"Lijiang - Vintage China" Lijiang by konniemario

Lijiang used to be an old town tucked away from the rest of the world. Not until an Austrian anthropologist who discovered it in the 90's. Since then, many Westerners come and visit the town to enjoy the rustic old town and the surrounding sceneries. As most of them know, this is near where Shangrila is. It also became quite well known in 1990 when a huge earthquake shook the city. After that, most local Chinese knew about the town and came flocking to it afterwards. Now, Lijiang is one of the favorite tourist destination in China, due to its old town, snow-capped mountains and other famous sceneries around like Shangrila, Lugu Lake, etc. Don't try to visit Lijiang around China's national holidays like Chinese New Year, May Labor holidays and October national holidays as I'm sure it's going to be jampacked. We were there in early August and got surrounded by lots of Chinese tourists from all parts of China.

burning of ghost money during sunrise

Lijiang old town is more than 800 years old. It used to be called the 'city without walls'. Reason being is that one of the most prominent founders of the town has the surname "Mu" (wood) and historical data stated that he purposedly didn't build any wall around the town because if he did, then the Chinese character "kun" (trapped) will emerge. Another interesting thing you see in Lijiang houses are the low ceiling on the entry of the door. Legend say that they are build that way so that whenever people enter a house, they have to bow to the wood, again bowing to the "Mu".

The town has narrow streets that seem to be winding everywhere. It's fun to explore them and although you have the risk of getting lost, it's actually one of the best way to discover lots shops or cafes where you can unwind and daydream.

We've discovered that the people who visit Lijiang only belong to two groups...people who join tour groups (look for those little flags) or the ones who are there just to relax and unwind. For the latter, you can see them in the cafes writing or scribbling because indeed while you're there, you'd feel that you're transported back in time, with the old houses, cobble-stone lanes, and old bridges over the canals.

canals and bridges

Lijiang could be a good base to explore its neighboring towns or tourist spots which could include the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, Lasi Hai, Shu He old town, Shangrila, Lugu lake, etc. The entire Lijiang town is around 2000 meters above sea level and some of the places mentioned here are even higher. So take it slowly when you visit Lijiang and surroundings because oxygen content is lesser than what we normally are used to. Besides, you should take time to enjoy the surroundings because it's pretty worthwhile, too.

• Pros:clean air, near nature, nice place to just relax
• Cons:too many tourists, food is not that great, beware of high altitude