Lijiang Old Town丽江古城

Lijiang Old Town — called Dayan in Naxi, roughly 'a great jade inkstone' for its shape — was inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage list in 1997, as part of a single listing that also covers Baisha's old residences and neighboring Shuhe. The hereditary Naxi Mu chieftains ruled here for more than 470 years, giving rise to the local saying 'the Forbidden City in the north, the Mu Palace in the south.' Dongba script — often called 'the world's only living pictographic writing system' — is still alive in Naxi religious texts and daily life, and its ancient manuscripts were added to UNESCO's Memory of the World Register in 2003. Sitting at roughly 2,400m, the old town enjoys spring-like weather year-round, though it takes a day or two to adjust to the altitude. Lijiang is often held up as a world-class long-stay benchmark — but commercialization is the other side of the coin: Western-style cafés and silver shops now share the same lanes as old Naxi houses, and the silver-jewelry scams and unlicensed taxi touts travelers complain about are real. Worth coming for, and worth a little street smarts.

Nature

A plateau old town at the foot of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain

• Jade Dragon Snow Mountain's main peak, Shanzidou, rises to 5,596m and stays snow-capped year-round — the closest temperate maritime glacier to the equator in Eurasia
• Tiger Leaping Gorge and Laojun Mountain ring the area
• The old town itself sits at ~2,400m — expect a day or two of altitude adjustment
• May–Oct is the wet season, bringing over 85% of annual rainfall — carry an umbrella

Culture & Heritage

A meeting point for a dozen resident ethnic groups

• A dozen resident ethnic groups live here alongside the Han majority, with the Naxi as the dominant local group
• Dongba script is the world's only living pictographic writing system, still used to write Naxi religious texts
• The Mu Palace was the seat of Naxi chieftains who governed the region for over 470 years across three dynasties
• One of the most important hub towns on the Tea Horse Road — Sifang Street was once its bustling commercial center

Everyday Life

Guesthouses and old Naxi homes, side by side, at an unhurried pace

• A typical 1-bed runs ~¥1,200/month, a 2-bed ~¥1,800/month
• The old-town maintenance fee is ¥50 per person, valid 365 days (new rule since Aug 2025)
• Commercialization runs high — Western-style cafés and bars share lanes with old Naxi houses
• Long-stayers more often recommend quieter Shuhe old town or the new town area outside Dayan