Lijiang City is located in the northwest of Yunnan province with a total area of 20,600 square kilometers (about 7,954 square miles) and a population over 1,100,000. Form time unmemorable, Lijiang has been inhabited by many nationalities and has a long and glorious history. It was the political, economic and cultural center in the northwest of Yunnan province.
Lijiang has rich tour resources. The famous ones are Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, Laojun Mountain, Lijiang Old Town, Lugu Lake and Jinsha River. Moreover, this city is also famous for its Naxi culture and Mosuo custom.
Lijiang also abounds in water resources. The Jinsha River winds its way through this area for 447 km. Lijiang is also rich in flora and fauna with over 20 virgin forests, over 800 species of medical plant, almost 3000 species of seed plant, and over 20 species of animal.
The nicest aspect of life in Lijiang however, is the feeling that this was, and in many respects still is, a vitally important historical center. Although tourism has taken over the town, the effects of this have not really been too detrimental and the wealth of historical treasures here is incredibly rich. The locals are also very friendly, welcoming visitors to their city, allowing outsiders to get a unique glimpse of an intriguing and rich ancient culture.
Area Code: 0888
Zip Code: 674100
Location: Located in the northwest of Yunnan Province and the middle reaches of the Jinsha River, south of the Yulong (Jade Dragon) Snow Mountain.
Climate: A region of low latitudes, the county is under the influence of the South Asian monsoon. The average annual temperature is 12.6 °C without drastic changes. Warm days and cool days succeed each other alternately.
Area: 20603.74 square kilometers
Population: 1.2 million
Ethnic Groups: 23 nationalities including Han, Yi, Naxi, Lisu, Bai, Pumi, Dai, Miao and etc. the population of ethnic groups add up to 57.3% of the total population
dining
As a well-noted tourist city, Lijiang is especially worth of visiting. But as eating is concerned, Naxi cuisine plays a dominating role in the dining of Lijiang city. In recent years, with the development of tourism industry, the Lijiang city, on the basis of maintaining its local dining features, have introduced many cuisines of other culinary schools.
Lijiang’s food is characterized by refreshing tasting dishes and mellow soups. It contains cuisine from various nationalities. The most famous are as follows:
Yak Hotpot (Maoniu Huoguo)
In addition to the beautiful scenery, the Yak Hotpot will inevitably attract all your attention during your stay in Lijiang. It is good enough to let you be in love with Lijiang thoroughly. Yak live on the unpolluted plateau. It lives on grass, the meat quality is delicate. Trying Yak Hotpot is the best method for Han people to taste the delicacy of yak.
Rice-Filled Sausage (Miguanchang)
This is a traditional food of the Naxi people. When butchering a pig for the New Year, almost every Naxi household will make it. Rice is mixed with pig's blood and various spices, and is then stuffed into the pig's intestine. It is cut into slices and then deep-fried or steamed. It nourishes the blood and vital energy in the body.
Jidou Bean Jelly (Jidou Liangfen)
The Jidou is a kind of bean, produced in the high elevation region, and the yield is very low. In Lijiang, bean jelly made from Jidou can be eaten either hot or cold. In summer it is very refreshing to have a bowl of cold bean jelly seasoned with red pepper, pepper, scallion and vinegar. In winter people like to eat it hot. A bowl of hot bean jelly will warm your body and heart on a chilly day.
Fat Pork (Zhubiaorou)
If you are lucky enough to be invited into a Mosuo family, you may have a chance to taste pig’s fat, the most famous food of Mosuo people. Preserved and made in a special local way, it is nutritious and tastes neither fatty nor greasy. It can keep for a long time. Besides treating guests with it, the Mosuo and Pumi people also send it as a gift.
Salted sour Fish (Yansuanyu)
It is a traditional delicacy of the Mosuo and Naxi people to treat guests and send as gifts. It takes the fish from Lugu Lake weighing 250 grams as the material. Whenever a fisherman catches such a fish, he will place it in a special wooden basin and bring it home. The housewife will clean the fish and take out the internal organs quickly and put the still struggling fish in an earthen jar, and season it with salt, pepper and cooking wine. When the jar is filled, it will be sealed and kept in a cool place. After about 10 days, the jar will be unsealed. The salted fish can then be eaten cooked or raw.
shopping
For several hundred years, Sifang Street has been the major market in Lijiang ancient city. Today, it is still the best place for buying exotic local specialties. The small streets in the ancient town are also clustered with all kinds of shops and boutiques where you can pick up some interesting knickknacks.
Most of the shops here are tourist-oriented and sell nice art crafts as souvenirs. Mr. Kun's Art House, the Brother's Art Space and the Juyiyuan Gallery are particularly interesting. Other famous shops include the Bunong's bells, the Dongba Herbal Medicine Shop and the Grass Root House which is famous for its original pictograph inscribed T-shirts.
Burned wood carvings of Lijiang are one of the popular local specialties. Quality varies greatly by the individual artist, and prices vary by shops. Some shops do custom etchings of your face (near photo-realism) with Lijiang in the background.
Yak horn combs are also popular, with some combs also carved from the yak hoof.
entertainment
The entertainment in Lijiang thrives with the development of a foreign-oriented tourism industry. The bars of western style first appeared in present Foreigners’ Street. The dazzling English signboard and exotic indoor flavor allure numerous foreign visitors. In Sifang Street, many bars and teahouses also appeared in the area along the river. Few differences could be found between these two since they all provide tea, beverage, food, music and etc. Generally, teahouses are favored by local youth while the bars are always liked by foreigners. The Sakura Cafe, the Well Bistro, and the Sun Room Cafe are all currently popular.
Besides, any visit to Lijiang should include a Naxi Ancient Music Concert. The Naxi Ancient Music Institute and Dongba Palace are all the best placed to experience Dongba performance. The Dongba Place is decorated with typical Naxi religious symbols and ornaments which added much to the solemn cultural atmosphere. It has a daily performance which begins at 7:30 and charges 25-40 RMB. Besides Naxi music, the Dongba palace hosts various cultural activities on an irregular base, these activities include Naxi Dancing and staged religious rites.
transportation
Airplane
The airport of Lijiang is located 28 kilometers south of Lijiang city. With a land area of 1,800 mu (one mu is about 667 square meters), and 2,500 meters of runway, it can rise and decline the various medium or small scaled airplanes including the Boeing 737 and its below. Its flight cities include Kunming, Guangzhou, Xishuangbanna, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Guiyang, Nanning, Chongqing, Zhuhai, Xiamen, Hong Kong, etc. Now, it is one of the busiest airports in Yunnan province.
A taxi to the airport takes about 40 minutes and costs about 75-80 RMB.
Ticket could be purchased in the ticketing office opposite the Senglong Hotel on Nanguojing Road.
Bus:
They are many passenger stations in Lijiang. Lijiang Passenger Transport Service center is the biggest bus station in this city. It is located at the intersection of Minzhu Road and Changshui Road. No. 1 bus could reach there.
This station runs both express buses and normal buses.
Express buses runs to Kunming at 08:20, 09:20, 10:20 and 12:00. The fare is RMB151 and the trip takes 8 Hours. Buses to Xiaguan /Dali are scheduled for 14:30 18:30 11:30am. The trip costs RMB50.5 and takes 3 hours.
Normal buses to Kunming are usually night sleepers, there are several of these and the trip costs RMB115 and takes 10 Hours.
Guluwan Passenger Station is located on the northern end of Xindajie. . From here buses run to Zhongdian, Daju, Xiaguan, Qiaotou and Shigu. Buses to Dali and Kunming can also be found here.
There is an express bus station (for fast buses only) on Shangri-la Avenue. Now, it only has buses to Kunming.
Public Bus: All buses are 0.8 RMB, some have ticket collectors, others are help-yourself ticketing.
Taxi
Smaller sized cars are 6 RMB for the first 3 km and 1.6 per km thereafter. Bigger cars like Santana are 7 RMB for the first 3 km and 1.8 per km thereafter. Although few drivers use the meter during the day, most journeys should not cost more than 6 RMB. The night pricing policy is a bit strange, after 10pm, meters are not used at all, and the fare is always 10 RMB. It should cost about 300 RMB to hire a taxi for the entire day.
highlights
Dongba Culture
Dongba culture denotes the old traditional culture of the Naxi minority group. In Naxi dialect, "Dongba" means wise person. These people are traditionally knowledgeable about astronomy, geography, agriculture, medicine and etiquette and are also very good at folk song and dance.
Dongba characters are the most well-preserved hieroglyphic characters in the word. Each line, symbol and drawing of the 1300 characters has a specific meaning and experts now estimate that these are the only existing hieroglyphic characters in the world. Dongba scriptures cover a wide range of subjects, ranging from religion, philosophy, literature, art, astronomy and history to folk costume, music, dance and painting.
The best place to get a close look at Dongba culture is at the Dongba Culture Museum.
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