Lijiang Ancient Town

Lijiang Old Town, originally a village, is located on the outskirts of present-day Lijiang City, Yunnan Province. The old, original village is built around the concept of a network of canals that were intended to provide water to each and every household. The source of the water is Hei Long Tan (Black Dragon Pool), a natural spring, from which arise three small rivers, denoted simply as the East, West and Middle rivers. From these three rivers, a clever network of walled canals were dug, with the walls of the canals forming one side of the foundation of the canalside houses. Many of the canals are rather narrow - not more than 8-10 meters wide. In fact, most of the Old Town's houses stand so close together and in such an orderly fashion that it is said that their roofs, seen from above and at a slight angle, form neat rows that suggest the teeth of a comb.
The Ancient City of Lijiang is a largely Naxi settlement first built during the Southern Song Dynasty some eight centuries ago, and now completely surrounded by the new city of Lijiang.
In December 1986, the State Council designated it a famous ancient historical and cultural city of national caliber. In 1997, UNESCO made Lijiang a World Cultural Heritage Site.
The Lijiang Old Town is built along the lie of mountains and the flow of rivers, providing a very precious sample of the research on the old-time architecture. The unique geographical location, historical background and multiracial inhabitants make the town the most special one:
The Old Town is the only old city built without a city wall and there is an interesting story telling the reason. Lijiang had been under the reign of the hereditary Mu family for more than 500 years. If the Chinese character 'Mu' (represents the governor of Lijiang) is put into a frame (represents the city wall), you have the character 'Kun' which means 'siege' or 'predicament'. This would mean that the governing Mu family and their descendants would always be trapped like a rat in a hole. Because of this symbolism, Old Town Lijiang was never given a city wall.
As a result of the combination of the multinational culture and the progress of Naxi ethnic minority, the buildings in the town incorporate the best parts of the architectural traits of Han, Bai, and Tibet into a unique Naxi style. The layout of the town is free-style and flexible, the houses are close and diverse, and the lanes are narrow and meandering. Naxi people pay much attention to the decoration, the commodious and applied houses are mostly timber and tile structure compound with a garden, each has engraved vivid figures of people and animals on doors and windows, beautiful flowers and trees in the garden.Living in such a beautiful and comfortable environment is a real pleasant thing.
Lijiang Old Town covers an area of about 4 square kilometers (about 900 acres), and lies 2400 meters (7874 feet) above sea level. It was built during the late Southern Song (CE 1127-1279) Dynasty, making the village some 800 years old. There are 4200 original families living in Lijiang Old Town. The village's layout is unique, being a perfect blend of Han Chinese, Bai, and Tibetan styles (or perhaps "fusion" is a more appropriate word than "blend", since the net result is utter harmony).
The layout of Lijiang Old Town is unusual in Chinese terms, and this springs partly from the necessity of having the streets and alleyways conform to the special waterways, but also partly due to the fusion in architectural styles, where no single style, with its otherwise characteristic layout, would dominate - each of the three styles of architecture and layout is adjusted to accommodate the other two, with the result that a genuine fusion is achieved. One of the most striking things about Lijiang Old Town is that it has no protective city walls, the reason resting on the following explanation, involving semantics, superstition, and image...
Lijiang Old Town is a beautiful old village that is worthy of protection, although there have been some recent issues with some of the merchants especially, outsiders who have arrived to Lijiang Old Town seemingly for the express purpose of exploiting the commercial potential of the ancient city. Since their activity is not illegal, it has not been easy for the state to take action against them, though there is a growing sentiment for some kind of action in order to prevent degradation to the village by over-exploitation. This does not mean that tourists should abandon Lijiang Old Town in order to punish the outsiders who may or may not be exploiting the town for their own narrow commerical interests, as that would punish all of the residents of the town! There have also been complaints of rowdiness on the part of certain tourist types in the recent past, and reports of behavior which in general is not conducive to the sustainability of the village as an ancient, preservation-worthy example of Chinese cultural fusion. Lijiang Old Town need friends - it needs its tourist friends too. To paraphrase a famous but unnamed resident of the city of San Francisco in California, Lijiang Old Town doesn't need every type of tourist, it just needs the right type of tourist!
How to get there:

From the new city (Lijiang City), the only way to get to the Old Town is walk, or rent a bike (automobiles are not permitted in the village).