lijiang ancient town

The ancient Town of Lijiang, a well-preserved old city of ethnic minorities with brilliant culture, is a central town of the Lijiang Autonomous County of the Naxi Ethnic Minority in Yunnan Province. Located on the plateau which is 2,400 meters (7,874 feet) above the sea level and embraced by the tree-covered Lion Mountain in the west, Elephant and Golden Row Mountains in the north, vast fertile fields in the southeast and crystal clear water running through, the old town looks like a big jade ink slab, therefore got the alias the Town of Big Ink Slab (Dayanzhen).

The town, screened by a mountain and facing a river, has no high walls. It is crisscrossed with ancient streets and lanes paved with colored stones and lined with residential houses of wood-stone-mud structure characterized by pretty, simple and practical styles. Small streams run parallel with Sifang Street in the center of the town and many other lanes. Green trees shade the houses and lanes. Willow tree branches hang low to caress the water in the streams. Residential houses either stand against a stream or have in the front small bridges across streams. In some cases, a stream runs right underneath houses.