Lijiang City
- Lijiang is also the name of a river in the Guangxi province of China.
| Old Town of Lijiang* | |
|---|---|
| UNESCO World Heritage Site | |
 |
|
| State Party |  China |
| Type | Cultural |
| Criteria | ii, iv, v |
| Reference | 811 |
| Region† | Asia-Pacific |
| Inscription History | |
| Inscription | 1997 (21st Session) |
|
* Name as
inscribed on World Heritage List. † Region as classified by UNESCO. |
|
Lijiang City (Chinese: 丽江市; pinyin: Lìjiāngshì) refers to an administrative division comprising of urban and rural areas in northwestern Yunnan Province, People's Republic of China. Its population is 1,100,000. The famous "Lijiang old town" (as it is commonly known) is more correctly called the Dayan old town (大研古镇).
Layout
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Lijiang City is a fairly large geographical area that comprises one district (the old town district) and four counties, including the Liijang new town, Dayan old town, Shuhe old town (束河古镇), Baisha old town (白沙古镇), and parts of the Tiger Leaping Gorge. It is on the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau. Lijiang airport, located approximately 20 km south of the town, opened in 1994. One third of the town was destroyed by an earthquake in February 1996.
Old town
The Lijiang old town has a history going back more than 800 years and was once a confluence for trade along the old tea horse road. The Lijiang old town is famous for its orderly system of waterways and bridges. The old town of Lijiang differs from other ancient Chinese cities in architecture, history and the culture of its traditional residents the Naxi people, therefore people there are called 胖金哥 and 胖金妹 (male and female respectively).
Lijiang old town (including Dayan, Baisha and Shuhe) was registered on the UNESCO World Heritage List in December 4, 1997.[1] Since then, the local government has taken more responsibility for the development and protection of the old city. Lijiang's tourism also boomed, and travellers from around the world flooded in; although many locals fear that due to much of the development, the old town of Lijiang will lose its appeal.
Recently, the government has started to develop additional "old city" sections adjacent to the site of the original old city. This is to accommodate the large number of tourists, particularly Han Chinese, who walk the cobblestone streets (cars are not allowed in the old city), typically as part of package tours. Evenings in the old city can be particularly rowdy, not least due to the many outdoor bars, where boisterous groups of tourists try to "out sing" other groups.
Lijiang is also home to the Jade Water Village, a Dongba cultural centre and Lugu Lake, a lake which is a tourist attraction.
Culture
The Nakhi (Naxi) people perform dongjing music, an ancient form of ritual music, in Lijiang. Lijiang is also the site of the Lijiang Snow Mountain Music Festival (丽江雪山音乐节), which features Chinese rock music.
Gallery
 Lijiang's tiled roofs |
 A view of Lijiang's tiled roofs |
 A Lijiang back street |
 Lugu Lake, in the northeast of Lijiang Prefecture |
Footnotes
External links
- Lijiang travel guide from Wikitravel
- Picture gallery
- Another Lijiang photos gallery
- UN World Heritage Site Old Town of Lijiang
- Yunnan Government website on administrative divisions in Yunnan Province (Chinese)
| Prefecture-level divisions of Yunnan | |
|---|---|
| Prefecture-level cities: | Baoshan | Kunming | Lijiang | Lincang | Pu'er | Qujing | Yuxi | Zhaotong |
| Autonomous prefectures: | Chuxiong | Dali | Dehong |
Dêqên | Honghe | Nujiang |
Wenshan | |
| List of Yunnan County-level divisions | |
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