Lijiang

Water village

Lijiang is a beautiful water town in Yunnan.  An earthquake in 1996 brought this previously little known town to the world’s attention and it has since been rebuilt to attract tourists.  The town was mostly populated by the Nakhi tribe and today, little old ladies with their traditional costumes can be found dancing in the town centre.  Wooden buildings with beautifully carved window frames sitting across each other on either side of small bridges are the icon of Lijiang, as are the narrow cobblestone paths that can easily confuse tourists.  These buildings house numerous bars, restaurants and souvenir shops today.  While there is little water flowing through the many channels in the town, in the old days, the water flowing through was clean enough to drink and was the main water supply to each household.