Lijiang, Yunnan

For the river in Guangxi Province, see Lijiang River. Other uses see Lijiang and Old Town of Lijiang.
Lijiang
丽江
—  Prefecture-level city  —
丽江市
Location of Lijiang City Prefecture
Lijiang
Location within China
Coordinates:
Country China
Province Yunnan
Admin HQ Gucheng
Area
 • Prefecture-level city 21,219 km2 (8,192.7 sq mi)
 • Urban 1,127 km2 (435.1 sq mi)
 • Metro 1,127 km2 (435.1 sq mi)
Elevation 2,400 m (7,874 ft)
Population (2010 census)
 • Prefecture-level city 1,244,769
 • Density 58.7/km2 (151.9/sq mi)
 • Urban 155,540
 • Urban density 138/km2 (357.5/sq mi)
 • Metro 155,540
 • Metro density 138/km2 (357.5/sq mi)
Postal code 674100
Area code(s) 0888
Website http://www.lijiang.gov.cn/

Lijiang (simplified Chinese: 丽江市; traditional Chinese: 麗江市; pinyin: Lìjiāng Shì) is a prefecture-level city in the northwest of Yunnan Province, China. It has an area of 21,219 square kilometres (8,193 sq mi) and a population of 1,244,7690 as of 2010 census.

Contents

History

Lijiang City replaced former administrative region Lijiang Prefecture. Lijiang Prefecture no longer exists today. It was under the rule of the Mu family (木氏) local commanders (土司) during the Ming Dynasty and Qing Dynasty.[1]

Fictional history and literature

Lijiang or "Li-gion" is referenced and used as the ancestral home of the "Lost Legion" of Rome and of one of the main characters, Frank Zhang, in the American work of Fiction "Son of Neptune" by Rick Riordian

Administrative divisions

The government of Lijiang City sits in Gucheng District.

Lijiang City comprises one district and four counties:

Map
# Name Hanzi Hanyu Pinyin Population (2003 est.) Area (km²) Density (/km²)
1 Gucheng District 古城区 Gǔchéng Qū 140,000 1,127 124
2 Yongsheng County 永胜县 Yǒngshèng Xiàn 380,000 5,099 75
3 Huaping County 华坪县 Huápíng Xiàn 150,000 2,266 66
4 Yulong Nakhi Autonomous County 玉龙纳西族自治县 Yùlóng Nàxīzú Zìzhìxiàn 210,000 6,521 32
5 Ninglang Yi Autonomous County 宁蒗彝族自治县 Nínglàng Yízú Zìzhìxiàn 240,000 6,206 39

Geography

Lijiang City is located in the northwestern portion of Yunnan and borders Sichuan. It is in a region where the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau converge.

Climate

Owing to its low latitude and high elevation, the city centre of Lijiang experiences a mild subtropical highland climate (Koppen Cwb). Winters feature mild days coupled with nights that may go below freezing, as well as the driest and sunniest conditions of the year; January averages 6.0 °C (42.8 °F). Summers are warm and damp, with a June average of 18.4 °C (65.1 °F), which is much cooler than lowland areas. The annual mean temperature is 12.7 °C (54.9 °F), while precipitation averages around 970 millimetres (38 in), focused heavily from June to September.

Climate data for Lijiang, Yunnan
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 20.7
(69.3)
21.9
(71.4)
25.0
(77.0)
28.9
(84.0)
30.6
(87.1)
32.3
(90.1)
31.4
(88.5)
28.0
(82.4)
27.3
(81.1)
26.1
(79.0)
23.6
(74.5)
22.8
(73.0)
32.3
(90.1)
Average high °C (°F) 13.5
(56.3)
14.7
(58.5)
17.1
(62.8)
20.0
(68.0)
23.1
(73.6)
24.0
(75.2)
23.1
(73.6)
22.7
(72.9)
21.4
(70.5)
20.0
(68.0)
16.8
(62.2)
14.4
(57.9)
19.2
(66.6)
Average low °C (°F) −0.3
(31.5)
2.0
(35.6)
4.8
(40.6)
7.8
(46.0)
11.2
(52.2)
14.3
(57.7)
14.5
(58.1)
13.6
(56.5)
12.2
(54.0)
8.7
(47.7)
3.5
(38.3)
−0.1
(31.8)
7.7
(45.9)
Record low °C (°F) −7
(19)
−6
(21)
−4
(25)
−1.3
(29.7)
3.5
(38.3)
6.2
(43.2)
6.9
(44.4)
6.6
(43.9)
4.4
(39.9)
0.9
(33.6)
−4.5
(23.9)
−10.3
(13.5)
−10.3
(13.5)
Precipitation mm (inches) 2.3
(0.091)
5.8
(0.228)
16.7
(0.657)
21.0
(0.827)
55.8
(2.197)
167.3
(6.587)
242.2
(9.535)
206.3
(8.122)
160.8
(6.331)
70.0
(2.756)
16.0
(0.63)
3.8
(0.15)
968
(38.11)
humidity 46 46 49 54 59 73 81 83 83 73 62 53 63.5
Avg. precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm) 1.9 3.9 6.6 7.9 11.7 20.3 24.2 22.3 20.8 11.5 4.3 1.5 136.9
Sunshine hours 259.9 229.7 248.4 233.4 225.1 156.7 134.2 155.0 138.8 195.2 226.6 260.3 2,463.3
Source no. 1: Weather China[2]
Source no. 2: China Meteorological Administration (sunshine and humidity, 1971–2000) [3]

Transport

The Baisha Hand-made Embroidery Institute

Nearby Lijiang is the Baishui Terrace Baishuitai (白水台, literally "White Water Terrace") is an area where spring water flows over a sinter terrace, leaving behind travertine.

The world famous Old Town of Lijiang is located in Lijiang City. It is a UNESCO Heritage Site.

The town has a history going back more than 800 years and was once a confluence for trade along the old tea horse road. The Lijiang old town is famous for its orderly system of waterways and bridges. The old town of Lijiang differs from other ancient Chinese cities in architecture, history and the culture of its traditional residents the Nakhi people, therefore people there are called 胖金哥 and 胖金妹 (pàng jīn gē, pàng jīn mèi, male and female respectively).

There are three old towns in Lijiang , Dayuan Old Town, Shuhe Old Town and Baisha Old Town. The three old towns were listed as the World Cultural Heritage by Unesco in the year 1997.Among the three towns, Dayuan Old Town and Suhe Old Town have been spoiled a lot by tourists in recent years,so they are touristic and commercialized, but the Baisha Old Town is very genuine, nice ,simple and attractive. This Town is famous for The Baisha Fresco and The Naxi Hand-made Embroidery Institute.The Fresco was made in the Ming Dynasty 600 years ago, the Naxi Hand-made Embroidery Institute was built 800 years ago, it is the head quarter of the Naxi embroideries and also ,it is like a school for the Naxi embroiderers. There are many Naxi embroidery masters, teachers, students and local farmers there. They are very nice and friendly, meanwhile,many gorgeous and unbelievable embroidery arts can be found there.It is a very special place.

The Baisha Old Town use to be the political, commercial and cultural center for the local Naxi people and other ethnic people for 400 years from the year 658 AD to 1107 AD. The Dabaoji Palace of the Baisha Fresco where is very close to the Baisha Naxi Hand-made Embroidery Institute was built in the year 658AD in the Tang Dynasty (618 AD to 960 AD).

The Baisha Old Town use to be the center of silk embroidery in the southwest of China and the most important place of the Ancient Southern Silk Road ,also called the Ancient Tea and Horse Road. The Ancient Southern Silk Road started from Myanmar, crossed Lijiang, Shangeri-la, Tibet, Iran, Israel after the Mediterranean Sea eventually got to France, Italy, Spain, Germany, England, Switzerland and other European countries and African countries.It Played an very important role for trade and cultural exchange between different regions and countries.

The Naxi women were well-known for their hand-made embroidery before the year 1972 during the Great Cultural Revolution.The most famous Naxi masters were arrested and put in the jail, some of them were died in the jail during the Cultural Revolution because they did hand-made embroidery only for the Naxi Emperors when they were young.

Sister Cities

See also

References

External links