Lijiang, Yunnan, southwest China

Historic World Heritage city
home of the Naxi culture

the Liwang Hotel
recently constructed at the edge of the 'Old Town'

hotel courtyard

tourist-friendly maps only slightly minimize the chances of getting lost in the maze of little stone alleys that make up the old town

many streams and canals criss-cross through the town

one of numerous public water wells, with three pools--
the first for drinking water, the second for washing vegetables, and the third for washing clothes

water wheel

Naxi pictrographs

The Naxi created a written language over 1,000 years ago using an extraordinary system of pictographs--one of three hieroglyphic languages (the other two being ancient Egyptians and the Maya), and the only one still in use today

water wheel, used to mill rice in the three mortars on the left

or you can wash clothes and brush your teeth the easy way

stone streets

old architecture--earth-brick walls covered over in plaster

more lovely little canals

amazing stone courtyards with intricate designs

small guesthouse

front entrance outside Mu's Mansion, rebuilt former home of a Naxi chieftan

paper handicraft shop

horses to ride in one of the main town courtyards

many Chinese tourists

the main stone courtyard at the edge of the Old Town

Lijiang at night

Naxi ladies in traditional dress circle dance around a bonfire in the square

active weaving tradition

they even have 'Loi Kratong' floats, quite similar to in Thailand

Chinese tourists pack the Bar Street at night

floating a kratong on the canal

nighttime shopping action

pounding some sugar-desert into a bag with big wooden mallots

making ginger candy

roaming Chinese serenading cowboy

Old Town nestled in the valley

Human orientation and tourist supremacy !?!?!

hot pot feast

Naxi courtyard

a bat (I was told, or is it a butterfly?) in stonework

Naxi maidens

dance performance

fieldtrip to the hills surrounding town, Wenbi Mountain

a village spring

'slip and fall down carefully'

a little strange to openly see pictures of the Karmapa

a Tibetan temple

'Let's read' -- kids in English class

my only sighting of a panda!

Burmese logs at the sawmill

slicing boards