Lijiang
Travellers I’d spoken with almost unanimously indicated that they preferred Dali to Lijiang, which is three hours north into the mountains. Lijiang is too touristy, they said. They are all on crack. There are a few key differences between Dali and Lijiang.
Frist, Dali’s old town is only vaguely interesting. The buildings are not much different than old buildings in the rest of China. There is nothing in China like Lijiang. Second, while throngs of tourists roam both places, there is nowhere interesting (in town) to escape to in Dali, whereas Lijiang’s old town is only about 1/3 touristed and the rest is devoid of tourists and tourist infrastructure. Third, the touts in Dali are quite aggressive and it’s difficult to walk down the street or enjoy an al fresco meal. In Lijiang, they are not only rare but relaxed. It’s almost like being in the West.
The old town of Lijiang is all cobblestone streets and traditional courtyard-style houses, interlaced with fast-flowing canals. The houses are wood, brick and adobe. The streets are narrow and winding. You cannot avoid getting lost, but around every corner is another picture-perfect laneway, crooked house, or local doing their washing in the canal. So getting lost is sort of the point. Stick to the tourist area, and it’s as touristy as Dali, but overall it simply isn’t even close.
The canals support a large goldfish population, some of which are quite huge. There are also quite a number of rodents, as evidenced by the ample, fat and healthy feline population.
I stayed at a small family guesthouse in the non-touristy part of town where the service was wonderful. Food in Lijiang, however, is a downside. Typical tourist fare – overpriced and not very good. All in all, Lijiang is just a nice, quiet place to relax and you don’t have to see a single tourist if you don’t want to.
From here, I headed north to hike a few days in the Tiger Leaping Gorge.
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