Lijiang 丽江

1

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

2

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"

3

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

4

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

5

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

6

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

7

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

8

A snow-mountain open-air show directed by Zhang Yimou: 500 local farmer performers take the stage at the Ganhaizi open-air theater at 3,100m, with Jade Dragon Snow Mountain as the backdrop; the horse caravans, drinking songs and Dongba ritual scenes are rustic and stirring

9

The southernmost modern maritime-glacier snow mountain in the Northern Hemisphere; its main peak, Shanzidou (5,596m), is the embodiment of Sanduo, the Naxi guardian god

10

White Water River flows down from the snow mountain, its travertine bed stringing together four lakes—Yuye Lake, Jingtan Lake, Blue Moon Lake and Tingtao Lake; the moon-blue snowmelt earned it the nickname 'Little Jiuzhaigou'

11

The earliest Naxi settlement and cradle of the Mu clan; the town is far more rustic than Dayan, with tie-dye workshops and cafes coexisting quietly

12

A well-preserved village on the Ancient Tea Horse Road; the Sifang Tingyin Square (Square of Listening to Sounds from All Directions) and Jiuding Longtan (Nine-Dragon Pool) are so tranquil you can linger half a day — 'quieter than Dayan Old Town' is the consensus among visitors

13

Yunnan's first provincial-level plateau wetland, where black-necked cranes and other migratory birds spend the winter

14

A perilous pass on the Ancient Tea Horse Road into Lijiang, where Guanyin Waterfall plunges through the gorge; canyon boardwalks and zipline rides link the sights — billed as 'the First Scenery of Lijiang'

15

'Pearl of the Plateau,' home of the Mosuo people's matrilineal society; the 'walking marriage' customs of this 'Kingdom of Women of the East' are an anthropological wonder

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The only Tibetan Buddhist monastery in the Mosuo region, built in the Gelug (Yellow Hat) school tradition and tied to the history of the Yongning Tusi chieftains

17

The narrowest point of the Jinsha River, where legend says a tiger leaped across via the Tiger Leaping Stone; the river drops more than 200 m, and the 'First Gorge of the Yangtze' crashes against its banks with thunderous rapids

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The Jinsha River, coming from the north, swings into a sharp V-shaped bend at Shigu Town and reverses to flow northeast—the marvel that 'the river turns back here' is unique along the entire Yangtze

19

Danxia red cliffs and Qiangui Mountain (Thousand-Turtle Mountain), where turtle-back rock formations look like ranks of turtles—the core landscape of Laojunshan National Park (the surrounding area is Yunnan snub-nosed monkey habitat)

20

An alpine lake wetland at 3,200 m, with seasonal flower seas carpeting the lakeshore from June to August; this ancient Naxi village was a post station on the Tea Horse Road