Lijiang: what to see, where to stay and how to get around
Lijiang, at about two thousand four hundred metres in the mountains of Yunnan, is the town of the Naxi people, a market on the old Tea Horse Road that carried tea to Tibet and brought horses back. Its old town of canals and wooden houses became a World Heritage site in 1997. It is high: walk slowly the first day. China requires a visa; check the rules for Israeli passports. Half a day; come early or late to avoid the crowds.
A short history of Lijiang
Lijiang is the city of the Naxi, a people with their own pictographic script, Dongba, one of the last pictographic scripts still in use. The old town, Dayan, grew up about 800 years ago as a station on the "Tea Horse Road" that led from Yunnan to Tibet. For centuries it was ruled by the Mu family, who received their position from the emperors of the Ming dynasty. In February 1996 a strong earthquake struck the area, and the old wooden houses withstood it better than the new buildings. In 1997 the old town was declared a World Heritage Site, and since then it has been one of the most visited destinations in China.
The ten best sights in Lijiang
1Mu MansionThe palace of the Naxi chieftains
2Wangu TowerA wooden tower on Lion Hill
3Naxi Music AcademyAncient ritual music in the evenings
4Black Dragon PoolThe snow mountain over the water
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5Shuhe
A quieter old town on the Tea Horse Road
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6Baisha
The old Naxi capital and its Ming murals
7Yufeng TempleA camellia of ten thousand flowers
8Yuhu VillageThe house of the explorer Joseph Rock
9Jade Dragon Snow MountainA peak of over five and a half thousand metres
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10Glacier Park Cable Car
Up to about 4,500 metres; book ahead
Scan with your phone camera to open the map there
What is an audio walk?
Tours in Lijiang →A guide in your headphones: open the walk on our site, walk from stop to stop, and at each one your phone tells its story. No guide, no group, and free. This is the first walk in Lijiang:
Free walking tours in Lijiang
The Naxi old town
Lijiang, at about two thousand four hundred metres in the mountains of Yunnan, is the town of the Naxi people, a market on the old Tea Horse Road that carried tea to Tibet and brought horses back. Its old town of canals and wooden houses became a World Heritage site in 1997. It is high: walk slowly the first day. China requires a visa; check the rules for Israeli passports. Half a day; come early or late to avoid the crowds.
- Dayan Old Town · An old town of some eight hundred years with no city wall. The story goes that the ruling family was named Mu, written 木, and enclosing that character in a square wall would make 困, which means trapped. Water from the Jade Spring runs in canals beside every lane.
- Mu Mansion · The palace of the Mu chieftains, who ruled the Naxi for some four and a half centuries on behalf of the Chinese emperors. In 1996 an earthquake destroyed much of the new town, but most of the old wooden houses stood; the mansion was rebuilt afterwards.
- Wangu Tower · A wooden tower over thirty metres high built in 2000 on Lion Hill above the old town, from which the sea of grey-tiled roofs spreads out below with the snow mountain behind.
- Naxi Music Academy · Every evening an orchestra plays Taoist ritual music said to date back to the Tang and Song dynasties, preserved by the Naxi after it was lost elsewhere in China; for decades many of the players were in their eighties and nineties.
- Black Dragon Pool · A spring-fed pool with a marble bridge and a pavilion, in which, on clear mornings, the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain is reflected — the classic view of Lijiang. In the park, Dongba priests show the Naxi pictographic script, often called the last living picture writing in the world.
- Shuhe · North of town, an older market village on the Tea Horse Road, where caravans stopped to trade, with its own square, stream and leather workshops, quieter than the main old town.
The snow mountain
North of Lijiang rises Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, sacred to the Naxi. A full day; the cable car climbs to about four and a half thousand metres, so go slowly and carry warm clothes.
- Baisha · The capital of the Naxi before Lijiang, a village of earthen houses whose temples hold murals of the fifteenth to seventeenth centuries that mix Buddhist, Taoist and Tibetan painting on the same walls.
- Yufeng Temple · A small Tibetan Buddhist temple on the slopes, famous for a camellia tree some five hundred years old, trained over a trellis, said to bear around ten thousand flowers in spring.
- Yuhu Village · A village of stone houses at the foot of the mountain, where the Austrian-American botanist Joseph Rock lived from the 1920s until 1949, writing about the Naxi for National Geographic; his house is a small museum.
- Glacier Park Cable Car · A cable car to a boardwalk at about four thousand five hundred metres below the glaciers. The mountain’s summit, about five thousand six hundred metres, was first climbed only in 1987.
- Blue Moon Valley · A chain of pools and small falls fed by meltwater, coloured an unreal turquoise by minerals from the glaciers.
- Yak Meadow · A high grassland reached by chairlift, where yaks graze under the eastern face of the mountain, less crowded than the glacier.
Tiger Leaping Gorge
Two hours north of Lijiang the Jinsha, the upper Yangtze, forces its way between two snow mountains in one of the deepest gorges on earth. Most hike the High Trail over two days, staying in guesthouses; check for rockfalls in the rainy season.
- Tiger Leaping Gorge · The river runs some three thousand nine hundred metres below the summits on either side. At its narrowest point a rock stands in the rapids, from which, legend says, a tiger escaping a hunter leapt across the gorge.
- Tina’s Guesthouse · One of the guesthouses at the end of the High Trail in the Middle Gorge, from which steep paths and ladders lead down to the river — some stretches with a small fee collected by the village families who built them.
- Lashi Lake · Back near Lijiang, a high wetland where migrating birds winter, crossed by horse trails that follow a stretch of the old Tea Horse Road.
- Wenbi Mountain · The writing-brush mountain, a pointed peak south of town named for its shape, with a temple on its slopes and a view back over the Lijiang basin.
- Lijiang Station · The railway reached Lijiang only in 2009; the line to Shangri-La, further up the Tea Horse Road, opened in 2023.
- Jade Dragon Snow Mountain · Seen from the road home, the mountain of thirteen peaks is the home of Sanduo, the protector god of the Naxi. In Naxi tradition its high meadows were also the Third Kingdom of the Jade Dragon, a paradise of eternal youth — and for generations, under forced marriages, young couples went there to die together.
Getting to Lijiang and getting around
- Lijiang Airport · About forty minutes south of town
- Lijiang Station · Trains to Dali and Kunming
Cheap eats in Lijiang
Lijiang eats Naxi and Yunnan food: Lijiang baba, a layered flatbread fried in lard, sweet or salty; jidou liangfen, a jelly of chickpea flour served cold in summer or fried in winter; yak meat in hotpot; and Yunnan ham. A baba costs about a dollar.
- Dayan Old Town · Baba stalls and yak hotpot
- Shuhe · Cafés by the stream
- Black Dragon Pool · Snacks by the park gate
Museums in Lijiang
The culture of the Naxi lives in its palace, murals, music and script.
- Mu Mansion · The chieftains’ palace
- Baisha · The murals
- Yuhu Village · Joseph Rock’s house
Nature and day trips near Lijiang
Snow peaks, glaciers, a mighty gorge and high lakes.
- Tiger Leaping Gorge · The High Trail
- Blue Moon Valley · Turquoise pools
- Lashi Lake · Birds and horses
Things to do in Lijiang with kids
With children: a horse ride by the lake, a cable car into the snow, and yaks on a meadow.
- Lashi Lake · Horse rides
- Yak Meadow · The yaks
- Black Dragon Pool · Fish and the bridge
Holy places in Lijiang
The Naxi follow Dongba, their own nature religion, alongside Tibetan Buddhism and Taoism.
- Yufeng Temple · The camellia
- Baisha · Three faiths on one wall
Nightlife in Lijiang
Lijiang’s nights are the singing bars of the old town, lantern-lit canals and the Naxi orchestra.
- Dayan Old Town · The bar street
- Naxi Music Academy · The orchestra
Frequently asked questions about Lijiang
What is there to see in Lijiang?
The top sights in Lijiang are Mu Mansion, Wangu Tower and Naxi Music Academy. The full list on this page has 10 sights, each with a photo and a short note.
How many days do you need in Lijiang?
Three to four days are enough to see the best of Lijiang without rushing, including at least one walking tour.
Is there a free walking tour in Lijiang?
Yes. sleepntrip has 3 free audio walks in Lijiang, with no guide and no group: your phone tells the story at every stop. The first one: The Naxi old town.
How do you get to Lijiang and get around?
The main ways are Lijiang Airport and Lijiang Station. Full details are in the transport section on this page.
Where to stay in Lijiang, and for how much?
sleepntrip shows only rooms in Lijiang that meet nine conditions: a good location, high guest scores, cleanliness, and a price of up to $80 a night for two. Pick your dates and see what is free.
Looking for a hotel in Lijiang for your dates?
Only rooms that meet nine conditions, up to $80 a night.