Old Town of Lijiang (Dayan)
A Naxi old town built from the late Song into the early Yuan, standing unwalled for 800-plus years (legend holds that the Mu chieftains' surname means "wood", and a wall around it would form the character "trapped"—so walls were taboo); inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 1997
Visitor info
- Opening hours
- Open all day
- Ticket
- Old Town maintenance fee CNY 50 (receipt required to enter some sights)
Price is indicative — final quote on inquiry.
A Naxi old town built from the late Song into the early Yuan and standing without city walls for more than 800 years (legend holds that the Mu chieftains' surname means "wood", and a wall around it would form the character "trapped"—so walls were taboo); inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 1997. Sifang Street was the market square of the Ancient Tea Horse Road; three streams of the Yuhe water system weave through the town—"flowing water by every home, weeping willows by every door"—and the five-colored flagstone streets shimmer iridescent in the rainy season. Naxi Dongba culture preserves the world's only living pictographic script, and street-side Dongba paper workshops and Naxi ancient music can be seen up close. The old town is at its most authentic in the early morning and late at night; be prepared for dense crowds after midday.
Getting there: Lijiang Railway Station or Sanyi Airport, then bus / by taxi
Photos
More in Lijiang
- Mu Mansion (Mufu)
Residence of the Naxi Mu chieftains, built in the Ming Wanli reign and said to comprise 162 rooms: "in the north the Forbidden City, in the south the Mu Mansion"
- Wangu Tower
The old town's highest point atop Lion Hill, a five-story wooden viewing tower 33 m tall; overlooking the unbroken grey-tiled roofs of Dayan Old Town, with Jade Dragon Snow Mountain and the old town in one frame—the most classic Lijiang photo
- Grand Waterwheel · Black Dragon Pool Park (Yuquan Park)
A clear spring lake at the foot of Elephant Hill at the source of the Yu River, Deyue Pavilion and Five Phoenix Pavilion reflected in the water, Jade Dragon Snow Mountain framed across the lake—hailed as "the foremost view of the snow mountain" and the birthplace of Lijiang's postcards
- Five Phoenix Pavilion (Fayun Pavilion)
Built in the Ming Wanli reign, its three tiers of flying eaves spread like five phoenixes in flight; originally the main building of Fuguo Temple, later relocated to the shore of Black Dragon Pool
- Naxi Dongba Culture Museum
A museum dedicated to Dongba culture, with systematic displays of Dongba scriptures, ritual implements and sacrificial ceremonies; the Dongba pictographic-script documents are inscribed in UNESCO's Memory of the World Register
- Lijiang Romance Show
Songcheng Performing Arts' large-scale resident show in Lijiang; five acts—Naxi Genesis, the Ancient Tea Horse Road, the Women's Kingdom of Lugu Lake and more—weave an epic of northwestern Yunnan, packed with sound, light, effects and real-scene sets; multiple daily sessions make it a good evening pick