Lijiang is a Naxi city about 2,400 metres up in northwest Yunnan, with a UNESCO-listed old town and Jade Dragon Snow Mountain on the horizon. Walk Dayan at dawn, ride the Glacier Park cable car, see the Ming murals at Baisha and hike Tiger Leaping Gorge. Give it three or four days, and book the mountain early.
Lijiang is two places: a canal-threaded Naxi old town that has become one of China's busiest tourist streets, and a 5,596-metre mountain 30 km north that no crowd can shrink. Come for both, sleep somewhere quieter than the lanes, and keep a day for the gorge.
The cable car lifts you to a platform at 4,506 metres under the main peak, and a boardwalk climbs on toward 4,680. Tickets are real-name and time-slotted, and peak days sell out fast. Book the moment booking opens.
Dayan is the core of a UNESCO site listed in 1997: stone lanes, canals fed from Black Dragon Pool, and Sifang Square at the centre. By late morning it is a shopping street. Walk it at seven, when the water and the lanes are the point.
The postcard view of Lijiang: the snow mountain reflected in the pool behind a white marble bridge, with the Ming-era Wufeng Tower at the north end. This spring feeds the Old Town canals. Come early for still water and a clear peak.
About 16 km along the gorge wall above the Jinsha River, with Haba and Jade Dragon snow mountains on either side. Most people take two days and sleep at a family guesthouse halfway. Skip it in the summer rains, when landslides close sections.
The Mu family ruled Lijiang as hereditary chieftains from the Ming to the Qing. Their compound burned in the 19th century, and what stands was rebuilt after the 1996 earthquake, so read it as a reconstruction. The courtyards still show who ran the town.
Baisha was the first Naxi settlement and the Mu clan's birthplace, now a quiet village north of town. At the end of its main street, Dabaoji Palace holds the best of the Baisha murals: Buddhist and Taoist figures painted in Tibetan, Han and Naxi styles.
Shuhe is the smaller, calmer piece of the UNESCO listing, an old stop on the Tea Horse Road. Its stone Qinglong Bridge dates to the Ming dynasty, and the stream below rises at Jiuding Dragon Pool. Stay here if Dayan's evenings sound too loud.
Yunnan's first wetland nature reserve, west of town, where tens of thousands of migratory birds winter from December to February. Villages around the shore rent horses for a ride on the old Tea Horse Road. Go by taxi: no public transport runs out here.
If Glacier Park is sold out, this is a fine day anyway: a gentler cable car to Spruce Meadow at about 3,240 metres, then the Baishui River pools of Blue Moon Valley, milky blue over white mud on a sunny day.
A 33-metre wooden pavilion on the highest ground in the Old Town, rebuilt in 1997 on 16 columns. From the top floor the tiled roofscape spreads below, with the snow mountain behind. It is the best orientation in town.
Chinese New Year, on the lunar calendar. The Old Town is at its busiest, so book rooms and trains early.
The monastery's old camellia blooms in successive waves across spring.
Naxi feast for Sanduo, the mountain's protector, on the 8th day of the 2nd lunar month.
The national May break. Book the cable car and trains early.
Torches outside every door for the 24th and 25th of the 6th lunar month.
The Mosuo walk the mountain for the goddess Ganmo, 25th day of the 7th lunar month.
The 1 to 7 October national holiday. Expect peak crowds on the mountain and in the lanes.
Migratory birds winter on the wetland, black-necked cranes among them.
About 28 km south of the Old Town, at Qihe. Take a taxi in and name the Old Town gate you want: cars cannot enter the lanes.
The fastest D trains from Kunming take a little over three hours, and from Dali about 1h36. Book on 12306 with your passport.
The 139 km line opened in November 2023 and cut the run north to about 70 to 80 minutes. A station near Qiaotou serves the gorge.
The Old Town is on foot only. Use taxis or ride-hailing for the villages and lakes, or rent a bike or scooter for ¥20–50 a day.
Layered flatbread, sweet or savoury, once the Tea Horse caravans' road food.
Grey chickpea and lentil jelly, cut into strips and dressed with chilli and garlic.
Lijiang's own hotpot: salt-cured pork ribs simmered with vegetables at the table.
Tea churned with yak butter and salt, the drink of the Tibetan uplands to the north.
Grilled on skewers or simmered in a hotpot, lean and a little gamey.
Yunnan forest mushrooms stir-fried or in hotpot, best in the summer rains.
Yunnan rice noodles cooked at the table in a bowl of scalding broth.
Flaky Yunnan pastry filled with sweetened rose petals, sold warm in the lanes.
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