Lijiang Town is officially called "Dayan Town"-- "Dayan" literally means a "great inkstab", a graphic description of the town's location on a piece of rich flatland fed by a river and surrounded by green mountains. There is no other town in China like Dayan which incorporates the folkways of so many people and the architectural styles of both north and south China. Some say that Lijiang is not unique just because it is unique in too many ways-- how true this is.
The air antiquity assumed by the town testifies to the wisdom of the Naxi people in building it here, not elsewhere. The town is on flatland about 2,400 meters above sea level. To its north are Mt. Xiangshan and Mt.Jinhong and to its west, Mt. Shizi, which effectively shield the town from winter winds. For miles upon miles, cropland expands to the southeast, where the sunshine is abundant and the climate, mild, characterized by breezes blown from the south that cools the summer heat in June and July. It is this area that the local people have turned into a "granary".
What is especially interesting is the way people use water from the Jade Springs. The flow is diverged into the city through three channels. Taking a stroll in the town, you find water your constant companion, flowing merrily either in a stream at your side or in tunnels beneath your foot. To the human race, water means life. To Dayan town, however, it brings not only life, but also beauty. Unlike those asphalted roads in big cities which are straight, streets here wind naturally along streams and around hills. On the West River in the town, there is a sluice-gate which, when lifted, allows water to pour into the city for street washing.
The Yulong Mountains are located where the Qinghai-Tibet and Yunnan-Guizhou plateaus interlock, and together they form the peak of the Yunling Mountains-- the southern-most section of the Himalaya Mountain range. Harboring a string of marine glaciers, the Yunlong mountain range, with snow accumulated over ages, extends unbroken for 35 kilometers, forming the "Jade Dragon" dancing in clouds. Its silvery "scales" shining bright, the "dragon" has a proudly erect "head" in the far north, while its other parts, rolling south, look like the back of the "dragon." The southernmost peak, rising 5,596 meters above sea level, is also known as the "jade pillar that props up the sky."
Earthen and wooden housing structures are most popular. A typical
courtyard here resembles what is found in Beijing-- walled and in
neat squares, with the principle rooms facing south. Unlike the
Beijing courtyard which has rooms facing east and west, spacious
corridors line both sides of the Nazi courtyard which also has an
imposing arch over the gateway.
Bridges are seen everywhere, linking streets and lanes. Many were
built during the Ming and Qing period from the 14th to the early
20th centuries which have survived the wars and earthquakes. For
all this, the town is known as the "Venice of China" or
the "Suzhou on the plateau."
The Children of the land of flowers, the Naxis are fond of flowers and almost every courtyard is a garden. Moreover, every Naxi courtyard is built at the side of a ditch with willow trees growing on both sides. Unwritten but rigorous rules, called "sanyanjing" or "three-hole wells," are followed with regard to use of water. Water in the uppermost "hole" or upper-most section of the ditch is meant exclusively for drinking; the next lower section is where people wash rice and vegetables for cooking; and washing of clothes is allowed only in the lower-most section of the ditch.
The history of the town dates back to the South Song period (1127-1279). In 1253, Kublai, in his expedition to conquer the state of dali, came to what is now Lijiang after his troops crossed the Jinsha river by using inflated bags of animal hide. That explains why many names of places in the Naxi languages are transliterations of "army camps," "drilling grounds," etc. for the Mongolian language.
In the early years of the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368), there were about 1,000 families in Lijiang, which constantly grew in size during the Ming-Qing period. The heart of the Dayan Town is called "Square Street" - a six "mu" (15 "mu" in one nectare) business center which serves as a hub of communication to Sichuan Tibet and other parts of Yunnan.
Since the Qing period, the town, itself a major producer of handicraft articles, has been the distribution center for goods produced in northwest Yunnan, hence the word "gong ben" in the Naxi language which means "a place with many warehouses." Tibetans send their woolen textiles and medicinal herbs here for shipment to other parts of China, and tea and articles for daily use from Xishuang Banna, Fengqing and Xiaguan of Yunnan are sold to Tibetan areas via the town.
During the Second World War, the Flying Tigers - a group of American pilots voluntarily helping China in fighting the Japanese Aggression - built the Basha Airport in the Lijiang area to implement what is known to historians as the "Hump Operation." And along with the airport came banks and companies, and consequently, the area became prosperous.
By taking advantage of its geographic location, the town has served as a center of economic and cultural exchanges between people of the Tibetan, Han, Bai and Naxi ethnic groups and, moreover, as a shining example of their solidarity.