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China - Lijiang

China - Hong Kong - Macau

Lijiang, possibly the best preserved old town in China, is one of the last places in this country where a visitor can witness and experience a historic, traditional urban culture.

Remarkably, the old houses with stone foundations, plastered whitewashed brick walls, red wooden doors, shutters and balconies, and sloping tiled roofs, survived a recent earthquake without much damage, while the new concrete buildings were flattened. Adding to the charm of the narrow, winding, mostly pedestrian cobblestone streets is a network of canals. They are fast flowing from the Black Dragon Pool, a nice park with some interesting temples and a great view of the nearby Jade Dragon Snow Mountains .

The crystal clear Li River is sandwiched between precipitous peaks decorated with waterfalls. Among poems praising the beauty of the river are these two lines: "He who travels in Guilin hills finds himself in a fairyland" and "He who sails along the Li River finds himself boating in a sweet dream." Along the 83-kilometer riverbank from Guilin to Yangshuo are numerous natural wonders, made more wonderful by their mirrored reflection on the serene water of the river; they have inspired the saying, "Guilin has the most beautiful scenery in China, and Yangshuo is the most beautiful part of Guilin."

Lijiang is home to the Naxi, a minority matriarchal culture originating from Tibet.

The Dongba, Naxi shamans of a religion which is a mixture of Tibetan buddhism, Islam, and Taoism, created more than a thousand years ago a writing language consisting of more than 1300 pictographs. It is the only hieroglyphic language still in use.

There are interesting foods to try, as well as traditional music to hear. The old town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Lijiang is in Yunnan, 570 km north-west of Kunming. It can be reached by air or road (a couple of hours from Dali, a full day to Jinjiang, the railhead).

Lijiang is a beautiful shining jewel on the Northwest Yunnan Plateau neighbouring the southeast side of the Tibentan Plateau which is considered to be the "Roof of the World".

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 remark-ably pleasant.

Spring there lasts as long as 241 days and there is no hot summer. Lijiang is 603 kilometers away from Kunming and 280 kilometers from the Jin Jiang Railway Station on the Kunming - Chengdu line. The airport in LiJiang had been opened in 1994.

Lijiang boasts of breath - takingly wonderful sights such as Jade DragonSnow Mountain (Yulong Xueshan) and its modern maritime glacier,the only one of its kind in the southern end of the Northern Hemisphere; Tiger Leaping Gorge ( Hutiaoxia ); the world - famous grand canyon; Lugu Lake, the cultural cradle of the "Matriarchy" of the Yongning Mosuo people in Ninglang; the Old Town of Dayan Lijiang, which is referred to by European and American tourists as the "Oriental Venice".

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.

In 1989, Lijiang was ranked as a Level - 1 Tourism Hot Spot of China by the yunnan Tourism Bureau. In 1992, it was rated as one of the four provincial - level travel zones of Yunnan by the provincial government.

There is a saying which goes: "Visit not Lijiang, visit not Yunnan !" Lijiang is now opening its gate ready to heartily welcome guests from all over the world and show off its exotic and alluring scenery as well as the rich and colourful ethnic customs of its people.

A trip along the Li River is one of the high spots of a holiday in China. From Guilin to Yangshuo, the river meanders its way through 52 miles of beautiful countryside, with bamboo forests, dense reed-beds, and incredibly bizarre rock formations. Now and again, the visitor will see a fishing boat glide by with two or more cormorants on board. Many fishermen use these birds to help them find fish.

The journey will continue past Pierced Hill (Chuan shan), Clean Vase Hill (Jingping shan), Embroidery Hill (Xiushan), and--at about the halfway point--Picture Hill (Huashan).

At the boat mooring in Yangshuo, there is an attractive arts and crafts market. Green Lotus Peak (Bilian Feng) outside Yangshuo is worth seeing. A few miles south of Yangshuo stands a mighty banyan tree which is hundreds of years old. Two miles from the tree is Moon Hill (Yueliangshan), the peak of which resembles a crescent-shaped crater.