Ever heard of Lijiang?
It’s an old town in northern Yunnan, in what was once the Dali Kingdom, the fought-over hinterland between China and Tibet.
Curved eave buildings topple up narrow alleys towards a Qing dynasty pagoda.
Willows and flowers drip over its narrow canals, crossed by slender bridges. There’s a reason they call it “the Venice of the Orient”.
Old shophouses cater for the tourist trade — as always in mainland China, more Chinese than Western.
There are little waterwheels in the alleyways but the big one marks where the old town ends and the new city begins, a cusp between the past and the future.
Lijiang is full of flowers, all year round. We’re here in autumn, so the flowers are what the Chinese call chrysanthemums.
In winter there are bonsai plum trees, in summer they bring out azaleas and in spring the town is full of orchids. And I do mean full.
Chocolate box? Sure.
Disneyfied? A little.
I mean, you can even play with eagles in the town square.
We’ve seen some amazing places since we left. The painted lakes of Flores, Indonesia, the cave houses of Coober Pedy in Outback Australia, the underground river in Central Laos and the karst islets of Halong Bay, Vietnam. But this is still the prettiest place I’ve ever been.
Our thanks to China Odyssey Tours for hosting us in Lijiang.
This place is phenomenal! I’m so bummed we won’t have time to see more of China when there in two weeks, but as it is, we only have three days each in Hong Kong and Shanghai, which isn’t nearly enough time!
One thing I’m learning is that with 5000-ish years of recorded history, 1.3 billion people, a gadzillion ecosystems — from Everest to desert via tundra and tropical karst — and a ton of cities, several much bigger than NY or London, you don’t get to see much of China HOWEVER long you’re here. What are your dates, though? Would be great if we overlapped…
WOW!! this is so incredibly beautiful. i want to go!
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You should go. It really does look like this. Albeit with rather more people…
I was there just this past summer! Too bad you don’t have photos of the club district at night…very surreal, ethnic and rave fusion.
Almost worth leaving the nipper home to take a look at, maybe?… I guess it makes a change from KTV bars.
We had been there 2 weeks ago and as soon as we arrived we started to make our escape plans. Regarding the old town of Lijiang it might be one of the most artificial places in China. Quite funny thing is people are so much comparing Lijiang with Dali (not Xiaguan), both is indeed crowded with local and foreign tourists but in Dali local houses are more spread inside the old town that gives more atmosphere of everybody are looking to their own business, however in Lijiang everybody is rather just walking either to buy something or to eat something. On the other hand seeing the same type of shop every ten meters, selling the same things mostly fabricated Chinese handicraps and hearing the same Chinese song (da li da li da) playing almost in every shop can be tiring.
Venice of the Orient term is also weird while there are so many awesome Chinese water villages which not like Lijiang, you can travel through the canals by boat. Of course most of the “Golden tourists” who likes to have photos with birds in capture are not aware of these places because neither guide books nor the tour companies mention about them.
I’d agree that Lijiang feels artificial — which is why I described it as Disneyfied — thanks to the interrelated factors of its UNESCO listing and the volume of tourists and tourist businesses. However, I don’t think it is as artificial as you appear to think it is.
The “Venice of the Orient” caption (a widely used term) dates back to before the 1940s, when Peter Goullart used it in his book about the town, and refers not only to the canals, flowers and architecture (yes, the flowers were there before the tourists), but to Lijiang’s position on the trade route into Tibet and India (like Venice, it’s a merchant city). Further, precisely because of the UNESCO listing, which has survived the damage caused by the earthquake, the architecture is, despite its chocolate-box feel, pretty damn authentic – although the store fronts which once held traders on the trade route now hold tourist shops.
And, yes, I’m aware that there are plenty of water villages in China. We went to this one because we started in Kunming and wanted to see Tiger Leaping Gorge and Jade Dragon Snow Mountain.
I don’t know what you mean by a “Golden tourist”. Do you mean a ten-year-old boy who’d like to have his photo taken with a hunting eagle? (Again, the domestication of birds for hunting has a long, long history in the region, both among the Naxi and the people of the fishing villages around Dalian, it’s now moved, with the times, towards the tourist dollar.) Do I want my photo taken with an eagle or sitting on a yak? No, because I’m not ten. Am I going to stop my son doing that because it doesn’t meet a defined idea of an authentically Chinese experience? Umm, no.
Great photos of a beautiful city!! Would love to visit one day!
DTravelsRound recently posted..Escape of the Week: The Dead Sea
I thoroughly recommend it. It is insanely beautiful. The new town — which is a small but not poor Chinese city — is also well worth looking around, because you can do it on foot quite easily and there’s a lot of street life…
Even if some of your readers think it’s artficial, I think it’s awesome!
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Thank you! It’s not a diamond in the rough, by any means, but it’s genuinely stunning. Are you going to do China on this trip?
Definitely looks like Disneyland without the commercial hooks! Awesome!!
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It’s lovely. Particularly when it’s not at the busiest times of year. (To be avoided on Chinese holidays!)
nice photo story and what an awesome experience to be traveling around like that with your son! Lijiang definitely has plenty of tourist trappings but it is still a gorgeous place… spend some time getting lost (not difficult in Lijiang by any means!) and exploring the backstreets and you’ll be rewarded with charming cobbled lanes and the remnants of authentic life.
Enjoy!
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How beautiful! I can’t wait to go.
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I really recommend it. Avoid Chinese holidays, as it’s heaving (it draws a lot of tourists anyway) — and don’t miss Tiger Leaping Gorge while you’re there…
Wow. All of these photographs are amazing, wonderful shots.
There is something about that second pic though, where the plants hang down and slightly reflect off the water, that is by far my favorite photo of this bunch.
Thanks for sharing these!
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Thanks, Sean!
I had never heard of the place before I went there in 2005 but I absolutely fell in love with it. Great scenery, great food and great people. I would highly recommend it.
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