Half a century ago, a Russian named Peter Ku was dispatched to Lijiang by the International Industrial Cooperatives. He was deeply enchanted by the "heaven-like scenes", and stayed in Lijiang for 9 years. In his book "The Forgotten Kingdom" he wrote, "Lijiang is rarely known to the outside world. It is the ancient Naxi Kingdom in south China which is almost forgotten..." As a matter of fact, Li Jing, the Vice Governor of Yunnan in the Yuan Dynasty admired 700 years ago, "The snow mountain in Lijiang is rarely found elsewhere in the world for it resembles thousands layers of piled up jade..." Xu Xiake, the great traveler of the Ming Dynasty traveled thousands of miles to Lijiang, the journey of which took him innumerable days and recorded the most brilliant chapters of his travelogues.

Photo:
Kegong tower
Streets, bridge, wooden houses, red lanterns and canal
Bridges leading to restaurants and residences across the canal
Detail of traditional house
Old town Rooftops seen from Wangu tower
Ming dynasty Wufeng Lou (Five Phoenix Hall), seen through entrance arch