| Lijiang is a beautiful shining jewel on the Northwest Yunnan
Plateau neighbouring the southeast side of the Tibetan Plateau.
It covers an area of 20,600 square kilometers with a population
of 1,030 ,000. The whole district is comprised of four counties:
Lijiang, Yongsheng, Huaping and Ninglang. Lijiang's weather
is remarkably pleasant. Spring there lasts as long as 241 days
and there is no hot summer.
The Old Town of Dayan
Lijiang
 
Which is referred to by Western tourists as the "Oriental
Venice". The Old Town was founded some 800 years ago
and is an architectural gem. It survived serious damage in
a 1996 earthquake, and was undergoing serious restoration.
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. Traffic
across the rivers along the street is facilitated by a large
number of tiny stone bridges.
All these natural sceneries and these cultural treasures
of the minority peoples, such as Dongba Culture, Naxi Classical
Music, Baisha Murals and Mosuo Customs, have been continuously
drawing tourists from all over the world and have recently
vote Lijiang as one of the favorite destinations in China.
Jade Dragon Snow Mountain
(Yulong Xueshan)
Harboring a string of marine glaciers, the only one of its
kind in the southern end of the Northern Hemisphere, the mountain
range, with snow accumulated over ages, extends unbroken for
35 kilometers, forming the "Jade Dragon" dancing
in clouds.
Tiger Leaping Gorge
(Hutiaoxia)
Tiger Leaping Gorge is the world-famous grand canyon.
|
