Lijiang, located in Lijiang Prefecture in the Northwest of Yunnan Province, is about 580 kilometers away from Kun- ming. It takes about 17 hours to get there via Chuxiong, Xiaguan, Dali and Jianchuan.
The total area of Lijiang Prefecture is about21219 square kilometers. The population is 1.06 million involving 21 na- tionalities, for example, the Naxi, Yi, Lisu, Pumi, etc. There are 4 counties in the prefecture.
Lijiang Prefecture is the major developing tourist area of Yunnan Province. It contains beautiful natural scenes, u- nique minority amorous feelings, age-old minority cultures, and rich tourist resources. The scenic spots are mainly scat- tered in Lijiang County and Ninglang County.
The main scenic spots in Lijiang County are as follows: the Ancient Town of Lijiang, the Yulong Snow Mountains, the Yuquan (Jade Spring) Park (also called the Black Dragon Pool), the Yufeng (Jade Peak) Temple, the Baisha Frescoes, the First Bend of the Yangtze River,the Tiger Leaping Corge,the Ancient Stone Town of Baoshan.
The main scenic spots in Ninglang County are as follows: Lugu Lake,the Yongning Lamasery.
The Ancient Town of Lijiang has a history of almomt thousand years. The scenes are unique and unconventional. It is one of the best-preserved historical, cultural cities at the state level in China.
The Yulong Snow Mountains are a natural treasure-house of animals and plants, a scenery area of historical and cultur. al relics at the state level, and can be developed into a com. prehensive attraction not only for scientific investigation, but also for tourism,skiing,mountain-climbing and vacationing.
In the Yufeng (Jade Peak) Temple there is an old, giant camellia tree of more than 500 years old,which can put forth thousands of flowers, so that it is called a "Ten- Thousand-Flower Camellia". Therefore it is known as"the First Tree in the World". The Ming Dynasty Frescos in Baisha are the cultural and historical relics emphatically pro- tected by the state. The mystical Dongba hieroglyph is known as "the only living hieroglyph in the world".The old Naxi music with noble elegant lingering charm is thought to be"the living fossil of the Chinese classical music".Lugu Lake with its deep and transparent water is known as "the pearl on the plateau". The Mosuo villages on the shore of Lugu Lake and the folk customs and the folkways are unique in the world and make tourists open-mouthed.There are still some matri-archal families.The Mosuo people are now still keeping the"Axia"marriage pattern by which a young man doesn't get married and a girl is not to be married off.
Lijiang, with its rich resources in plants and animals, the natural beauties and the amazing minority folk customs, attracts more and more tourists from home and abroad.