Brief information on Shuhe Old Town  

Shuhe Old Town, only 7 km away from Lijiang’s Old Town, is another place protected as a “world culture heritage site” in Lijiang City. It once was a significant town on the famous ancient Tea-horse Road in Chinese history, with an even longer history than the Lijiang Old Town.

Tourists in Lijiang generally enjoy to walk through the Shuhe Old Town, and some even choose to stay overnight as an alternative to the bustling Lijiang; Shuhe is on the contrary extremely simpleminded and tranquil. In Shuhe you will find the true face of local history, a welcome relief from the so-called ‘vanity’ of Lijiang’s beautiful women and lively nightlife.

From Lijiang to Shuhe, you only need to travel along the road in the direction of Jade Dragon Mountain. After around 5km, take a left turn to a section of broken stones. Go down this road for about 2 kilometers, and an old village will come into sight. That is Shuhe Old Town, also known as “Dragon Fountain Village”. Legend is that the famous traveler Xu Xiake in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) had been the town and recorded it on his famous works Xu Xiake Travelogue (a famous travel note from ancient times of Chinese geography). This demonstrates the importance of Shuhe in Lijiang area as early as Ming Dynasty.

At Shuhe, another place worth trying place is Sifang Street, striking in its similarity to Sifang Square in Lijiang’s Old Town. Occupying an area of over 400 square meters, this square is the most populous place in Shuhe, especially during the market-day. Shuhe residents and people of neighboring small towns and villages will come here to buy and sell their articles for daily use. The small stores and shops with old wooden storefront saround the square, or the Bottled bluestone pavements in front of stores as well the smoking senior people sitting alone under suns all reveal the simple and unsophisticated natural colors of life.

Standing at the center of the square, you can carefully observe that your surroundings are all traditional Naxi residence buildings. The indelible traces of the development of the Naxi people can be easily found here: giving up the nomadic lifestyle and settling for farming, and later starting to do business. The Sifang Street was once an important leather trade market on the Tea-horse Road. Even today, the smooth stone slabs trampled by people, horses and history still seem to reflect the flourishing and bustling scenes of former days.

*You can download the bilingual note to show it to a taxi driver or someone else to find your way to Shuhe Old Town if you plan to visit Shuhe Old Town and have language problems.