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Lijiang is fantastic, old China at its best (and apparently there isn't much of old China left any more..). Though touristy, this small town has retained its original look and feel from 800 years ago. Hundreds of old two-story houses with antique gateways and courtyards, cobblestoned streets, three small rivers running right through the Old Town each fast and cold and clear (and evidently clean), 350 bridges criss-crossing these streams everywhere you look. The population is mostly Naxi tribespeople, with the women all in traditional dress. They are all over town, especially in the markets. There are too many tourist shops on many streets to suit our preferences, but as we walked around the town we became adept at tuning them out and just seeing the buildings and the setting and the Naxi women in their great outfits. Oh, I forgot to mention: the entire town rests literally in the shadow of an enormous snow-capped Jade Dragon Snow Mountain (summit at 15,500 feet), reminding us often of Jackson Hole, WY. As you turn a tight corner on a narrow cobblestoned street you look up, up, up and there it is, right in your face, with the sun reflecting off the snow.
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