In Lijiang, Only Shuhe Ancient Town and Baisha Ancient Town Are the Flower House Girls in My Heart

📍 Lijiang · 👁 8905 reads · ❤️ 69 likes

Blue sky and white clouds, I particularly love this sentiment—the cotton candy that only Lijiang has.

Is she the Xiaofang in your heart?

Flowing water murmurs, I especially love such clear and serene streams.

Little young lad, few worries.

Shuhe Ancient Town has a very distinctive shop that is extremely popular. When you come to Shuhe Ancient Town, you should experience this shop. An old established brand lives up to its reputation—truly worthy of its name. The food they make is indeed delicious, and the price is not expensive. Even when it's not mealtime, there are so many people there; it's truly popular. When you come to Shuhe Ancient Town in Lijiang, you should check it out!

Baisha Ancient Town is not very well-known. Many people who come to Lijiang do not know about this place, so not many tour groups come here. As a result, it feels much more peaceful. In fact, it is not very far from Dayan Ancient Town—only about 10 kilometers—and there are buses in the city that go directly there. Transportation is still very convenient.

As early as the Tang Dynasty, when the King of Nanzhao named Jade Dragon Snow Mountain the "Northern Sacred Mountain," the ancestors of the Mu family (then the kings of Lijiang) began building Baisha Street and Beiyue Temple here. Baisha was the ancient capital of the Naxi people and once the political, economic, commercial, and cultural center of Lijiang. This lasted from the Song and Yuan dynasties until 1383, during the early Ming Dynasty, when the Mu family moved to what is now the Mu Residence in Dayan Town.

When I came here, I found that there are also many small shops with distinctive styles and atmospheres. However, compared to the bustling crowds of Dayan Ancient Town, there are far fewer people on the streets here. Moreover, you can see many locals selling vegetables and so on. Walking here, you unconsciously step into the daily life of the local people.

On the south side of Sifang Street stands a two-story archway with a plaque reading "World Cultural Heritage, Capital of the Naxi Ancient Kingdom—Baisha." Past the archway to the south are peaceful and quiet Naxi homes. For over a thousand years, the Naxi people have been plowing in spring, harvesting in autumn, and storing in winter here, living a life aloof from worldly strife. And so it is today. As you walk through the village, you feel as if time has stopped flowing. The sky is so blue, the snow mountain is so majestic, the dogs on the street are so lazy and carefree, and the entire ancient town is as simple and serene as an elderly Naxi person.

In Baisha Ancient Town, there is also a "Sifang Street," where you can faintly see the prototype of Dayan Ancient Town's Sifang Street. The town center was built as a commercial hub and named Sifang Street, meaning "extending in all directions and powerful in all quarters." Because Baisha Ancient Town's Sifang Street was built very early, it is relatively less regular and complete than those of Shuhe Ancient Town and Dayan Ancient Town. Now, Sifang Street is still the main place where local grandmothers sell vegetables. The natural small vegetables and the grandmothers in traditional Naxi clothing form a scenic line on Sifang Street.

The Baisha Murals are a famous attraction here, and they are the only paid item, with an admission fee of 30 yuan. The "Baisha Murals" are a product of the great openness of Naxi society in the Ming Dynasty. Their creation began in the early Ming Dynasty and ended in the early Qing Dynasty, spanning over 300 years. The late Ming and early Qing periods were the golden age of Lijiang murals, with a history of 500 years. The existing Ming Dynasty murals in Baisha's Liuli Hall, Dabaoji Hall, and Dading Pavilion are extremely precious cultural relics. The murals in Dabaoji Hall are the largest in Lijiang, painted during the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty. There are 12 murals in total, depicting 167 human figures. The content is religious, but uniquely, within the same mural, there are not only Buddhist and Taoist figures but also Lamaist Buddhist figures. This style of blending various sects in one painting is very rare.

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