Old Town of Lijiang is the most intact and representative one characteristic of ethnictraits in China. It was first constructed in the late period of the Southern Song Dynasty, and has a history of 800-odd years.

The old town lies at the foot of the mountain and with the Yuquan River running through it in three streams, passing by tens of thousands of households.

There are more than 300 stone bridges of various sizes built in the Ming and Qing Dynasties and some stone memorial archways. The civil residences are tile-roofed houses of antique flavors structured with wood and earth, and enjoy the reputation as “Highland Gusu City” and “Orient Venice”.

These wooden houses mostly stood up strongly to survive the earthquake of 7 on the Richter scale happened in 1996, better than the more recent concrete houses in the new town. UNESCO was so impressed by how well the old part of the town has been preserved that they listed the Old Town of Lijiang as a World's Cultural Heritage Site. Near the center, there stands Mu's Mansion, recently rebuilt after the earthquake with the loans from World Bank. It was once the palace where the local chieftains of 22 generations spent their lives.