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Voykit pocket guide · China
Lijiang
丽江
Give Lijiang 2 nights: one full day in Dayan Old Town and Mu Palace, one for Shuhe or Baisha. Skip it as a base for Tiger Leaping Gorge.
Lijiang is a UNESCO-listed Naxi old town at 2,400 m in northwestern Yunnan, once the seat of a small kingdom and now a busy tourist town of cobbled lanes, canals and wooden courtyards. It works as a 2-night stop between Dali and Shangri-La, or as a base for Jade Dragon Snow Mountain and the villages of the Lijiang Valley. The altitude is the first thing to plan around, the crowds the second.
- Country
- China
- Local name
- 丽江
- Best months
- Mar–May, Oct–Nov
- Avoid
- Jul–Aug (rainy season), Chinese public holidays
- Stay
- 2 nights
Checked 2026-09. Prices, hours and rules change; anything marked (check) is not confirmed.
Essentials
- Currency
- CNY
- Money
- Alipay and WeChat Pay accept Visa, Mastercard, JCB and Amex cards; single payments over ¥200 carry a fee of about 3% on a foreign card (smaller ones are free), and per-payment and yearly caps apply — check the app. Keep a second way to pay.
- Daily spend
- Budget ¥200–350 excl. bed · Mid ¥350–700 excl. bed · High ¥700+ excl. bed (estimate; check)
- SIM and data
- A roaming eSIM from outside China routes traffic through its home network, so Google, WhatsApp and Instagram work without a VPN — the simplest setup.
- Emergency
- Police 110 · Fire 119 · Ambulance 120
- Plugs
- Types A, C, I · 220 V · 50 Hz · Many sockets take flat two-pin (A), round two-pin (C) and angled three-pin (I) plugs; UK plugs need an adapter.
- Tipping
- Restaurants: No tip; upmarket hotels add 10–15% service.; Taxis and DiDi: No tip.; Tour guides and drivers: Expected on organised tours: about ¥100–200 a day for a guide, ¥50–100 for a driver.; Hotel porters: Not expected; ¥10–20 in luxury hotels.
- Water
- Not for drinking from the tap; bottled water ¥2–5, and kettles and free bottles in hotel rooms. Restaurants serve hot water or tea.
- Toilets
- Public toilets are frequent and free; squat toilets outside hotels and malls. Carry tissues — many have no paper.
What things cost
| Item | Price |
|---|---|
| Coffee or tea in the old town | ¥20–40 |
| Noodle soup or Naxi pie | ¥15–35 |
| Beer: draught in a bar / can at a shop | ¥25–40 / ¥5–10 |
| Taxi, city ride | ¥9–20 |
| Mu Palace entry | ¥40 (check) |
| Black Dragon Pool entry | ¥50 (check) |
| eSIM or data SIM, about a week | ¥50–120 |
Desk estimates, checked 2026-09; check locally.
Get in
By air
- LJG · Lijiang Sanyi International Airport
- About 40 min from the city; official fixed taxi fare ¥100, airport bus ¥20 to the Blue Skies Hotel area, then a short taxi.
Typical fares
- LJG airport → city, taxi
- ¥100 fixed, about 40 min
- LJG airport → Blue Skies Hotel, airport bus
- ¥20, then ¥7–10 taxi to the old town
- Lijiang → Kunming, bullet train
- ¥210–220 second class, 3–3.5 h
- Lijiang → Dali, K-class train
- ¥34 hard seat, about 2 h
Get around
Walking is the only way inside the old town. Taxis cover the rest of the city, meter from about ¥9; drivers often do not know small addresses, so have the location in Chinese. Public buses run within the city, and shared mini-vans serve nearby villages for ¥1–5 — village fares are separate from city bus fares. For a day of outlying sights, hiring a taxi or mini-van runs roughly ¥100–300 depending on your Chinese and bargaining.
See and do
Known for
- Dayan Old Town (UNESCO)
- Naxi culture and Dongba script
- Mu Palace
- Jade Dragon Snow Mountain
- Shuhe and Baisha old towns
Day trips
| Where | How | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Shuhe Old Town | Bus 5a/5b from the old town, bus 6 from Xiangshan Market or bus 11 from the bus station | About 30 min |
| Baisha Ancient Town | Bus 6 from near the north entrance of Black Dragon Pool, or about 40 min by rented bike | About 40 min |
| Jade Dragon Snow Mountain | Mini-van from Hongtaiyang square (¥20, waits until full), then park shuttle | About 1–1.5 h |
| Shangri-La | Bus from Lijiang Bus Station, or continue by road | About 4 h (check) |
| Tiger Leaping Gorge | Bus or hired van toward Qiaotou, then local transport to the trailheads | About 2–2.5 h |
Sleep
- Dayan Old Town (Gucheng)
- The classic stay: Naxi courtyards, canals and lanes. Taxis cannot enter, so you carry bags from a gate or ask the guesthouse to send a cart.
- Shuhe Old Town
- About 8 km north, quieter and less commercial; bus 5a/5b or 11 from town, roughly 30 min.About 5 mi north, quieter and less commercial; bus 5a/5b or 11 from town, roughly 30 min.
- New town (around the old town gates)
- Cheaper, easier for taxis and luggage; a 10–20 min walk to the old town.
Phrase card
| English | Say or show |
|---|---|
| Hello | 你好nǐ hǎo |
| Thank you | 谢谢xièxie |
| How much is it? | 多少钱？duōshao qián |
| Can I pay by card? | 可以刷卡吗？kěyǐ shuākǎ ma |
| Where is the toilet? | 洗手间在哪里？xǐshǒujiān zài nǎlǐ |
| I don't understand | 我听不懂wǒ tīngbudǒng |
Etiquette, safety and scams
Etiquette
- Greeting: Handshake and a nod; use surnames with a title; avoid: Hugs and cheek kisses
- Face: Disagree privately and indirectly; avoid: Correcting or embarrassing someone in front of others
- Gifts: Give with two hands; expect the gift to be refused once or twice and opened later; avoid: Clocks, umbrellas, white flowers, sets of four
- Business cards: Present and receive with both hands, read it, keep it on the table; avoid: Writing on it or pocketing it at once
- Queues and crowds: Hold your ground politely in scrums at buses and lifts; avoid: Taking pushing personally
- Temples: Walk clockwise around Tibetan stupas and prayer wheels; remove hats; avoid: Touching statues or photographing where signs forbid
- Politics: Listen; follow your host's lead; avoid: Raising Tibet, Taiwan, Xinjiang, 1989 or the party leadership
- Numbers and colour: Red and 8 are lucky; red envelopes carry money gifts; avoid: Writing names in red; the number 4
Scams and watch-outs
- Altitude: Lijiang sits at about 2,400 m. Take the first day or two easy, especially if you flew in from sea level.
- Cobblestones are slippery when wet and many canal-side walkways and bridges have no handrails.
- Old Town entry is free; the maintenance fee was abolished in 2017, but some sights inside still charge.
- Jade Dragon Snow Mountain cable cars can be cancelled in high wind; the park entry ticket does not include cable cars or shuttle.
- Taxis at the railway station often refuse the meter and ask ¥30–40; ¥15 may be possible with bargaining.
Lijiang is a safe tourist town; the real risks are altitude on arrival, slippery cobblestones and canal edges without handrails, and tourist shops with no posted prices — ask before you buy.
One and two days
No timed day plan for Lijiang yet. Suggested stay: 2 nights. Build a day from the list below, mornings for the big sight.
- Dayan Old Town (UNESCO)
- Naxi culture and Dongba script
- Mu Palace
- Jade Dragon Snow Mountain
- Shuhe and Baisha old towns
Sources
Written by Voykit; facts cross-checked against these sources, last desk check 2026-09. Prices, hours and rules change: check on the day.
- Wikivoyage: Lijiang, revision 5236561 (CC BY-SA 4.0): en.wikivoyage.org/w/index.php?oldid=5236561
Pocket card
Cut along the border and keep it in your wallet. Show the local-script lines to a driver.
Lijiang丽江
请到这个地址
To this address, please
My hotel (write the name and address in the local script)
No US or UK embassy in Lijiang; the US embassy and UK embassy are in Beijing, with consulates-general in Chengdu, Shanghai and Guangzhou. Check before you travel.
Old town lanes are pedestrian-only; taxis stop at the gates.
Voykit · checked 2026-09
Printed from Voykit (/lijiang). Written by Voykit; checked 2026-09. Estimates only: confirm prices, hours and entry rules on the day.