Travel Through Love and Time: Come to Lijiang for Shows, Cuisine, and Life

Not only are there many varieties, but they are also trimmed into all sorts of shapes.

Colorful and vibrant, they add a lot of vitality to the ancient town.

There are many shops selling postcards in the ancient town, but I really like a phrase from one store: 'Why wander far without dreams?' I used to love sending postcards to myself and friends from every place I visited. But now, having traveled to so many places, that sense of ritual has faded.

Almost all ancient towns sell jewelry. I saw a shop with some nice crystal balls. When shopping in ancient towns, it's best if you know something about the accessories to tell if they are good value.

Lijiang's most distinctive feature is its little drum. Because it's so popular here, it has spread to many other ancient towns. The music playing on the streets, like Xiaogian's 'Little Darling', is often accompanied by this instrument.

I heard the wax museum is also good, but I didn't have time this trip. I'll check it out next time.

Lijiang is a gathering place for the Naxi people. The main purpose of our trip this time was to learn about Naxi writing. It is a pictographic script still in use today, with a history of over 1,000 years.

We stumbled upon a shop selling traditional oil-paper umbrellas. The owner told us that every step of making an umbrella is done by hand. It takes at least a month to finish one. On rainy days like this, it takes even longer because they can't dry properly.

A beauty holding such an umbrella is quite eye-catching.

This is the traditional Naxi script. In Dayan Ancient Town, there is a government-funded Naxi Writing Museum, open to the public for free. It also has many interactive games, making it even more meaningful to visit with children.

Lijiang has countless delicacies, but when in Lijiang, you must try the local Naxi cuisine. The place we ate at most this time was an old, established Naxi restaurant in Shuhe Ancient Town. The Naxi-style food was fantastic. If you ever visit Lijiang, make sure to try it out!

Lijiang Paradise is the largest amusement park in northwestern Yunnan, with many rides and attractions. It's a paradise for children and a great place for adults to relive childhood memories.

There are many rides in the park, and the thrill levels are graded. You can start from the mild ones and work your way up according to your tolerance.

This ride requires you to buy a raincoat and shoe covers, otherwise you'll get soaked. The experience on site is great—water splashes far, a bit like a scene from 'Extreme Challenge'.

The most relaxing is, of course, the merry-go-round. Personally, I find it a bit dull, but Korean dramas have made it famous. It seems like there's not much else to do in Korea, so dating couples all go to Everland to ride the merry-go-round together.

Lover's Leap Valley uses architecture to depict scenes from Dai and Naxi life. Many people ask me: the 'Eternal Love' show is only an hour long, is half a day enough for this? It is enough, but you'd miss out. Because the indoor performance is spectacular, and the various outdoor mini-shows are not to be outdone.

A Naxi courtyard. Some say the corn cobs hung up make it look like a northeastern Chinese courtyard, but actually, many ethnic groups grow corn. It's just that TV dramas set in the northeast are more common and have left a deep impression.

This is a hotel not yet open to the public. It has a feel similar to Yunhe Yunman under the Songcheng Group, which is known as the Maldives of China. So I'm really looking forward to this upcoming hotel.

Another live ethnic song-and-dance performance created by the Songcheng Group. The show tells the poignant and tragic love story between a Tibetan young man, Abuda, and a Naxi girl, Gajimi.

Fall in love with a city because of a show — 'Lijiang Eternal Love'. When people mention Lijiang, if all you can think of is romantic encounters, then I think you still don't understand the city's history, culture, and legends. 'Give me one day, and I'll give you back a thousand years' — a must-see performance in a lifetime. This is a living Tea Horse Road that transcends time and space, an ideal destination for Lijiang tourism.

Directed by Huang Qiaoling, the show uses the visual impact of IMAX 3D to fully convey the contemporary vibe of ethnic song and dance. There are five acts: 'Children of Lugu Lake', 'Legend of the Caravan', 'The Splendor of Mu's Residence', 'The Third Kingdom of Jade Dragon', and 'In Search of Shambhala'. These five stories weave together the essence of Lijiang's culture, bringing a thousand years of history and legend to life today.

Lugu Lake, an earthly paradise, is a beautiful and magical place. It has a tradition of walking marriages, where men do not marry and women do not wed. The Mosuo people are the main ethnic group living by Lugu Lake and are a branch of the Naxi.

It's no exaggeration to say that Lijiang is a city carried on horseback. That's why 'Legend of the Caravan' is the climax of the entire show. The Tea Horse Road is not just an ancient path or a trade route; it is a grand corridor of ethnic integration, economic exchange, and cultural interaction, bearing significant history and meaning, and it is also the Southern Silk Road.

The Tea Horse Road was glorious, yet the men who traversed it, along with their families, suffered hardship. Besides the pain of parting from loved ones and the rigors of the journey, misfortune could strike at any moment.

Mu's Residence is the popular name for the Lijiang Mu chieftain's government office. The explorer Xu Xiake marveled in his 'Travels in Yunnan' that 'its palatial splendor rivals that of kings,' which is why it's also called the Forbidden City of Lijiang. Thriving through the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties, at its peak Mu's Residence covered over a hundred mu, with nearly a hundred buildings, serving as the heart of the 800-year-old Dayan Ancient Town.

This 'magic carpet' transports actors from high above via wires onto the stage, creating a stunning visual effect. Even more fun, the seats for those sitting in the middle of the previous section shift left and right as needed for the performance.

'The Third Kingdom of Jade Dragon' tells the story of Naxi sons and daughters who resist arranged marriages and parental commands, even choosing death for love. Though short, this segment is emotionally intense, fully conveying the Naxi people's unwavering pursuit of true love.

'In Search of Shambhala' is the finale. Tens of thousands of prayer flags appear on stage, and a white pagoda descends from above, bringing the atmosphere to a climax. You can make a most sincere and beautiful wish for your family and friends.

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