Looking for the most authentic Lijiang takes you away from the crowds to find the most authentic Lijiang

The most authentic Lijiang

Oriental Venice, Suzhou on the plateau, the laziest city, the capital of affairs, the holy place of healing, a string of exciting words, attracting everyone People who are tired of city life set foot in Lijiang in droves. However, when a town of 25,000 people came to live, and tens of millions of tourists poured in every year, the quaint Lijiang began to change. This time, we use a unique way to help you avoid the surging crowds and find the most authentic Lijiang.

Bridges, flowing water, people

The ancient city of Lijiang, surrounded by mountains and rivers, is known as the Venice of the East and Suzhou on the Plateau. The Yuhe River originating from the Black Dragon Pond in the north of the city is divided into three parts at the entrance of the ancient city. After entering the city, it divides into several tributaries and flows through thousands of households, forming the artistic conception of river flowing through the door and looking at the flowing water through the window. Therefore, when strolling in the ancient city, remember to go down the river into the city and upstream out of the city, so as not to get lost. There are 354 bridges built online, with a density of 93 bridges per square kilometer, which is probably the most densely distributed place in the world.

Bang Sifang Street

Lijiang was once the hub of the Southwest Tea Horse Road and the Southern Silk Road. Horses of various ethnic groups carry tea, salt, medicinal materials, furs, and silk to and from the mountainous areas of Yunnan, Tibet, and even India and Nepal. They poured into the walled Old Town of Lijiang from all directions, and from here they went to all directions, exchanging goods and culture with each other. Sifang Street in Lijiang is where people used to trade.

Three Eye Wells

The ancestors of the Naxi people used the spring water gushing out of the ground to build three-level pools according to the terrain. The upper pool was for drinking water, the middle pool was for washing vegetables, and the lower pool was for washing clothes. The three pools are strung together and each performs its own duties. Finally, the water drains from the third pool into the drain. There are three wells in the ancient city, surrounded by small squares. The elderly and children often come here to rest and play, forming a picture of modern urban life.

Bars and extramarital affairs

Lijiang is known as the capital of affairs. Someone concluded that there are three types of people who go to Lijiang: the first type wants to have an affair, and the last type just does it. The second type didn't want to be ambiguous, but it finally happened. The third type is wanting to have an affair, but nothing can be done. The ubiquitous bars on the street are places for romantic encounters. The swaying red lanterns, ubiquitous suggestive slogans, and dozens of beers are all brewing the mysterious air and soil that promotes love hormones. However, be careful of those wine waiters who pretend to be having an affair with a girl, otherwise you will be deceived if you find out that you are having an affair.

Inns

Inns are definitely a major feature of Lijiang. Just looking at the creative names of the inns is a great pleasure, not to mention that each courtyard is so warmly decorated. Those rattan chairs, old trees, door curtains, swings, paths, sofas, and teahouses are all waiting for you to spend your time. There may be an innkeeper or traveler waiting to share a story with you. And every inn will have a cute dog, basking in the sun leisurely.

In a daze under the sun

Some people say that the most valuable thing in Lijiang is sunshine, and the least valuable thing is time. Therefore, many people come to Lijiang to bask in the sun, quietly feel the flow of time, sort out or leave something blank. All inns, bars, cafes, book bars, and tea bars are carefully arranged places and atmospheres for sunbathing, providing props for daze. A piece of music, a book, a blue sky, a bouquet of flowers, a cat and a dog are enough to kill half a day.

Pindu Made in Lijiang

Under the impact of the tourism wave, many of the original Lijiang cultures are being tested like never before. We will take you up close to some fossil-level treasures such as Naxi ancient music, Dongba inscriptions, and Dongba papermaking, as well as handmade copperware, enamel silverware and other handicrafts, and taste the unique Lijiang manufacturing.

Soak sweet tea in a copper pot

Lijiang bronzes were once exported to Tibetan areas on the Ancient Tea Horse Road, and were also a must-have dowry for Naxi girls. Every household is proud to own Lijiang bronzes. However, today, only the last brothers are left in Lijiang, who are kind, different and kind.

51-year-old He Xinyi is the eldest of the two brothers. Council since 2004

Kindness makes a difference. Nowadays, everyone prefers bright alloy products or copper products online, ignoring the many advantages of hand hammering. In fact, handmade bronze should be thicker in places and thinner in places, without welding. I have used it for several generations and it is far more practical than online streaming. In terms of craftsmanship, handmade bronzes are more like pieces of handicrafts, each piece is unique, unlike the sameness found online.

Pointing to one of the teapots, he said it had been hammered by hand with at least 10,000 hammers.

Guangdong people have high demands for quality of life and like good and different products. Orders from Guangdong alone account for 30% of total sales. While we were chatting, several people born in the 1990s from Guangdong came in. One of them said that he liked it the year before last and came to buy it today. I asked them if they had bought any other souvenirs, and they said there was nothing to buy. They were all the same on the streets. After entering three stores, I didn’t want to go in again.

My brother He opened a store in Baisha Ancient Town. His incense was bought by a buyer in Shenzhen a few days ago for 60,000 yuan. Despite this, he is still worried about the inheritance of copper-making. The traditional copper-making craftsmanship of the Naxi people has now been lost.

Challenge the fineness of your hair.

In 1981, Zhu Yuanzhang sent 300,000 troops from Guangdong, Guangxi, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang provinces to attack Yunnan. He then ordered them to stay where they were and sent their parents, wives, and children to the area. Since then, the rough Naxi embroidery has been combined with the exquisiteness of Su embroidery, becoming a wonderful work of multi-ethnic fusion.

Eyes embroidered with one-sixteenth thread.

At Baisha Jinxiu Art Academy, we met Mo, a national embroidery master with 30 years of embroidery experience. She said that the embroidery of the Naxi people mainly uses rough and pick needles, and is mainly about the embroidery environment, while the embroidery of Suzhou embroidery is mainly about flat stitches and straight stitches, and it is mainly about embroidering characters. Generally speaking, one thread is equal to the thickness of three hairs. Embroidering character skin requires one-quarter to one-eighth of the thread and one-eighth to one-sixteenth of the eye. Only masters can embroider with a precision of one-sixteenth to one-thirty-second.

Xu Yunkui, dean of the School of Art, is a printmaker. When he was an educated youth 30 years ago, he came to Lijiang from his hometown in Jiangsu. He particularly likes Naxi embroidery, which combines Su embroidery and national embroidery. In 2001, he established this art academy and hired 4 national embroidery masters and 10 embroidery teachers to pass on the craft through apprenticeships.

However, the conditions for engaging in Naxi embroidery are relatively difficult. People in big cities are unwilling to do it, while local young people prefer to work in bars to make quick money. Because it takes at least ten years to become a master, and it depends on artistic talent.

The Art Institute has a dedicated embroidery and printmaking exhibition area, selling embroidery works by local farmers. For every embroidery work sold by the Art Institute, 5% of the income will be donated to the local Hope Primary School.

Soak in the soft time

Bars are a major cultural landscape in Lijiang. There are roughly two types of bars in Lijiang. One is a performance bar that mainly features ethnic song and dance performances. It is located on both sides of Xinhua Street, which is the so-called bar street. It is also the area with the highest rent in the ancient city. The other type is Qing Bar (or Huotang Bar) with singers or bands singing, scattered in every corner of the ancient city, with Wuyi Street as the center.

Performing art: full of hormones.

Bar Street is quiet during the day, but at night it turns into a sea of ??red lanterns and singing and dancing. The narrow stone road is crowded with tourists, and from time to time there are fat guys and girls wearing Naxi costumes soliciting customers. The bars are all fully open naked bars, with neon lights intertwined with each other, and the crowds of people outside each other's eyes. This is also the legendary hot spot for romantic encounters. Various quotes written inside and outside Sakura House Bar, beautiful women are just paper tigers! Picking up girls, like pickles, requires mastering the heat. The time is too short, too long, too sour! The air smells of hormones. Bars such as Yiyangqiqianli also have many branches on this street.

Qing: Be casual, relax, and listen to original music.

Different from the dazzling lights and noisy performances on Bar Street, the pub (Huotang Bar) is quieter and more casual. The resident singer here is sometimes the bar owner. Most of them are young entertainers and street singers from all over the country. Most of them have sung in the ancient city of Dashiqiao or Xiaoshiqiao, and most of them have their own original songs and albums. These albums can be sold for 100 yuan or 150 yuan in the ancient city. Therefore, when you arrive in Lijiang, you must find a pub that suits you and listen to the stories and songs here. Maybe some of the words and melodies in it can touch a string in your heart, allowing you to grasp the disappearing Lijiang and fall in love with her instantly. .

Barbing tips:

1. A bottle of beer in Bar Street costs about 30-40 yuan. Most inns have discount cards that offer a 12% discount. If you know someone, you can get a 50-60% discount.

2. Lijiang is a plateau area, so newcomers should drink moderately to avoid altitude sickness;

3. People looking for an affair need to be careful and be careful when meeting professional women;

< p>4. There is a fee for ordering songs in the bar, 30 yuan/song;

5. The clear bar sells original albums by singers. If you think it is too expensive, you can go to the Taotao store on the street to buy it. One is 20 yuan near Sifang Street, six are 100 yuan, and you can buy one in a small place for 10 yuan. However, they are all burnt versions.

Want to go clubbing:

If you want to experience performing arts, go to Bar Street. There are usually ethnic songs and dances, male and female matching or lottery activities, which is suitable for tourists who like liveliness. Qingba bars are scattered throughout the ancient city, with Wuyi Street as the center, suitable for tourists who like quiet.

The above is for reference only.