Lijiang Old Town

丽江古城

Visit duration

1–2 days

Opening hours

Open at all hours; shops roughly 9:00–22:30

The maintenance-fee checkpoints operate in daytime; early morning is the only time the lanes feel like a town rather than a festival.

Tickets

Old town maintenance fee¥50
checked at main entrances and some sights

Reservation

No booking needed

No booking needed for the town itself.

Facts verified July 13, 2026

Lijiang’s old town is an 800-year-old maze of cobbled lanes, canals and Naxi timber houses that once anchored the Tea Horse Road caravan trade. UNESCO listed it in 1997; tourism arrived at scale soon after, and today it is simultaneously one of China’s most beautiful townscapes and one of its busiest.

The trick is timing: at 7am the lanes belong to Naxi grandmothers and delivery carts; by noon they belong to tour flags and drum shops. Climb Lion Hill for the sea of grey-tiled roofs against Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, then use Lijiang as your base for the quieter villages — Baisha and Shuhe — up the valley.

Good to know

Is Lijiang Old Town too touristy?

Midday, yes — it is one of China’s most visited places. Early mornings and late evenings are a different town entirely, and the nearby old villages of Baisha and Shuhe offer the same architecture at a fraction of the crowd.

What is the 50-yuan fee?

An official old-town maintenance fee, checked at main entrances and required for some sights like Black Dragon Pool. Keep the receipt — it is valid for your whole stay.