Location: Lijiang
Top Things to do in Lijiang
Top 10 Things to do in Lijiang, China
Lijiang is a beautifully preserved ancient Chinese town, infused with cultural flavor. Strolling along the 800-year-old bridges and waterways of the world-famous Old Town district is like stepping back in time. Don’t miss the views atop Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, and the Dongba cultural center of Jade Water Village.
Restaurants in Lijiang
1. Lugu Lake
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 824 reviews
Reviewed By KodoDrummer - Yekaterinburg, Russia
This beautiful, peaceful, alpine-like lake is shared by Ninglang County of Yunnan Province and the Yanyuan County of Sichuan province. The border between the two provinces goes through approximately the middle of the lake. There are many ancient villages in the area, and many of the Mosuo inhabitants live similar to the lives of their great-grandparents, but most have electricity now and a few modern day conveniences.
While driving our rental car on the road a few hundred metres from the lake, we stopped to photograph a Mosuo child, his mother, and grandmother, all carrying loads of branches on their backs. We got invited to their home, where they had meat hanging. The firewood and meat were in preparation for the Chinese New Year Festival to celebrate the Year of the Dog.
The lake waters are clear and calm. They appear to be a beautiful deep blue colour. In many places along the shore, we saw brightly coloured boats. The most common colours were red, blue, and orange.
On Lugu Lake Road, we stopped at a village market. Many of ladies were dressed in their elaborate festive Mosuo-Minority costumes. They likely wear them for the tourists or the upcoming Chinese New Year Festival.
At many locations on the lake, we saw boats anchored out in the water.
The southern section of Lugu Lake goes by the name Caohai Lake.
The Mosuo minority people of Lugu Lake are noted for their “walking marriages,”
where most couples do not marry or live together, and where the Mosuo women may have children fathered by different men.
Tourists have to pay a 100 rmb per person entrance fee to get into the Lugu Lake Scenic Area.
2. Lijiang Impressions Show
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 658 reviews
Reviewed By Chrisneoh69 - Singapore
Grand, stunning backdrop against the Jade Dragon Snow Mountains, with over 300 dancers, 20 dancers at. Typical Zhang Yimou production, very poetic, focused on the ethnic identity ( all the dancers, actors are not actually professionals but tribes people trained to perform) BUT a lot gets lost in translation. The english " subtitles" are over simplified and unless you understand mandarin, you will not be able to get anywhere near the full.meaning of the show. Still worth watching for the costumes and grandeur. For production value, I actually enjoyed the Chen Ku Ching show at Lijiang Romance Park the previous day more. Top tip. Hire a private driver to take you to Jade Snow Mountain, Lijiang Impressions, Baisha Village for RMB200/day and he can negotiate lower ticket prices for you. e.g. we paid RMB200 per adult for Impressions Lijiang vs RMB280 official price and our 2 kids went in for FREE vs half price for kids between 1.2 and 1.4 metres. You save and u don't have to be linked with 30 others in a tour bus.
3. Blue Moon Valley
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 159 reviews
Reviewed By peppercrab888 - Singapore, Singapore
After coming down from the mountain we walked through this scenic valley. Civilized/urbanized as in most major attractions in China but still worth seeing. Especially if you are going up the mountain as the fee for the mountain includes this valley and other things.
Our local guide took us through a seldom used very worn boardwalk through lightly forested area to the foot of the Mountains where the stream began. The stream continues and gets larger with afew scenic spots, the high light are the 2 interesting relatively low Waterfalls, though both look manmade.
Well worth visiting if nothing else for the photo ops with the mountain behind the reflective lake.
4. Black Dragon Pond Park
Overall Ratings
4 based on 884 reviews
Reviewed By Jennifer Q
I went with family of six.
Is more enjoyable to go with a tour guide.
I have rent the traditional costume there to take photo which is at very low cost. Only 30 yuan (around 4 usb) with one photo given.
Of course u can take photo with own camera too.
5. Mufu Palace
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 403 reviews
Reviewed By TheOExpress - Hong Kong, China
Apparently, this was almost entirely re-/newly built in the mid-90s after an earthquake. Who cares? It's still a beautiful, thoughtfully created space with ponds, plazas, pavilions and walkways that creep up to and then up Lion Rock. (Whereas I have seen temples and palaces in plenty of places that have not been renovated well or recently and they're usually extremely disappointing.) The exteriors of the buildings here are ornate, the interiors equally so (something often not seen in old residences) and the trees on the hill behind give everything an idyllic, picturesque quality.
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 4 reviews
Reviewed By Maddylion - Leeds, United Kingdom
The old town section is beautiful, with really good bars and restaurants to visit with good views. The street food here is also amazing and the ambience and music everywhere make it a must-see in my opinion!
7. Shuhe Ancient Town
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 1 reviews
Shuhe is a small village a couple miles to the north of Lijiang, in Yunnan province. It has similar old architecture as Lijiang with similar places to buy Naxi woven cloth and products from local artisans. A major advantage over Lijiang is that it is relatively unknown so the streets are much less crowded and food and lodging is cheaper. In addition to woven goods, there are stores selling wood carvings, Naxi style pottery and silver filigree jewelry. There was an elderly artist whose paintings were all done with the edge of his thumb producing quite astonishing images.
8. World Heritage Park, Lijiang
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 180 reviews
Reviewed By Marta W
By staying at the Zen Garden Hotel in "Old Town" we were able to visit all of the wonderful sights the World Heritage Site has to offer.
9. Square Street (Sifangjie)
Overall Ratings
4 based on 211 reviews
Reviewed By LG_Kay - Singapore, Singapore
This is the center of the Old Town. Surrounding the square are mainly restaurants and eateries. Nearby are many shops selling local snacks, foodstuff, handicrafts, trinkets, etc.
Tourists tend to gather here to rest as well as feel the buzz and life in this ancient town. When I was there, there was a group of elderly ladies dancing at the square centre. Enjoy!!!
10. White Water River
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 75 reviews
Reviewed By Tom Y - Las Vegas, Nevada
This nice looking terraced waterfall is not 100 natural. If you look closely, there are concrete patches that made it all perfect. This was confirmed by our local guide. The Terrace was fixed to make it look perfect It still look very nice with the Jade Tiger Snow mountain in the backdrop.
Nice place to visit.
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