More on Lijiang, Yunnan

Jade Water Village, Lijiang Impressions, Shuhe Ancient Town, and Black Dragon Pool, Lijiang

Jade Water Village

After visiting Lijiang Old Town, we came to Jade Water Village to have lunch. This is the least impressive site that we visited in Lijiang. This is suppose to be the sacred site of the Dongba. Other than the beautiful surroundings, there was really nothing much to see.

The restaurant where we had lunch. We had to climb those steps to get up there from the parking lot.

The restaurant was filled with groups, mainly local people. Looking at the leftover dishes on their tables, it seemed that they had better food than we did.

a lonely yak

Zhang Yimou's Lijiang Impressions

This is the second Zhang Yimou's production that we have seen. We came here after lunch and it was hot! Being an outdoor program under the bright, hot sun, they provided caps for everyone to use. There's no lack of people in China and I think that made Zhang Yimou's productions appear to be grand and awesome. Also he always gets the best backdrops for his productions which greatly adding the dramatic feel to the shows.

Jade Dragon Snow Mountains as the backdrop.

There were many really good looking young men in the cast.

Seats were not assigned, and we were seated kind of off-center.

It was impressive when these riders rode their horses around the arena.

A lot of actions but not a whole lot of real dancing.

It was a grand production but I don't know if I can say it was a top performance. Well, at least many people have jobs here, and that's a good thing.

Shuhe Ancient Town

Not far from Lijiang Old Town is the Shuhe Ancient Town. I believe this is also a UNESCO Heritage site. We did not spend a lot of time here, just a quick walk through. Some people say that it's not as impressive as Lijiang Old Town but to me they are just different. It's less touristy and much quieter here.



The tour guide told us that they have bonfire at night in this town square. People would be dancing and having a good time.

It's a strange picture but he was just showing us how ancient businessmen used hand signals to bargain for deals.

food alley

Black Dragon Pool

Our last stop for the day was the Black Dragon Pool nearby. Unfortunately the pool was totally dried out due to the lack of adequate rain.

This young man was on his way walking to Lhasa, Tibet, alone.

That's how it should look when there's water.

This was what we saw!

Guanfang Hotel (Garden Villa), Lijiang, Yunnan, China



Guanfang (Garden Villa) Hotel, Lijiang, Yunnan, China

I have stayed in many hotels around the world but this is surely a unique experience here in Lijiang. Our tour used Guanfang Hotel as our two-night stop here and I think that was a smart choice and it certainly was the best hotel that we had on this trip.

This hotel has a very interesting set up. Buildings like town houses are spread out in this beeautiful compound and guests were split up into groups and sent to a building with three or four guest rooms each. A housekeeper takes care of everything inside the house plus preparing scrmptious breakfasts in the morning. We were assigned to a room with a balcony on the 2nd floor of a building pretty close to the parking lot. Very convenient. True, the extra roll-away bed was really low and squeaky but the room itself was decent. Each room comes with its own good-size bathroom. We were kind of stuck with having to carry the heavy luggage upstairs but the housekeeper came to the rescue. She brought our luggage up to the room all by herself and then got us three glasses of warm milk before we were ready to hit the sack. Son said the milk served was the best that he has ever had. Unfortunately we cannot tolerate milk product and missed out on the special treat. This was a nightly ritual that many visitors appreciated.

The whole compound was well-designed, worth your time walking around a bit and enjoy the quaint settings. It seemed like some villas are occupied by individuals. I wouldn't mind living here long term or as a vacation home. We were told that these villas were selling for less than USD $80,000.00 seven years ago, and of course they are worth much much more now. 

from our balcony

Just like an old village.

Each unit is serviced by a housekeeper.

hot breakfast with both Chinese and western fares

 Our housekeeper was watching TV and knitting as we enjoyed the fresh fruits served in this living room in the evenings.

our building

After a long day touring Lijiang, it was nice walking around this hotel ground.

park-like settings

the housekeepers enjoying a quiet walk in the evening

looking towards Jade Dragon Snow Mountain

a computer is available downstairs for guests to use