huiya asked:


The Ancient Town of Lijiang, a good place to take a relax.

Lijiang has the best preserved ancient town in China – the Old Town which has been listed in the World Cultural Heritages by UNESCO in 1997. Built on the hillsides of three mountains, it is combined with nature in an organic and integral unity. Tile-roofed houses are arranged closely side by side within the brace of green mounts, where the common people’s residences, simple in shape and elegant in decoration, draw wide attention as a crystallization of the Naxi culture and techniques.

Strolling along the street of the Ancient Town of Lijiang, tourists can taste colorful ethnic culture and customs, unrivalled buildings and the breathtaking natural scenery. Most travelers stay on the streets of Lijiang’s old town for its comfortable accommodations. There are a lot of hostels, guesthouses to choose from. And many restaurants serve both western and Chinese food. It is also a good place to do some comparative shopping. There are many shops selling local handcrafts and traditional arts and crafts.

Enjoying Naxi Ancient Music to understand Mystic Dongba Culture:

The wonderful Naxi (also spelt Nakhi and Nahi) Ancient Music, the traditional Naxi classical music that is regarded as a ‘living fossil of Chinese music” and the “sound from paradise”. It originated from the music of Taoism about 500-600 years ago. This music has been added the play techniques of Naxi people, featured in playing all the rarely heard works in Tang (618-907A.D) and Song (960-1279A.D) dynasties, the over-100-year old music instruments which cannot find in elsewhere, and the old players who are about 70-80 in age from all walks of life. This is a classic music wildly popular in Naxi Nationality and one of the oldest survivors in the world. Take the opportunity to hear Naxi Ancient Music, it is guaranteed to be an unforgettable life experience. If you stay overnight in Lijiang, do not miss it!

Visiting Baisha Township-The Ancient Capital of Naxi Kingdom

Another way to check out the forgotten beauty of Lijiang is to visit the Baisha murals! Exploring the Baisha town to enjoy the ancient murals is a great experience and one that visitors should not miss. Baisha Frescos in the town of Baisha is the most famous and preserved frescos stored in Lijiang. Each painting includes at least one hundred vivid figures, who are not only Buddhas but also ordinary people, mirroring the various religious cultures and artistic forms ranging from Buddhism, Lamaism, Daoism to the Naxi Dongba religion. These frescoes are both essential to the research of Chinese painting and important cultural heritage relics too.

Cooking / Calligraphy and Painting Classes

If you are interested in Chinese culture, Calligraphy, painting and Chinese cooking classes can be arranged in Lijiang.

You have no doubt come to China to feast on the local cuisine. So wouldn’t it be great while you’re in China to learn how to cook some Chinese food on your own? Fortunately, it’s possible to enroll in a cooking class that will teach you the basics of this culinary art.

Calligraphy and painting are regarded as two of the four kills for a learned and elegant scholar to pursue in the ancient China. Wouldn’t it be fascinating to get authentic Chinese artist training?

Hiking Excursion

The Ancient City of Lijiang is girdled by a host of attractive and wondrous attractions. Hiking the captivating attractions outside the city is one of the great highlights of any visit to this region.

After experiencing the city, you should not miss the rewarding explorations below because they offer you the mind-blowing landscapes found in the world.

Recommended Hiking Tours:

Day 1:

Get up early in the morning and drive about 2 hours to Qiaotou Town, where is the upper region of Tiger Leaping Gorge. Tiger Leaping Gorge is regarded as one of the deepest gorges in the world with a depth of 3,000 meters. Here, the river twists and turns and vigorously swash against the rocks, the breakers sent up a fountain of spray. Our hiking trip begins from here. The total trekking route is 28km, and it takes approximately 6 hours.

Day 2:

Continue trekking to the Tiger Leaping Gorge in the early morning. After lunch, you walk down the steep cliff to the bank of Jinsha River. With a length of 2290km, Jinsha River is the most precipitous section of Yangtze River, which makes a sudden turn of 135 degrees to flow northeastward. Then go on climbing up the Tiger Leaping Gorge for approximately one hour.

Day 3:

Today continue trekking for 2km and cross the Jinshajiang River by boat to get to Daju Town. After lunch, then head to Lijiang. On the way, pay a visit to Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, which is situated 15km north of Lijiang city, on the south bank of the Yangtze River with an altitude of 5600 meters above sea level.

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Tyler

huiya asked:


Xian is one of the most important cities in China history and nowadays. As one of China seven ancient national capitals, Xian served as the capital for 12 dynasties spanning more than 1,000 years. Therefore, it has a great number of the items unique to Xian that cannot be found elsewhere in the world.

There are many street markets around the city to sell local arts and crafts. The famous street markets are Parkson shopping mall, the Bell Tower shopping street, the Drum Tower night market and the Academy Gate culture street. The luxurious shopping areas in the city are centered mainly along Dong Dajie, Nan Dajie and Jiefang Lu. Department stores usually open at about 9 am and close at 10 pm.

The replicas of Terracotta Warriors and Horses, calligraphy rubbings, farmer paintings, paper cuts and jade craft works are the most popular buys in Xian. If you missed those things on your Xian tour, you cannot easily found them in other cities in China.

The replicas of Terracotta Warriors and Horses:

The terracotta warriors and horses is one of the most remarkable archaeological discoveries of all times ever since its excavation in 1974. Many visitors come to Xian would like to take a Terracotta Warrior as souvenir. You can find different types of replicas, from a few inches tall to life-size available in the markets. The replicas of Terracotta Warriors and Horses will give visitor’s home or garden a real ancient and oriental touch.

Calligraphy rubbings:

Calligraphy rubbings are convenient and meaningful mementoes for foreign tourists to remind them of their China tours. They are especially liked by Japanese visitors who share the same written character.

Xian has more than 300 stele dating from the Han, Wei, Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties collected in the Forest of Stele. You can purchase calligraphy books that rubbed from the stone inscriptions in many shops. If you love Chinese calligraphy, a rubbing book could be a good souvenir.

Farmer paintings:

Farmer paintings from Huxian County outside Xian are very popular and unique. The works feature notable regional tones, marked by pictorial landscape and the rustic life. The Gallery of Farmers’ Paintings from Huxian County has more than 1000 paintings on displaying with an exhibition area of 1200 square meters. Visitors can appreciate the demonstration of the artist and appreciate the performance of folk artists. Xian is a good place for shopping farmer paintings.

Paper cuts:

Paper cut is one of the famous souvenirs in Xian. Paper cut, though named from paper, can also be caused by other thin, stiff materials, such as aluminum foil, thin blades of grass, or film negatives. There are three kinds of paper cuts: Figures in paper cut, customs in paper cut and animals in paper cut. All these paper cuts have bright color of red, green or light blue which provide a strong foil to set off a merry atmosphere. So the paper cuts often found in wedding ceremonies or festivals in China. Any visitor to Xian agrees that it is a pleasure to have paper cuts as souvenirs.

Jade craft works:

Xian jade carvings boast five thousand year history. Nowadays all kinds of nice-looking and exquisitely-carved jade craft works , such as jade bowls, jade bracelets, jade pendants, etc, are available in Xian. There are some important tips to choose the jade craft works: the brightness of color and luster, compactness of inner structure, and the delicacy of the craft work. For example, on real jade, air bubbles cannot be seen and so on.



Debbie