Shuhe Ancient Town 束河古鎮 @ Yunnan

Date: 27 Dec 2008
City: Lijiang, Yunnan, China
Remarks: Day 5

Shuhe Ancient Town 束河古鎮 was indeed the third old town in our Yunnan Trip. Never thought of going that many old towns in one go, but once again, plan never catches up with changes.

We planned to go Jade Dragon Snow Mountain 玉龍雪山 but the wind was too strong that the whole glacier was shut down. Our driver suggested this place so here we were. in Shuhe Ancient Town 束河古鎮.

The Old Town of Lijiang was usually referring to the bustling Dayan Town,  but in fact the nearby Shuhe Ancient Town and Baisha Ancient Town are also included in the UNESCO World Heritage. Shuhe Ancient Town was one of the earliest settlement of Naxi ethnic group in Lijiang, a well-preserved market town on the Cha Ma Road. It only took about 10 min drive from Dayan Town to Shuhe Ancient Town.

Shuhe Ancient Town charged entry fee of RMB 30 and Old Town maintenance fee of RMB 80, but we have escaped from it by entering via the side door as suggested by our driver. wakaka

It was quite a nice old town, kind of like the commonly referred Old Town of Lijiang (Dayan Town), but in a smaller scale and in a better version. Better in a sense that the Shuhe Ancient Town has less tourist, and has still remain a certain degree of authenticity. There were beautiful traditional Naxi houses and cobbled streets. Many old Naxi houses are now cafe, guesthouses, restaurants and souvenir shops, but the houses are well preserved with its authenticity than those in the Old Town of Lijiang.

There were many horses for tourist ride in the town. You can almost saw it everywhere in town and people kept asking like every 5 minutes. And since there were so many horses in the town, you have to be careful while wandering around, be careful if the horses, as well as be careful if the horse shits on the streets!!

I heard from a tour guide in a museum in Shuhe Ancient Town regarding the "sky burial". Turn out the Naxi ethnic group also has the customs of sky burial. The dead was incised and the first knife was exercised by the the family member of the dead!!