Day 02b Impression Lijiang

Impression Lijiang is a cultural show demonstrating the traditions and lifestyles of the Naxi, Yi and Bai peoples of the area. The show takes place inside Jade Dragon Snow Mountain Park at 3500m in an outdoor theater with the mountain as a backdrop.

The show is directed by well-known chinese director Zhang Yimou, who also directed the 2008 Olympics Opening and Closing Ceremony. It features a cast of over 500 people and some horses. The show however does not have a strong plot and just to impress by sheer number of cast members.

Day 01a Lijiang Old Town

This is the blog on my 9 days trip to China - Yunnan from 11 May to 19 May 2008. The trip is particularly memorable due to two major natural disasters that strike the neighbours of Yunnan, the cyclone that hit Myanmar a week before my trip, and the 8.0 earthquake which hit Sichuan on 12 may 2008.

Day 01b Lijiang Mu Residence

The Mu Residence was a reconstruction of the Naxi's chief home after the 1996 earthquake. The project took three years and was financed by the World Bank. The mansion is a reconstruction of what would have originally stood here in during the Ming dynasty. The original palace was destroyed during the Qing dynasty and was much bigger. The mansion is modelled after the forbidden palace in Beijing.



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1. The main hall, "Meeting Room"


2. The Drum Tower


3. The seat of the Mu chief


4. The library, Wanjuan Tower


5. Living quarters of the Mu family


6. Bird's eye view of the Mu Fu and Lijiang old town from the Sanqing Hall


7. Roofs of Lijiang Old Town


8. Yuying Tower

Day 02a Jade Dragon Snow Mountain

Jade Dragon Snow Mountain ("Yulong Xue Shan")dominates Lijiang. The 13 peaks of the massif resemble jade pillars holding up the sky. The highest of these pillars is the 5,596m Shanzidon ("Fan Peak"). It is also billed as the snow-capped mountain nearest to the equator in the northern hemisphere. (There are a few mountains nearer to the equator such as Kilimanjaro but they are in the southern hemisphere).

There are three ways for tourist to go up the mountain, all by cable cars. One is by cable car up to near the top of the mountain at 4,506m. This will bring you to the glaciers, very much like Junfraujoch or Matterhorn Glacier Paradise in Switzerland. This is billed as the highest cable car in the world. The second cable car is up to the Yak Meadow, at 3,700m. The third way, the lowest altitude and cheapest is up to the Yunshanping ("Spruce Meadow") at 3,240m. Legend has it that Yunshanping is where young Naxi couples come to commit suicide when they are unable to get parental approval for their marriage. Since weather is not good, we chose to go up Yunshanping. Anyway it was cloudy and we didn't get to see anything.

The road between the main visitor center and Yunshanping cable car station also passes by the Baishui River (White Water River), which got the name from its unpolluted water, and the white riverbed and terraced terrain which are made up of marble and limestone. The series of terraced steps are unique but I am not too sure whether they are man-made or naturally form.



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1. Yunshanping




2. White water river

Day 02c HeiLongTan Park

HeiLong Tan, or Black Dragon Pool Park is situated on the northern edge of Lijiang. It is a typical chinese-styled park, and there are probably hundreds of similar parks throughout China. What is special here is the photo-perfect view it offers of Black Dragon Pool, the Moon-Embracing Pavilion, the marble arch of Belt Bridge, and the stunning snow-capped backdrop of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. On a fine day, the combination is dazzling.

Unfortunately it was not a fine day when we were there. But since it is included in the package tour, no loss in taking a stroll around the park.

1. Entrance


2 & 3. The main lake. On clear days the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain will fill the background.



4. The marble arch Belt Bridge and Moon-Embracing Pavilion


5 & 6. The Moon-Embracing Pavilion. These two photos can be used to illustrate the contrast between photos taken by SLR film camera and point and shoot digital cameras. Photo 5 is taken using a Canon EOS 50 while photo 6 is taken using Canon Powershot A570 (7.1 megapixals). Photo 5 has a more realistic texture whereas photo 6 appears unreal and two dimensional. Photo 5 also shows the finer details. It will be interesting to compare the photos taken by SLR and DSLR cameras.