Ancient allure survives in Lijiang, despite commercialization

Lijiang is an attractive destination away from the disquietude of China's megacities, backed by pristine scenes of nature and the elegant beauty of ancient Chinese architecture.

A disastrous earthquake leveled the area in 1996. It was meticulously rebuilt with strict adherence to the original design, contributing to its UNESCO World Heritage listing in 1997.

Dayan city is now the poster town of this splendid old culture. The settlement has long been a cultural bastion of the Naxi ethnicity, who ruled the surrounding highlands for centuries under successive Chinese dynasties, peaking between the Ming era (1368-1644) and the middle of the Qing's (1644-1911) reign.