After visiting Dali, the next stop is Lijiang. It is about 500 km northwest of the capital city Kunming. If you go by air, it takes about an hour.
Old Town of Lijiang/ 丽江古城 – place to find romance
Old Town of Lijiang/ 丽江古城 also known as Dayan/大研, is a Unesco World Heritage Site. People in China all know where to find romance, it it the old town of Lijiang where the chances of finding romantic love is very high. All would rush here, especially those we have broken heart, came here to heal and hoping to find a new romance. Indeed, the old town of Lijiang is a romantic place.
It is very picturesque with plenty of old shops, selling interesting souvenirs, cafe, restaurants and guest house. Not forgetting the most iconic feature, the streams that run through the old town and it path is made from stones. Quite hard to walk in heels.
Most of the cafes here even has English name. Actually many of the bars here are opened by the westerner who came here and fall in love in this place and settle down here. Compare to Dali Old Town, the Lijiang Old town has more foreigners. So it is not surprising to hear live bands singing English songs.
Try spot the creative name in Lijiang Old Town
In Lijiang old town, you will notice many shops with interesting names. Such as this pancake shop – Li Li Bar. The shop is selling mostly pancakes and some soft drinks. Not really a bar as the shop don’t even have alcohol. There are even more, go spot them when you are in Lijiang old town.
Hiring a photographer in Lijiang
Hiring a photographer in Lijiang and get the professional to shoot for you is a very popular activities in Lijiang. It is very cheap also, the package include make up, choosing costumes. Once you are ready, the photographer will follow through Lijiang Old Town to shoot for you, with some professional lighting too!
Naxi minority – Check out their writing!
The minority who lives in Lijiang are Naxi people. Their language belongs to the Chinese-Tibetan group. They used a pictographic symbols for their writing called Dongba. Similar to Egyptian 🙂 Our tour guide, the man in the below picture is Naxi minority people.
What food to try?
Try Naxi Hot pot and if you dare enough, ask for fried dragonfly as entree 🙂
Jade Dragon Snow Mountain (玉龙雪山)
Jade Water Village/玉水寨
Stop over at Jade Water Village, on the way to Yulong Mountain. See the big stone is written in minority Naxi people language, Dongba pictographic symbols! Can you guess the meaning by looking at the symbols? The Jade Water Village is the cultural center for the Naxi people. The place is very near the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain Show.
The statue of a bird immortal sacred to the Naxi people
Want to know more about how Naxi people live, pray, eat and their religion & lifestyle? This is the place to learn about Naxi minority people 🙂
Open Air Theater in Jade Dragon Snow Mountain/Yulong Mountain : Impression Lijiang
The performance is directed by the world famous Director Zhang Yimou. He has another show called Impression Liu San Jie at Yangshuo in Guilin. Both show are terrific. The one in Lijiang run in the day time, the one at Yangshou Guilin, run at night. I was here in the summer so be prepared of the heat. You may get burn easily as you are at a very high altitude. Be careful of the local crowds! They are so excited and you may get pushed to somewhere.
The thing I love about the show is the natural surrounding, simply breathtaking to see the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain as the backdrop! If you are here in winter, you will see plenty of snow at the tip of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain.
The performers in the Yulong Mountain show are from the minority groups, Naxi, Yi and Bai. This show will show the music and dance of the minority people.
Trekking in Jade Dragon Snow Mountain
Below pose was shoot after inspired by the minority dance in Zhang Yimou show. 🙂 🙂
You will be surprised to see how blue the water is, so turquoise!
The weather is quite cold because I was at 4,000 m plus above sea level. It was summer when I visited in Yulong Mountain, but do remember to bring along a thick jacket.
We were tracking for more than an hour in Yulong mountain, checking on the river, the lakes and the mountains.
Top 5 things you should do in Lijiang are :
- Visit Lijiang Old Town – find a cafe, sit with a book and wait for your romance.
- If you are already taken, then go for plan B – hire a photographer in Lijiang old town and shoot couples or family photos in this thousands years old town!
- Learn few of the minority Naxi Symbol/language!
- Book Zhang Yimou Impression Lijiang Show at Jade Dragon Snow Mountain/玉龙雪山.
- Trekking in Jade Dragon Snow Mountain/玉龙雪山.