The Final Adventure - 25th Stop: Lijiang

Lijiang is aesthetically what you'd imagine an old Chinese town to be - quaint cobbled streets, flanked by gently trickling streams. Buildings with snow-powdered, ornamental tiled roofs, decorated with paper lanterns and cherry blossoms. It had all of the above, mixed with the main component of modern China - lots of people! So, although beautiful, it could have been so much better. The good news is, we decided to stay on the outskirts in a much quieter and more authentic little village called Baisha, where we got to enjoy all of the good things about Lijiang, without the tourist throngs.

We arrived into Lijiang on an overnight train from Kunming, and after jumping on a bus from there to Lijiang Old Town, and then into a taxi to Baisha, we could finally settle in. And what better way to immerse yourself in the Chinese countryside than picking up a couple of bikes and cycling from village to village. From Baisha to Shuhe, along the foothills of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain (great name btw!) and inadvertently through a swarm of bees - it was a thoroughly wholesome afternoon. And we even rounded it off with a sampling of local teas under the bright, March sun.

The next day, we got a bus from our quiet haven into Lijiang itself. It was relatively busy but nothing we hadn't experienced before and that minor flaw would be the only bad thing I would say about the place. It was otherwise really, really nice! Even the McDonald's looked classy!

In terms of attractions, the best spot was probably Black Dragon Pond - a scenic little park, just on the fringes of the old town. And if Lijiang and Baisha were your stereotypical Chinese villages, then this was the park equivalent.

The town itself was just as lovely and the kind of place where you could easily spend a whole day just meandering in and out of the town's maze-like alleyways. It's also worth popping into Mu's Palace to get a nice look over the town from above (unfortunately not named "Mu's Views").

And that was Lijiang! We made an extra quick video diary back in Baisha before dinner:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDhB5SDo-fs

Great food, great company and beautiful surroundings; a lovely little round up to our time in town before we had to return to Lijiang that evening for our night train back to Kunming, in what would be our fourth and final visit to the city. I guess I should probably give a run down on our time there next time around. See you then!