More Lijiang photos: lovely streets and Naxi people.

Cobblestone street, canals and wooden buildings in the lovely town of Lijiang in Yunnan province, China. Lijiang is a hill town (2400m) located in the northwestern part of Yunnan province and borders the province of Sichuan. The city is known for its unique Naxi culture. The Naxi are descended from Tibetan nomads. They have a matriarchal family tradition and their own writing system that is more than 1000 years old. Lijiang is also known as the “Venice of the East” (because of its system of waterways and bridges) and is an UNESCO World Heritage Site.

In the old town of Dali you’ll find many funny tour guides dressed in so-called traditional clothes. Dali and surroundings are home to the Bai minority. Most Bai women who are still wearing traditional clothes in daily life wear blue clothes like the woman returning from her fields on the picture below.      

City wall around Dali, a traditional (and touristic) city near the Erhai Lake in Yunnan province, China A very small part of the Erhai Lake is visible in front of the hills on the left side of this photo.   Three old people taking it easy on this hot August day. Many buildings in Dali have (colorful) decorations at the facades

Stone Forest east of Kunming, the capital of Yunnan Province, China This Stone Forest is a group of limestone formations roughly 90 km east of Kunming, the capital of Yunnan Province. The “forest” covers an area of about 500 km2. Of course people tend to give names to the rocks, like the elephant rock below. Elephant rock, Stone Forest, Kunming  

People playing Mahjong next to the Xisi Ta (West Tower or West Pagoda) in Kunming In Kunming you’ll find these “twin towers” constructed in the late eighth or early ninth century AD, under the rule of the Kingdom of Nanzhao. The east tower is located 200 meters to the east and situated in the Dongsi Tower Tea Garden (Dong Si Ta Cha Hua Yuan).

More Dragon’s Backbone Rice Terraces in the surroundings of Ping’An near Longsheng, China (click for more pictures)   Children playing at a waterfall just outside a village. Two Yao women with colorful clothes walking along the rice terraces. The Dragon’s Backbone Rice Terraces are mainly inhabited by two minority groups: the Zhuang and the Yao people. The Yao women are known for their extremely long hair that can be up to two meters long.

View on the Dragon’s Backbone Rice Terraces from a hilltop in Ping’An near Longsheng, China Ping’An (or Ping’Ancun) is a 650 year old Zhuang village.  During the Yuan Dynasty and Qing Dynasty the Zhuang minority cultivated the hills around Longsheng and Ping’An. The Zhuang people build a large amount of rice terraces which resulted in a spectacular scenic area. Views of the Dragon’s Backbone rice terraces near Ping’An shortly after a heavy rain. You can still see the clouds hanging low in the valley.

The Elephant Trunk Hill in Guilin is a major tourist attraction. Chinese tourists in particular enjoy posing with Cormorants and the Elephant Trunk Hill in the background. Cormorants were widely used in the region for fishing. For this, their necks are pinched so that they cannot swallow the fish. For many Chinese a nice tourist attraction. We thought it was a terrible sight.

Golden and silver pagoda’s or the Sun & Moon Twin Towers in Shanhu Lake in Guilin. Guilin is a small city (by Chinese standards) and is located on the River Li. Guilin and the surrounding area are one of China’s top tourist destinations. The landscape to the south (in the direction of Yangshuo) consists of many high karst towers (often approximately 100 to 200 meters high). North of Guilin are the photogenic rice terraces of Longsheng. The Elephant Trunk Hill is a hill, landmark and tourist attraction in Guilin. It is also the symbol of Guilin.