the old town was chilled out but way too commercial.

Small winding streets, beautiful and well preserved (what seemed to me) traditional houses, plenty and varied shopping. Quite a mission for a westerner to find a good (western, of course) lunch...! Very entertaining walking around.

Having seen about half a dozen old towns which have been developed for tourists, this one is probably one of the best-managed and cleanest.

Don't worry about getting lost someone will help you find your way out of the township and don't feel worried about your own safety the place is as safe as houses.

Loved the architecture, cobblestones, river, pedestrian only zone and people in native dress. Disliked the sameness of shops, bar scene, some tourist trap restaurants.

Shops after shops after shops with the same stuff, and too many tour groups.

Lijiang Old Town (丽江古城) is bigger than Shuhe Old Town (素河古城). The inn where we stayed at gave us a map, but it is so confusing and was not of much help. We took some time to figure out how to navigate from our hotel to the famous Water Wheel (大水车) by Yuhe Square (玉河广场). Xinhe Street （新华街） and The... More

It's a must-see heritage site, although it's also very touristy and restaurants/coffee shops are relatively expensive.

You would be hard-pressed to recognise that much of Lijiang Old Town has been rebuilt since the devastating earthquake in 1996, which killed 200 people and destroyed 186,000 homes. It would have been easy to "Disneyfy" Lijiang (and some old backpackers may insist this is what has happened) but the city has managed to avoid this. The place feels authentic,... More