intricately carved facades of dragons, flowers, and wildlife. At night, the entire Old Town is illuminated with red paper lanterns hanging from store fronts and orange lights strung beneath the overhangs. Clear streams full of orange and white goldfish flow under arched stone bridges and wood planks that serve as the entry to many restaurants. The town looks too picture perfect and in a sense, it is.

Old Lijang, a small section of a city of 3 million, has developed rapidly in the past few years as a result of tourism, and is likely unrecognizable from its former self. UNESCO identified this section of the city as a Heritage site following an earth quake in 1996. While, a large section of the "new" city crumbled during that quake, the majority of "old" Lijang remained unscathed. The old town's structures and intricate water system were originally built by the ethnic minority in the area, the Naxi, and the construction's resilience provided the people and town with deserved recognition . Since that time the old town's significant expansion has been almost entirely dedicated to tourism.

However authentic the "old town" may be, today's version has an unquestionable allure and character that is all its own.

Restaurants & waterways of Old Lijang

Day bike trip along farmlands outside of town

Baisha, a lunchstop Naxi village visited during bike excursion.

Overlooking the old town

The local Lijang Market, several blocks of vegatable, spice, clothing and raw meat...carved dog vendors.

Christy the Giant

Bargaining for Oranges

Old Lijang at night