A short time at Mama's

Lijiang is a strange place, its one of the few remaining complete old towns in China and is protected by UNESCO. Obviously this is great but sadly it means that the small chinese streets are insanely busy.
Its an incredibly picturesque town with streams, even more than Dali, running down the edges of the paths and little bridges connecting the maze together.

Stone bridge and cherry blossom. There were even goldfish in the streams

The must fun in Lijiang was the accommodation a simple comfy dorm run by mama Naxi (Naxi is the local chinese minority) she with her army of girls and Baba (her husband) ran the hostel brilliantly. Creating a really friendly atmosphere whilst never failing in seeming to go insane at every turn.

Back at mamas hostel

She organised everything including dinner for the many travellers staying there every evening, tickets and tours to anywhere and always making sure you where topped up on tea and fruit. All of this done at maximum decibel just to keep us on our toes! The hostel itself was in the old town but situated outside of the main tourist arteries so it was quiet too.

Lijiang old town, with genuine locals

To get a real taste of local Naxi village you had to leave Lijiang and head to one of the surrounding villages.

View during the cycle.

On yet another bicycle trip we did just that and it didn't disappoint, not only did we not get lost we also found ourselves in the silent countryside with great views of the local mountain and then quiet streets to cycle through were Naxi people were still living. Sadly in Lijiang the locals have sold up (apparantly perfectly happily) for tourist vendors to use there houses as shops.
Despite the crowds Lijiang is a great and surprisingly peaceful place and i would have happily stayed there a little longer but the weather was great and we (still with the aussies by the way) had a trek to do.

More locals in Lijiangs streets

A short time at Mama's

Lijiang, China