Old Town

If a waterside location indeed engenders good fortune, then Lìjiāng is lucky, lucky, lucky. The old town is dissected by a web of arterylike canals that once brought the city's drinking water from Yuquan Spring, in what is now Black Dragon Pool Park. Several wells and pools are still in use around town (but hard to find). Where there are three pools, these were designated into pools for drinking, washing clothes and washing vegetables. A famous example of these is the White Horse Dragon Pool in the deep south of the old town, where you can still see the odd local washing their veggies after buying them in the market.

The focus of the old town is the busy Old Market Square (四方街; Sìfāng Jiē). Once the haunt of Naxi traders, they've long since made way for tacky souvenir stalls. However, the view up the hill and the surrounding lanes are still extraordinary.

Now acting as sentinel of sorts for the town, the Looking at the Past Pavilion has a unique design using dozens of four-storey pillars – culled from northern Yúnnán old-growth forests.