Lijiang
Lijiang, formerly romanized as Likiang, is a prefecture-level city in the northwest of Yunnan Province, China. It has an area of and had a population of 1,253,878 at the 2020 census whom 288,787 lived in the built-up area made of Gucheng District. By the end of 2024, the registered population of the city was 1,243,700.Lijiang is famous for its UNESCO Heritage Site, the Old Town of Lijiang, which contains a mixture of different historical architecture styles and a complex, ancient water-supply system. and borders Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture and Panzhihua City in Sichuan Province to the east. It has one municipality and four counties.
Lijiang City is located on the Yungui Plateau, abutting the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. It is one of the key forest areas in Yunnan Province, and one of the west–east power transmission bases of China's hydropower industry. Lijiang City is a multi-ethnic settlement: apart from the Han nationality, there are a total of 22 ethnic minorities.
Lijiang is the only prefecture-level city with three World Heritage Sites. It is rich in tourism resources, with 104 widely recognised tourist attractions, including the Old Town of Lijiang, Yulong Snow Mountain, Tiger Leaping Gorge, and Laojun Mountain.
History
As far back as 100,000 years ago, people of the late Paleolithic were active in what is now Lijiang. The discovery of cave paintings in the Jinsha River Valley along with numerous Neolithic stone tools and later artifacts of Bronze and Iron Age provenance reveal Lijiang to have been one of the most important centres of ancient human activity in southwest China.During the Warring States period, today's Lijiang was part of the Shu Prefecture of the Qin state. At the end of the Warring States period, it was incorporated into the Dian Kingdom. The Dian Kingdom submitted to the Han dynasty, and today's Lijiang City belonged to the Yuezhi Commandery, known as Suijiu County. By the time of the Three Kingdoms, it was part of Yunnan Prefecture. During the Northern and Southern Dynasties period, the Naxi people migrated to the area. During the time of the Tang dynasty it was incorporated into the Tibetan Empire, and subsequently the Nanzhao kingdom, coming under the jurisdiction of the Jianchuan Jiedushi.
The Baisha Old Town was the political, commercial and cultural center for the local Naxi people and other ethnic groups for 450 years from the year 658 AD to 1107AD. The Dabaoji Palace of the Baisha Fresco, very close to the Baisha Naxi Hand-made Embroidery Institute, was built in the year 658 AD in the Tang dynasty.
In ancient times, the Baisha Old Town used to be the center of silk embroidery in the southwest of China and the most important place of the Ancient Southern Silk Road, also called the Ancient Tea and Horse Road or Ancient tea route. The Ancient Southern Silk Road started from Burma, crossed Lijiang, Shangri-La County, Tibet, continued through Iran, the Fertile Crescent before finally reaching the Mediterranean.
Lijiang submitted to Khubilai Khan as he led his troops against the Dali kingdom in 1253. Though the kingdom was incorporated into the Mongol empire, then the Yuan dynasty, it was given the status of tusi, or indigenous office, which gave autonomy to the local Naxi rulers. During the Ming dynasty, the Naxi were one of the few border peoples to support the Ming immediately. As the Naxi helped the Ming expand in Southwest China the ruler family was given the title of Mu. During this period the Kingdom of Lijiang was able to expand into Sichuan and Tibet bringing many Tibetan peoples into its territory as well as their cultural and religious influence. It was under the rule of the Naxi ruling house of the Mu family during the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties. The Mu "held this position until 1723, when Lijiang became directly incorporated under the authority of the Qing central government."
In the 15th year of the Ming dynasty's Hongwu Emperor's reign, A Jia A De, the local chief of Lijiang, "led the people to submit", and the Lijiang Lu XuanfuSi was restructured into the Lijiang Prefecture. By the 30th year of the Hongwu Emperor, it was promoted to the Lijiang Junmin Fu, which governed over four states, one county, and one patrol inspection office: Tong'an State, Baoshan State, Ju Jin State, Lin Xi county, and Shimen pass patrol Inspection office.
In the 17th year of the Qing dynasty's Shunzhi Emperor's reign, the Lijiang JunminFu was established again, with the Mu family continuing to hold the hereditary position of the chief. In the first year of the Yongzheng Emperor's reign, the implemented the "reform of the native chieftain system" in Lijiang, replacing the hereditary chief with an appointed official from the court, and demoting the Mu family to the position of the Qianlong Emperor's reign, Lijiang County was established.
In the second year of the Republic of China, the Lijiang Prefecture was abolished, retaining only the county, and the county government moved into the former Lijiang Prefecture's office building.
In the 20th year of the Republic of China, three counties were established within the current area of Lijiang: Lijiang, Yongbei, and Huaping.
In 2002 Lijiang City was established, replacing the former Lijiang Naxi Autonomous County.
Geography
Lijiang is located in the northwestern portion of Yunnan and borders Sichuan. It is within the region encompassed by the Hengduan Mountains, where the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau converge. It borders Sichuan Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture and Panzhihua City to the east, and Jianchuan, Heqing and Binchuan three of the Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture in the south. County and Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture Dayao and Yongren counties, west and north are adjacent to Lanping County of Nujiang Yi Autonomous Prefecture and Weixi County of Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. The city has a total area of 20,600 square kilometers and governs the ancient city, Yulong Naxi Autonomous County, Yongsheng County, Huaping County and Ninglang Yi Autonomous County.Lijiang City has a terrain that is higher in the northwest and lower in the southeast. The highest point is the main peak of Yulong Snow Mountain, with an elevation of 5,596 meters, and the lowest point is at the mouth of the Tangba River in Shilongba Township, Huaping County, with an elevation of 1,015 meters, resulting in a maximum elevation difference of 4,581 meters. To the west of Yulong Mountain lies the high mountain and gorge sub-region of the Hengduan Mountain Range, characterized by high mountains and deep valleys, with steep and towering mountain ranges and rivers cutting deeply through them. To the east of Yulong Mountain is part of the Dianxi Basin's mountainous plateau region, specifically the northwestern sub-region of the Dian Plateau, which has a higher elevation and more robust mountainous terrain. On both sides of the main mountain range, there are also extensive east–west oriented valleys, creating a complex and intricate landscape of landforms with undulating terrain and a significant difference in elevation. There are 111 large and small basins scattered among the mountain ranges, generally at an elevation of over 2,000 meters, with the Lijiang Basin being the largest, covering an area of about 200 square kilometers and an average elevation of 2,466 meters.
The Jinsha River, which flows through Lijiang City, along with the three major mountain ranges that rise abruptly on both sides—the Yunling Mountains' Laojun Mountain, Yulong Mountain, and Mianmian Mountain, form the basic framework and backbone of the topography of Lijiang City. Laojun Mountain stretches like a barrier from north to south on the west side, with its main peak reaching an elevation of 4,247.4 meters. Yulong Snow Mountain, which is located 15 kilometers from the seat of the city government of Lijiang, features high mountain glacier landforms and is covered with snow all year round. Its 13 peaks are connected end to end, pointing towards the sky. To the east lies Mianmian Mountain. There are 12 high mountains in Lijiang City with an elevation ranging from 3,500 to 5,000 meters. Middle mountains with an elevation between 2,500 and 3,500 meters are distributed across all counties. The areas of Ninglang and Yongsheng have a particularly high number of these mountains, and low mountainous areas below 2,500 meters are widely distributed in the southeastern and southern parts of the city.
Climate
Owing to its low latitude and high elevation, the city centre of Lijiang experiences a mild subtropical highland climate. Winters are mild, very dry and sunny, although average lows in December and January are just below the freezing mark; January is the coolest month, with an average temperature of. Spring begins early and remains dry and sunny until late May, when there is a dramatic uptick in frequency and amount of rainfall that lasts until late September. Summers are warm, rainy and damp, with June, the warmest month, averaging. Autumn sees an abrupt reduction in rainfall and return to sunniness. The annual mean temperature is, while precipitation averages, around 80% of which occurs from June to September. With monthly percent possible sunshine ranging from 29% in July to 80% in December, the city receives 2,412 hours of sunshine annually.Hydrological
The rivers within Lijiang city are divided into two major river basins and three water systems, namely the Jinsha River system and the Yalong River system of the Yangtze River basin, and the Lancang River system of the Lancang-Mekong River basin. Among them, the Yangtze River basin covers an area of 20,799 square kilometers, accounting for 98% of the total area; the Lancang River basin covers an area of 420 square kilometers, accounting for 2% of the total area. There are a total of 93 second-order and above tributaries of the Jinsha River, Yalong River, and Lancang River within Lijiang city, of which there are 21 rivers with a basin area of more than 200 square kilometers.In addition to Lugu Lake, there are two larger natural lakes in Lijiang city, Chenghai and Lashihai. Among them, Chenghai is located in Yongsheng County and is one of the three lakes in the world that are rich in natural spirulina. It is also the only lake in China where spirulina can grow naturally. It covers an area of 77.2 square kilometers, with a water storage capacity of 1.987 billion cubic meters, an average water depth of 25.74 meters, and is the fourth largest lake in Yunnan Province.
Lashihai is located in Lashi Town, Yulong County, 8 kilometers away from the urban area of Lijiang. The lake area is oval-shaped with an altitude of 2450 meters, a water depth of 2.5 to 4.5 meters, a water storage area of 241 square kilometers, and a lake surface area of 8.5 square kilometers. In 1998, it became the first highland wetland nature reserve and a migratory bird habitat in Yunnan Province, and in 2005, it was included in the list of Internationally Important Wetlands.