Section / longer reads
Lijiang field notes
Essays on the old town at dawn, Naxi houses, mountain light, and what tourism changed.
5 notes / longer reads
In this section
05
entries in the ledger
The practical guides tell you what to do. These notes explain why the basin looks the way it does: the old town before the shops open, the logic of a Naxi courtyard, the weather that hides Jade Dragon, the commercial economy, and the villages beyond Dayan.
Field desk / updated 14 Nov 2026
The old town at dawn
Before the shops open, Lijiang belongs to the people who sweep it, deliver to it, and live above it.
What tourism did to Lijiang
The old town is a business now. That is not the whole story, but it is the story most visitors see first.
Reading a Naxi house
Wood, mud brick, a courtyard, and a carved door: how to read the basin's houses.
The light on Jade Dragon
Why the mountain disappears for days, and what the clear mornings are actually like.
Beyond Dayan
The villages, fields, and roads that make up the Lijiang most visitors never see.