Brief information on Stone Drum Town  

The longest river, the Yangtze River, runs from the roof of the world, the- Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and then into Yunnan Province, converging with the Lancang River and the Nu River in the mountain ranges. When coming to the Stone Drum Town in Yulong County, the river suddenly makes a 100 degree turn, heading northeast, and form a V-shaped bend, known as the First Bend of Yangtze River. Here the river is wide and water flows gently. Surrounded by mountains, Stone Drum (Shigu) Town was always considered as a significant strategic military fortress by the strategists. It was recorded that both Zhuge Liang, a famous statesman and strategist during the Three Kingdoms Period (220 -280) and Kublai, the fifth emperor of the Yuan Dynasty, had chosen this place for their expeditionary forces to cross the river.

Stone Drum Town lies on the mountain at the First Bend of the Yangtze River. Walking into the town, you’ll see a pentagonal pavilion on the riverside where a drum-shaped marble plaque (diameter 15 m, thickness 0.7 m) stands erect, and thus the town was named “Stone Drum”. The drum-shaped monument was built in the reign of the Emperor Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty (in 1561), commemorating the victory and subsequent spread of power of the Tusi of Mu Family of Lijiang at that time.

Stone Drum Town was a historically important town on the ancient tea-horse trading road, a central trade route for exchanging Tibetan horses and tea from the interior. Now it still has much well-preserved historic architecture, with simple and unsophisticated design. For centuries, it has been a bustling ethnic community, inhabited by Naxi, Bai, Miao, Zang, Yi and Hui ethnic groups. Today Stone Drum Town still boasts a flourishing trade fair, held every three days.

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

   

Transportation: The bus ride from Lijiang takes about 2 hours and costs about CNY 10.