10 Incredible Things to Do in Lijiang, China

The town of Lijiang was a major stop along the ancient Tea Horse Road, a trade route that linked Tibet to Southeast Asia and ran through Yunnan province. Due to the trade in tea and its strategic location on the route, Lijiang grew in importance and size. Lijiang has been a popular stop for travellers for hundreds of years and continues to be so today.

Today Lijiang is a UNESCO world heritage site and a major tourist attraction, mostly for Chinese tourists but also for a few foreigners.

After a while, you’ll probably also realize that all the shops selling drums and other instruments play the same tune. Yes, it gets crowded, but don’t let that put you off.

We spent a few days in Dali before coming to Lijiang. Dali is much smaller and much quite than Lijiang, but Lijiang has much more to see and do.

Lijiang is a great town to simply stroll around.

Looking over the Black Dragon Pool, you get an unobstructed view of the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. In the mid-ground, an old stone bridge, a wooden pavilion, and a pagoda separate the pond from the mountain. While we came here to snap a picture of this epic scene, it was the fish that blew us away.

Several crystal-clear springs feed into the pond, making the pool itself seem like glass. At several places, you’ll see different layers of fish in different sizes and colours, which is utterly surreal.

Buy some fish food from the vendors, and you’ll be entertained for a while. Overall, Black Dragon Pool Park is extremely picturesque and well worth a few hours.
Enjoy.

The choice between black, jasmine, pu-erh, oolong, green, flower, fruit, fermented and what-have-you can be quite overwhelming, so simply point at something that catches your eye and take it from there.

Tea is indeed more than just a drink with jam and bread

They will put up a nice little tea ceremony for you, during which you get to try the tea. First, the tea master washes the tea leaves, rinses the cups, and then pours the tea. The teashop will offer you different teas to try until you find the one that you prefer. If you don’t like the tea, you don’t have to buy anything.

We found a covered tea market just outside the old town. Shopkeepers were eager to entertain us foreigners and introduced us to the wonderful Pu-er tea stuffed into citrus balls. These pu-erh citrus balls are still our favourite tea, and we drink it quite often at home.

It’s very common all over China to see old people dancing in parks or moving around to music from a little boom box. My Chinese coworkers refer to them as “Zombie Dancers” since it’s basically a line dance where everyone simply follows the leader.

There is always a group across from McDonald’s, one of the entrances to the old town. At night, there are several groups, and it is quite popular with the younger crowd, too. So jump in line and hop along to the beat.

You need to get up early to see Lijiang without the other billion middle-class, selfie-stick-waving horde. Leave your guesthouse around 6 am, and the early soft light will reward you with empty little streets, streams and bridges all for yourself.

Around 8 a.m. it starts to get busy, so enjoy the little time you have to enjoy Lijiang in peace and quiet.

After it starts to get busy, we suggest you go and find a place where you can have a freshly steamed basket of Hangzhou dumplings for breakfast.

Photogenic Shuhe, with its crystal clear canals and little bridges, is not nearly as busy and commercialized as Lijiang, making it a nice half-day trip from Lijiang.

Located just 4 km from Lijiang, Shuhe is another ancient Tea Horse Road stop. Visit the Tea Horse Road Museum, which is housed in a stunning old building and grounds.

The series of incredible turquoise-blue lakes backed by snow-capped mountains and forests look like they teleported from the Canadian Rockies and landed here in Yunnan province. They are absolutely stunning!

As to be expected, it does get really crowded. To enjoy the Blue Moon Valley, make sure you get here as early as possible. We suggest catching the minibus from Lijiang no later than 07:00 to get there before the hordes.

To get to the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain scenic area from Lijiang, catch minibus number 7 right across from the Mao Zedong statue. You really don’t need a tour. All you need is our guide to the Blue Moon Valley to show you how to do it on your own.

The hike itself is pretty straightforward, and you don’t need to be an Iron Man or have any special equipment to do it. When Jin’s parents (who are in their early 70s) came to visit, they both completed the Tiger Leaping Gorge and loved it.

The hike takes you through stunning mountain scenery, rural communities and good places to sleep and eat along the way. This hike is one of the easiest hikes with amazing scenery, and you would be an idiot not to hike the Tiger Leaping Gorge while you are in Lijiang. To make it happen, read our guide to the Tiger Leaping Gorge.

The Tiger Leaping Gorge is about two hours away from Lijiang by bus. If you’re short on time, you could even go on a day trip, but this will only allow you to snap a photo or two at one of the viewpoints.

We suggest you set aside two days for an epic (but not overly strenuous) hike to see and experience the beauty of the Tiger Leaping Gorge.

Where (not) to Stay in Lijiang

Guesthouses, hotels, hostels and inns are scattered throughout Lijiang. There is no shortage of places to stay.

There might be more guest houses in Lijiang than there is tea in China. So where do you stay?

Well, let us first tell you where NOT to stay. If you want to get any sleep, stay away from the main artery streets of the Old Town. These are always busy, loud or even worse next to a bar. We stayed on one of these streets and it was horrible. It was next to a bar that had people drinking and having shenanigans until 03:00 in the morning. Once the bar closed, the noise was replaced with the sound of people dragging their wheelie luggage carriers over the cobblestones even before sunrise. It truly never stopped. After the second night, we checked out and found another place down a quiet alley.

Also, when you book a guesthouse online, it’s a good idea to contact the place before to make sure they are allowed to since it’s illegal for some places in China to host foreign guests. When Jin took her parents to Lijiang she booked a room online. When she sent them a message a day before arrival to arrange airport pickup though, they told her that they can only accept Chinese nationals.

In the end, they stayed at the charming Ancient Town Mengyi Inn which comes highly recommended. It’s located in a very quiet area but with easy access. The owner helps to arrange transport to and from the airport.

Visiting Lijiang: The Bottom Line

Beautiful?
Yes!
Touristy?
Yes!
Worth it?
Definitely!

Lijiang is a very enjoyable town with lots to do and see. The mix of history, minority group culture, stunning natural scenery, good weather and ease of travel make it one of our favourite places in China.