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Moon Inn is very close to the center of Old Town Lijiang.

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The narrow cobbled streets are filled with beautiful shops, and restaurants.

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Several channels like this run through the old town.

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Mosuo weavers in traditional dress.

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Because cars and bikes had difficulty navigating much of the town, most deliveries are made this way.

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Our first lunch in town was in this little cafe.

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making a snack

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These ladders looked tenuous but these guys didn't seem worried. They were able to "walk" the ladders wherever they wanted to go without having to hop down.

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Tourists could dress up and sit on a horse for photos. We passed up this opportunity.

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Tourists have begun arriving.

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Giant plaque noting that the UN has declared Lijiang a World Heritage Site.

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A Lijiang beer delivery truck.

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What? No gun!?

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He was taking pictures of us, so we took one of him. He has a fancier camera than us.

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Most cooking and heating seems to be based on charcoal stoves like this. We saw lots of little stoves out on the street boiling water in kettles.

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Jade Dragon Snow Mountain in the distance. It was usually shrouded in clouds but we could see it this morning.

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some goofy guy

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Wan Gu Lou, a pagoda built solely for tourism, which overlooks Lijiang.

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Ceiling detail

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Jade Dragon Snow Mountain over New Town Lijiang from the top of Wan Gu Lou.

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The sun was just beginning to break through the early morning fog.

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outside Wan Gu Lou

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Giselle and a guardian lion

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rooftops

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One of the few Chinese flags we saw

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dongba writing is one of the few pictograph writing systems left in the world.

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Giselle, pretending to be a japanese tourist. We saw people posing in these weird contorted and forced poses at nearly every tourist attraction.

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Walking to Black Dragon Pool Park we attracted a new friend. The woman in red followed us around and kept trying to sell us various pamphlets relating to different tourist attractions. We declined but she followed us anyway.

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Black Dragon Pool. It was beautiful but would have been MORE beautiful if Jade Dragon Snow Mountain were visible. (It's hiding behind that dollop of clouds in the center of the photo)

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another fancy recycling receptacle.

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The water looked beautiful and inviting, but Thomas ultimately decided not to go for a swim.

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At first we thought she was fishing, but she was actually skimming trash and leaves from the surface of the water.

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real pros know that twisting your right foot slightly helps keep the camera steadier.

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A beautiful day in Lijiang!

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pagoda detail

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One of the most realistic-looking temple guards we've seen.

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baby on board

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puzzling

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"well, i guess this is where we're supposed to carefully fall off the edge."

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On our way up to Elephant Hill there were several small pagodas that made perfect resting-spots. The climb was fairly strenuous because it was mostly straight up with lots of stairs. But the view was beautiful!

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Looking down on Black Dragon Pool

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Happy Climbers

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We met a large group at this pagoda. They were very curious about us and several of them took pictures with us. We're so famous! We'll forever be the "we don't know who they are" people in picture albums throughout Asia.

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Happy to be in the shade

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soaring

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the view

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Another pagoda over the crest of Elephant Hill.

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Old Town Lijiang with Wan Gu Lou.

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Beginning our descent.

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Dongba script over a door.

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The view from Anna and Thomas' room was breathtaking!

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B&G&Lijiang at night&the moon.

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We saw a performance of the Lijiang Naxi Orchestra. It had been a long day, we were tired, and the theater was unheated, but it was amazing to see the performers playing traditional music. Many of the musicians had hidden their instruments (in some cases burying them!) so they wouldn't be destroyed during the Cultural Revolution.

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We told Thomas to meet us at Sakura Cafe for breakfast. It was in the guidebook so he knew right where it was and didn't have to bundle up much, since it was right near the hotel. Unfortunately there are SEVEN Sakura Cafes in Lijiang! By the time he found us in the fourth Sakura Cafe, he was quite cold so he borrowed Anna's coat and hat.

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happily slurping coffe

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Naxi women in traditional dress

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wood carver working on an intricate wood panel. Most of the artisans wore blazers like this (if they weren't in traditional dress) and also wore the "arm warmers" which were probably to keep from getting arms dirty rather than for warmth.

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Anna, holding a marigold, getting ready to depart.

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Bye! Our time with A&T in Lijiang was a lot of fun.

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A shop selling traditional Naxi bells. They are hand-pounded and the clapper is made from Yak-horn.

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Giselle with the Li family, proprietors of the Moon Inn. We were very lucky to have stayed here--the Inn itself is very beautiful and the innkeepers went above and beyond to help make our stay perfect. We missed them as soon as we left Lijiang!