Li Jiang

Old Town

Criss-crossed by canals and a maze of narrow streets, the old town is not to be missed. Arrive by mid-morning to see the market square full of Naxi women cakes in traditional dress. Parrots and plants adorn the front porches, women sell griddle cakes in front of teahouses, men walk past with hunting falcons proudly keeping balance on their gloved fists, and players energetically slam down the trumps on a card table in the middle of the street. Embroidery and lengths of cloth are sold in shops around the market.For all the controversy regarding what to preserve in the town and how, for now it is extraordinary.  

Above the old town is a beautiful park which can be reached on the path leading past the radio antenna. Sit on the slope in the early morning and watch the mist clearing as the old town comes to life.  

Now acting as sentinel of sorts for the town is the Wanggu Lou, a pagoda raised at a cost of over one million yuan. It’s famed for a unique design using dozens of four-storey pillars, but unfortunately these were culled from northern Yunnan old-forests.

Black Dragon Pool Park

Heilongtan Gongyuan is on the northern edge of town. Apart from strolling around the pool-its view of Yulong Xueshan is the most obligatory photo shoot in south-west China- you can visit the Dongba Wenhua Yanjiushi (Dongba Research Institute ), which is part of a renovated complex on the hillside. The Dongba Bowuguan (Dongba Museum) display Dongba scrolls and artefacts.

At the far side of the pool are renovated building used for an art exhibition, a pavilion with its own bridge across the water and the Wufeng Si (Five Pheonix Temple) which dates from the Ming dynasty.

Baisha

Baisha is a small village on the plain north of Lijiang in the vicinity of several old temples (see the earlier Frescoes section) and is likely day trip number one for travelers. Before Kublai Khan made it part of his Yuan empire (1271-1368) it was the capital of the Naxi kingdom. It’s hardly changed since then and though at first sight it seems nothing more than a desultory collection of dirt roads and stone houses, it offers a close-up glimpse of Naxi culture for those willing to spend some time nosing around.

The star attraction of Baisha will probably hail you in the street. Dr Ho (or He) looks like the stereotype of a Taoist physician and there’s a sign outside his door: ‘The Clinic of Chinese Herbs in Jade Dragon Mountain of Lijiang’.

Jade Dragon Snow Mountain

Soaring 5500m above Lijiang is Yulong Xueshan, also known as Mt Satseto. Thirty-five kilometers north of Lijiang, the peak was climbed for the first time in 1963 by a research team from Beijing.

A chairlift has recently opened which bring you about halfway up a nearby slope, from where you can rent horses which will take to a large meadow. You can choose to keep going up to a stunning 4506m along the second chairlift segment, completed in 1999 after nearly four years of construction. It’s now the highest in Asia and you’ll believe it when you pass by the glaciers.

At the meadow, if the weather is clear, you will be greeted by a stunning view of Yulong Xueshan. This meadow is the spot of a legendary couple’s suicide pact.

Tiger Leaping Gorge

After making its first turn at Shigu the mighty Chang Jiang (at this point known as the Jinsha River) surges between the mountains of the Haba Shan and the Yulong Xueshan, through what is one of the deepest gorge measures 16km, and from the waters of the Chang Jiang  to the mountaintops is a giddy 3900m.