Lijiang Old Town

Lijiang OldTown

Criss-crossed by canals, bridges and a maze of narrow streets, the old town is not to be missed. The towns web of artery-like canals once supplied the city's drinking water.

There are several wells and pools still in use around town. You can see one of the original wells opposite the Well Bistro. The focus of the old town is the Old Market Square, full of Naxi women in traditional dress. Parrots and plants adorn the front porches, women sell griddle cakes in front of teahouses and players energetically slam down the trumps on a card table in the middle of the street.

Unfortunately the Naxi traders are slowly being pushed out by tacky souvenir stalls. 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 that can be reached on the path leading past the radio mast. Sit on the slope in the early morning and watch the mist clearing as the lod town comes to life.

Now acting as sentinel of sorts for the town is Looking at the Past Pavillion, raised for tourists 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-growth forests. A path (with English signs) leads from the Old Market Square.