Old Town of Lijiang - Dayan
As home to Naxi minority, Lijiang consists of two towns. The New Town and the Old Town are divided geographically by Lion Hill. The New Town was developed during the latter part of the 20th century and is rather like a boring urban sprawl. The Old Town was founded some 800 years ago in late Song Dynasty and is an architectural gem (although it looks like a huge ink stone, from which image it derived its name--Dayan or Big Ink Stone). The Old Town suffered serious damage in a 1996 earthquake, but is undergoing serious restoration with original Naxi style. With Sifang Street at the core of Dayan, the town spreads out in all directions and is crisscrossed by a labyrinth of streets and alleyways. Most of the dwellings are brick-and-tile structures with carved doors and painted windows. Although Dayan is a compact community, there is always space for a garden. Traffic across the rivers along the street is facilitated by a large number of tiny stone bridges. In 1997 it was included on the World Heritage List by UNESCO.


Jade Dragon Snow Mountain
About ten miles north of Lijiang town is Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. Its landscape includes one of the southernmost glaciers in the modern world. Shanzidou, the main peak of the mountain at 18,360 feet above sea level, looks like a gigantic dragon clad in white snow all year round. Access to the mountain is provided by a chairlift to Dragon Spruce Meadow, halfway to the glacier peak.

Jade Dragon Snow Mountain is a sanctuary for rare animals and wild plants. In fact, one fourth of all plant species in China can be found here and 20 primeval forest communities shelter a big family of 400 types of trees and 30 kinds of animals which are protected by the state. These species live in different temperature levels and create different kinds of views of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. The 13 peaks, which have the altitudes of at least 4,000 meters, are covered by snow all year round; the mountain is called the ¡Natural Glacier Museum¡ for it has all types of glacier.

The Naxi Orchestra
While in Lijiang, make sure you catch the incredible Naxi Orchestra, so perfectly fitting the mood of the old town that it's hard to imagine them existing anywhere else. Using antique instruments, the performers are the last musicians in China playing Song tunes derived from the Taoist Dong Jin scriptures. The tradition apparently arrived in Lijiang with Kublai Khan, who donated half his court orchestra to the town after the Naxi chieftain helped his army cross the Yangtze River, and it remained in vogue here long after being forgotten in the rest of the country. Banned from performing for many years, the orchestra regrouped after the Cultural Revolution under the guidance of Xuan Ke, though the deaths of many older musicians have reduced their repertoire from over 60 to just 23 pieces.

Baisha Village and Mural

Baisha is a small village on the plain 10km north of Lijiang in the vicinity of several old temples. Before Kublai Khan made it part of his Yuan Empire (1271-1368), it was the capital of the Naxi Kingdom. In the Dabaoji Hall first built in 15^th century, the frescos are regarded by experts the best example depicting variously Taoist plus Chinese and Tibetan Buddhist themes. Another star attraction of Baisha is renowned Doctor Ho, who looks like the stereotype of a Taoist physician, inviting tourists to drink one of his cure-all herb tea.



Black Dragon Pool Park (Heilingtan Park)

Located on the northern edge of town, the park is green with grass and shaded by swaying willow trees, including some fit-in buildings like Five-Phoenix Tower, Moon-Embracing Pavilion and Shuocui Bridge. The Dongba Research Institute and a small museum constitute a renovated complex on the hillside offering Dongba scrolls and artifacts on display.

Dongba culture originated in the primary polytheistic Naxi religion, which incorporated elements of Lamaism, Buddhism, and Daoism. The Dongba scriptures comprise a series of more than 20,000 books done in Naxi pictographs along with more than 2,000 hieroglyphs--a form of writing invented by the Naxi people more than 1,000 years ago. The name itself, Dongba, is the name applied to the shamans of this culture--wise men who combined the functions of witch doctor, scholar, craftsman, and artist.

Tiger Leaping Gorge

After making its first turn at Shigu the mighty Yangtze River surges between the Haba Mountains and the Jade Dragon Snow Mountian, through what is one of the deepest gorges in the world. The entire gorge extends about 10 miles (16km), and from the water of the river to the mountaintop is a giddy 3900. Some parts of it are so narrow (90 feet) that it has been exaggeratedly considered that a tiger can leap over the whirling water.