Trishys Travels: Lijiang A Labyrinth of Lanterns and Love (Shuhe and Baisha)

A couple of hours on the train out of Dali and into Yunnan province - Shuhe, Old Lijiang and Baisha. The ancient town of Shuhe is not as famous as some of the other old towns near Lijiang, but it is way more ambient with loads of personality.

With the surge in tourism in china there appears to be a trend in developing the old towns and sometimes the final outcome can be a little tacky to say the least. Happily, Shuhe has retained old world charm and natural beauty.

The pace of life in Shuhe is peaceful and easy. In the morning the warm sunshine thaws us out after the much cooler nights.

It is a very pleasant place to relax and unwind after the hectic pace of China thus far.

Walking along the old streets of Shuhe, stopping on the ancient stone arch bridge, and listening to murmuring of the stream.

Life seems simple in Shuhe.

Unforgettable Shuhe, just out of Lijiang is situated in a beautiful valley and is surrounded by mountains, including the 5500 metre high Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, the peak of which we saw when we walked to Baisha.

Tibetan Monastery in the mountains near Shuhe

In the Naxi language Jade Dragon Snow Mountain is "Wuluyoucuige", which means the place for loves that die for their love.

The Naxi is a people that will pursue love bravely. Many lovers choose to die for their love. Peter Goullart called Lijiang the city of people dying for love in Jade Dragon Mountain in order to protect their love from being ruined by worldly conceptions.

While we were in Baisha we met a 27 year old named Ray from Beijing, he told us that many Chinese boys and girls come to Lijiang and the nearby towns with the hope of falling in love.

Unlike modern Lijiang, which is characterised by the usual hustle and bustle of modern china the old town is a much quieter affair.

There are some very interesting visual surprises down the different laneways.

Shuhe is a very pretty little historic village with stall after stall of shops. Shuhe is a pedestrian-only district, with many narrow passageways, all paved in a cobblestone style.

A morning visit to old Lijiang Town. This little town contains many little cobbled alleys, a lovely flowing canal, hanging lanterns, and masses of Chinese tourists.

The streets within the old city of Lijiang are too narrow for any traffic so it calm and peaceful. The city in old Lijiang intersect with canals and tiny bridges with a labyrinth of tiny cobbled streets.

Lijiang was leveled in 1996 by an earthquake which killed 300 people and injured 16,000. Most of the newer city was damaged, however much of the old city was unharmed. In the rebuilding the Chinese government considered the fact that the old architecture survived the earthquake and rebuilt many of the surrounding villages in the old style.

Lijiang was declared a World Heritage site by UNESCO in 1999.

Lijinag and the surrounding area is one of the main tourist destinations for Chinese tourists and very popular for honeymooners. Lijiang is a maze of canals and cobbled streets hung with red lanterns and is very picturesque.