Lijiang is really divided into two towns by Lion Hill. The New Town came into being 43 years ago, while the Old Town is an architectural gem with a history of more than 800 years. The Old Town looks like a huge ink-stone, hence its name Dayan (Big Ink-stone).

    Kublai Khan, grandson of Genghis and founder of the Mongol Dynasty in China, came this way in 1253 on his conquest of Yunnan and established an administrative office which 23 years later became the Lijiang Military and Civil Protectorate. Thereafter the name “Lijiang” began to be used.

    Dayan is the center of the Naxi people, the capital of the Lijiang Naxi Autonomous County, where birds chirp in their cages hanging under the eaves of the houses and gurgling branches wind their ways through the streets and lanes in every part of the Old Town.

    With Sifang Street at the core, the entire city spreads out in all directions, and is crisscrossed by a labyrinth of flagged streets and alleyways. Most of the dwellings scattered at the foot of a mountain or by the rivers which flow through every nook and corner of the city, are brick-and-tile structures with carved doors and painted windows. Traffic across the rivers is facilitated by a large number of tiny stone bridges.

    Source: http://www.yunnan.cn/english/content/tc.htm