Lijiang is located within the northwest part of Yunnan Province, covering an area of 3.8 square kilometer at an elevation of 2,400 meters, in the southeastern part of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and the northwestern part of Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau. Lijiang is really two towns, two distinct parts divided by Lion Hill - the New Town, which came into being 43 years ago, and the Old Town, an 865-year-old architectural gem, although it looks like a huge ink stone, hence its name Dayan or Big Ink stone.

   

Kublai Khan, grandson of Genghis and founder of the Mongol dynasty in China, came this way in 1253 on his conquest of Yunnan and established an administrative office which 23 years later became the Lijiang Military and Civil Protectorate. Thereafter the name "Lijiang" began to be used. In 1998, the Old Town of Lijiang was inscribed into the World Heritage List by the World Heritage Commission of the UNESCO. The Commission called it "an exceptional ancient town set in a dramatic landscape which represents the harmonious fusion of different cultural traditions to produce an urban landscape of outstanding quality." Lijiang is the ideal destination for nature lovers and anyone interested in ancient people groups and their customs.

The Ancient town of Lijiang was built in the middle of a flatland at the foot of the Yulong Snow Mountain. Since then, it has been the political, cultural, and educational center in this area. For a time, it had been an important trading center for business between Yunnan and Tibet, China and India. And now, the town is a Historical and Cultural Heritage in China. The roads in the old town radiate from Sifang Street (Square Street) to form a network connecting every corner of the city. Small squares are scattered along appropriate sections of the main streets. Houses have been built on the mountain slopes tier upon tier.

The beauty of this ancient city also lies its nature and harmony with its surrounding geological environment. The Yulongxueshan Mountain with the altitude of 5596 meters and the 4th generation of glacier relic lies in the place, 30km away in the northwest of the ancient city is. The human being has not climbed to the top of the mountain. The Ancient Lijiang City has no city walls, which is one of the features of this ancient city and different with other China's ancient cities. "The city depends on water for existence and water comes along with the city" has become one of the main features of the old town. The Yuquanshui River includes three mainstreams, which flow towards the west, east and in the middle. The river running into the ancient city includes many branch canals, so the network of rivers mixed with the roads of the five-flowered stones. You can get the beautiful picture that " every house is surrounded by the rivers and the drooping poplars", so it is highly spoken by the architects of China and abroad. It is called "the Gusu in the Plateau" and "the Oriental Venice". Attracted by the ancient city and the Xueshan Mountains, millions of tourists come here and enjoy themselves in the ancient city of primitive simplicity, naturalness, tranquility and elegance.

Culture is the soul of Lijiang ancient town. Dongba culture is an integral part of Naxi culture, referred to as the ancient culture of the ethnic Naxi. It is called so because it is mostly found in the Dongba religion, which is believed to be one thousand years old. It chiefly consists of scriptures, paintings, music, dances, ritual implements and religious services.

The residents in the Ancient Lijiang City are Naxi Nationality whose ancestor was one of the ancient minorities. Since they have been making a living by herding the yaks, they make the yak as their totem. Naxi Nationality is a nationality good at absorbing the culture of other nationalities. Since Lijiang was a port in the Southern Silk Road and tea and horse trading road, it was a market between Yunnan and Tibet. Kublai stationed its military troops in Lijiang in 1253. He brought the foreign culture, and then Lijiang was affected by the culture of the Central Plain, such as the Tibetan Buddhism and Taoism, and then affected by the Christianism culture in the early 1900s and the ancient Dongba Church of Naxi nationality. Naxi Nationality can assimilate all these cultures and coexist and develop with other cultures. All these cultures increase the Ancient Lijiang City's meaning.

Naxi people like planting trees and flowers. What is different from the Bai Nationality in Dali is that Naxi people in Lijiang like the noble and elegant flowers such as the plum, the sweet-scented osmanthus, the chrysanthemum and the orchid.

The residents in Dayanzhen Town also have the tradition to evaluate flowers. When the flowers are in the best time, the hosts of a household often invite their relatives or friends to come and evaluate the flowers. When they are evaluating the flowers, they often create poems or paintings. The men in Dayanzheng Town take it as an honor to be good at reading, paintings and performance of music.

You can hear the beautiful music from the dwelling houses in Dayanzhen Town at festival time or having a rest in the evenings. The performers are mainly the old folk musicians or the young fans, they carry their musical instruments to take part in a party in a household. The hosts of the household often prepare some tables, tea and burn incense. The musicians perform the folk music of Naxi Nationality in the happy atmosphere.