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Lijiang Old Town
September 18, 2011, Sunday
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LIJIANG'S Old Town, which is perfectly adapted to the uneven topography of this key commercial and strategic site in Yunnan Province, has retained a historic look that is truly authentic. Its architecture is noteworthy for the blending of elements from several cultures that have come together over many centuries. Lijiang also possesses an ancient water-supply system of great complexity and ingenuity that still functions effectively today.
In the 13th century AD, the ancestors of the ruling Mu family moved their main center from Baisha to the foot of the Shizi Mountains to a new town known as Dayechang (later Dayan), where they began building houses surrounded by a city wall and moat.
The northern part of the city was a commercial district. The main streets in this part of the old town radiate from the broad street known as Sifangjie, which was traditionally the commercial and trading center of northwestern Yunnan Province. On the west side of Sifangjie is the imposing three-storied Kegongfang (Imperial Examination Archway), which is flanked by the western and central rivers.
A sluice on the western river uses the different levels of the two waterways to wash the streets, a unique form of municipal sanitation. The streets are paved with slabs of a fine-grained red breccia. Water flows from here to Shuangshi Bridge, where it branches into three tributaries. These subdivide into a network of channels and culverts to supply every house in the town.
(UNESCO website)
In the 13th century AD, the ancestors of the ruling Mu family moved their main center from Baisha to the foot of the Shizi Mountains to a new town known as Dayechang (later Dayan), where they began building houses surrounded by a city wall and moat.
The northern part of the city was a commercial district. The main streets in this part of the old town radiate from the broad street known as Sifangjie, which was traditionally the commercial and trading center of northwestern Yunnan Province. On the west side of Sifangjie is the imposing three-storied Kegongfang (Imperial Examination Archway), which is flanked by the western and central rivers.
A sluice on the western river uses the different levels of the two waterways to wash the streets, a unique form of municipal sanitation. The streets are paved with slabs of a fine-grained red breccia. Water flows from here to Shuangshi Bridge, where it branches into three tributaries. These subdivide into a network of channels and culverts to supply every house in the town.
(UNESCO website)
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