Old Town of Lijiang has a unique site selection, and its layout makes full use of the landscape and the surrounding natural environment. It is bordered by Xiangshan Mountain, Jinhongshan Mountain and Monkey Mountain in the north, and is naturally connected with the open flat dam in the east and south, which not only avoids the cold wind in the northwest, but also faces the southeast light source and sits near the northwest. Yuquan River, which originated at the foot of Xiangshan Mountain in the north of the city, enters the city in three streams, and then divides into countless tributaries, crossing streets and lanes and spreading all over the city, forming a poem and painting of "water around the front of every house and willow hanging behind every house". Streets are not limited to neat and free distribution. The main street is near the water, and the alley is near the canal. More than 300 ancient stone bridges are in harmony with rivers, green trees, Gu Xiang and ancient houses. They have great aesthetic charm of ancient trees, small bridges, flowing water and people in plateau water towns, and are known as "Venice as the proprietor".
Old Town of Lijiang folk houses are one of the types of China folk houses, with distinctive features and styles.
In terms of layout, structure and modeling, according to their own specific conditions and traditional living habits, Old Town of Lijiang residential buildings organically combine the excellent traditions of ancient buildings in the Central Plains and Bai and Tibetan residential buildings, and make bold innovations in building earthquake resistance, shading, rainproof, ventilation and decoration, forming a unique style. Its distinctive feature is that there is no unified body, and it clearly shows the creativity of relying on mountains and rivers, learning from poverty, hiding cleverness from fools and being natural and simple.
Baisha residential complex is located 8 kilometers north of Old Town of Lijiang. It was once the political, economic and cultural center of Lijiang during the Song and Yuan Dynasties (10 ~14th century). Baisha dwellings are distributed on a north-south axis, with a trapezoidal square in the middle. A spring water is introduced into the square from the north, and four alleys lead from the square to four directions, which is very distinctive. The formation and development of Baisha folk houses laid the foundation for the layout of Old Town of Lijiang. Lijiang folk houses are a rare and important heritage for studying the architectural history and cultural history of China.
Old Town of Lijiang is the organic unity of natural beauty and artificial beauty, art and practical economy.
The world-famous Lijiang murals are distributed in the ancient city and its surrounding 15 temples. These murals in Ming and Qing dynasties have the outstanding characteristics of coexistence of various religions and sects. The large-scale mural "The Tathagata Endless" existing in Dabaoji Palace in Baisha Village, Lijiang, brings together hundreds of Buddha statues of Han Buddhism, Tibetan Buddhism and Taoism, which embodies the characteristics of Naxi Nationality Religion culture.
Up to now, there is a hieroglyphic "Dongba" circulating in Lijiang area. This unique script used by Naxi ancestors to record Dongba scriptures is the only living hieroglyph in the world. Today, libraries and museums in China and some European and American countries have collected more than 20,000 Dongba classic ancient books, which have recorded the splendid history and culture of Naxi people for thousands of years. Among them, the Dongba dance score named Cuomo, including dozens of ancient dance arts, is an extremely rare and precious document. Dongba Sutra, known as the "encyclopedia" of ancient Naxi people, is of great value to the study of Naxi history and culture.
Old Town of Lijiang is a model of a well-preserved ancient city. The ancient city built on the basis of three mountains is organically unified with nature. Rows of tile houses in the ancient city, surrounded by verdant green hills, closely surround the ancient city. The houses in the city are simple and vivid in modeling and exquisite and elegant in decoration, which is the crystallization of Naxi culture and technology. The art contained in the ancient city comes from the Naxi people's profound understanding of life and embodies the wisdom of the people. It is the product of the exchange and integration of local national culture and technology and an important part of the precious architectural heritage of the Chinese nation.
Old Town of Lijiang is rich in national traditional culture, which embodies the prosperity and development of Naxi nationality, and is an important historical material for studying the development of human culture.
Lijiang County, which is surrounded by mountains and waters, is said to be named "Dayan Town" because it looks like a big inkstone. Exploring its past, people find that this once forgotten "Ancient Naxi Kingdom" has been inhabited and multiplied by human beings since ancient times. Today's Naxi people are descendants of the Qiang people who moved south in ancient times. In the long years of thousands of years, they worked hard and built their own beautiful homes. The Naxi people in Lijiang have always attached great importance to literature teaching, and many people are good at poetry, piano, calligraphy and painting. Among the colorful festivals in the ancient city, apart from the all-night national songs and dances and local operas, the amateur "Naxi Ancient Music" is the most famous. Among them, "Bai Sha Xi Le" is a large-scale classical music suite which integrates song, dance and pleasure, and is known as the "living fossil of music". Another Lijiang "Dong Jing Qu" is derived from ancient Taoist music, and retains the rhyme of many long-lost lyrics of the Central Plains. Lijiang Naxi ancient music was invited to perform in many European countries, which was warmly welcomed and praised by the audience. Because the members of the band are mostly old people who are over the age of ancient times, they are also called "Naxi Shouxing Orchestra".
After more than 800 years of prosperity, Old Town of Lijiang has gradually become the economic and cultural center of northwest Yunnan, providing good environmental conditions for the development of national culture. The Naxi people living here have created splendid national culture together with other ethnic minorities. No matter the streets, squares, archways, water systems, bridges, residential decorations, courtyard sketches, sills and stone tablets in the ancient city, they are permeated with the cultural literacy and aesthetic taste of the Naxi people, fully embodying the cultural connotation, artistic conception and charm of local ethnic religions, aesthetics, literature and other aspects, and showing the profound and rich contents of history and culture. In particular, Dongba culture, white sand murals and other traditional cultures and arts with rich connotations have left a brilliant chapter for the history of human civilization.
Old Town of Lijiang, Yunnan Province, skillfully combines the economic and strategic importance with the rugged terrain, and truly and perfectly preserves and reproduces the quaint features. The architecture of the ancient city has experienced the baptism and vicissitudes of countless dynasties, and is famous for integrating the cultural characteristics of various ethnic groups. Lijiang also has an ancient water supply system, criss-crossing, exquisite and unique, which still plays an effective role today.