Lijiang Bike Tour

Today your guide will pick you up at the hotel and take you to start your China bike tour. Your bike tour will first start from the Lijiang Ancient Town. Founded in the late 13th century, it is located in the ancient city of Lijiang City, covering an area of about 7 square kilometers. The streets in the ancient town are built near mountains and rivers and paved with red breccia, so you can fully enjoy the natural scenery. Besides, there are many delicious foods you can taste, such as Jidouliangfen (bean jelly made of chickpeas), Lijiang Cake, Corn Cake, Glutinous Rice Cake, Copper Hot Pot, and matsutake.

Then we will ride northwards for nearly forty minutes to Shuhe Ancient Town, which is an important part of Lijiang Ancient Town. In the center of the town, you will see a square, covering an area of 250 square meters, which is called Shuhe Sifang Street. The square is surrounded by shops with ancient wooden doors painted dark red. And bright bluestones are paved in front of shops. You might see some old people sitting in the square. Walking 100 meters north along Shuhe Street, you can see a clear pool, Jiudinglongtan, gushing spring day and night. The local people regard it as a divine spring, and they have built the Longtan Temple.

Located to the north of Shuhe Ancient Town and about 4.3 kilometers away, Baisha Old Town is also a part of Lijiang Ancient Town. It used to be the ancient capital of the Naxi nationality, living in Yunnan and the political, economic, and cultural center of Lijiang. There is a very famous scenic spot, ancient Baisha Mural Paintings. It lasted more than 300 years from the early Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) to the early Qing Dynasty (1636-1912) to finish. There are 55 ancient Baisha Mural Paintings stored in Dabaoji Palace, Dading Pavilion, Dajue palace and other temples. You can find that in the same mural, there are not only Buddhist statues of Han Buddhism and Taoism but also Buddhist statues of Lamaism.

After having lunch in a local restaurant, we will head to Yuhu Village, also called Wuluken, which means a village at the foot of Yulong Snow Mountain. Yuhu was a man-made lake dug by the Mu family before the Ming Dynasty. Summer Palace, Yulong Academy, and deer farms were built along the lake. Here you can clearly see the Yulong Snow Mountain. Here you can visit Locke’s former residence, which is located in the middle of Yuhu village. Locke is a botanist, explorer, and geographer. He once lived in Lijiang for 27 years. His residence has been restored into a quadrangle. There are many pictures taken by Locke and some utensils he has used. On the second floor is Locke’s living room and bedroom, with some beds, stools and so on.

The last attraction in our Lijiang bike tour is Yufeng Monastery, about four kilometers away from Yuhu Village. It is located at the south foot of Yulong Snow Mountain, built in 1700. It used to have nine courtyards, and now has a main hall and two courtyards. The layout of the main hall is a quadrangle. You can see two stone lions sitting in front of the hall. And the murals of the Four Heavenly Kings on the front doors of the main hall were painted by the 10th Karmapa, the heir of one of the branches of Tibetan Buddhism. Besides, Yufeng Monastery is also famous for camellia flowers. If you are lucky, you can see more than ten thousand camellias blooming. You can take photos and share them with your relatives.

Shuhe Ancient Town

Lijiang Ancient Town

Author: Zhang Xuelei