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Lijiang is really two towns, two distinct parts
divided by Lion Hill - the New Town, which came into being 43
years ago, and the Old Town, an 865-year-old architectural gem,
although it looks like a huge inkstone, hence its name Dayan or
Big Inkstone.
Kublai Khan, grandson of Genghis and founder of the
Mongol dynasty in China, came this way in 1253 on his conquest of
Yunnan and established an administrative office which 23 years
later became the Lijiang Military and Civil Protectorate .
Thereafter the name "Lijiang" began to be used.
Dayan is the center of the Naxi people, the capital
of the Lijiang Naxi Autonomous County, and a place of utter
contentment, where birds chirp from their cages hanging from the
eaves of the houses and gurgling branches wind their ways through
the streets and lanes in every part of the Old Town.
With Sifang Street at the core, the entire city
spreads out in all direction, and is crisscrossed by a labyrinth
of flagged streets and alleyways. Most of the dwellings, scattered
at the foot of a mountain or by the rivers which flow through
every nook and corner of the city, are brick-and-tile structures
with carved doors and painted windows. Traffic across the rivers
is facilitated by a large number of tiny stone bridges. |
