Lijiang Shopping

fake turquoise are sold by many shops in the old town and i found that they even don't know the turquoise they sell are fake!
finnally ,i went into this shop,found the sellers really professional and hundreds of recommended msg papers written by different languages&people were pasted all over the wall.
i bought my wife a piece of veritable natural turquoise,no dyeing，no injection。and left a msg paper on the ceiling.that‘s really cool shop！

What to buy: natural turquoise,custom-made Jewelry

What to pay: credit card

Buy some interesting artwork in Lijiang. It may not be painted by local artists... something many people don't know is that in China there are many, many factories with artists who churn out work, some better than others, but they sell to these stores as well as internationally.

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Many of the shops sell goods made elsewhere, though some are local artists. Scarves are getting ubiquitous, as are locks...

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What to buy: There's a guy who makes stuff out of what he calls a local rock... I don't know if it is, but it looks interesting. Another burns wood... more complex than that, but he does nice work.
Some of the more interesting stuff is the sheets of cloth they dye... almost doesn't seem local, but oh well.

Any of the shops along the streets- and there are many more than you'll probably have time to visit.

What to buy: They call it local, hoping that you don't know the difference. But here I tell you it's not local. Some things are. Maybe some of it's even made locally. But when you find the same goods herein called "Naxi" goods as you find in Ping'An called "Yao" goods, there's something wrong. Either all these people have the same goods and the styles are the same by the nature of parallel development, which is possible, or the goods are purchased from a factory somewhere else in China and that's the reality. Either way, don't fully believe them when they say the goods are "local"... again, maybe they're made here, but where they originated is what's open to debate.

Somehow I doubt the Crucifix they sold on the streets in Baisha is local to the Naxi people.

They have clothing- scarves and traditional stuff that is more local, things made of metal- including pipes and statues, and lots of other somewhat unique stuff, including wooden elephants, giraffes and the like which might be more appropriate in Africa. They also sell jewelry...

What to pay: Honestly, I don't know... I didn't buy anything.

If you can find a gift for the person who has everything, them you might just have the perfect gift for them. I nice dog skin. These skins have not been turned into a piece of clothes yet, so you would just wear it drapped over your sholder.
For a few extra RMB you can get the one with the painted on tiger strips. You'll be the envy of all youfrinds with your new dog-tiger skin out fit

Lots of different range and size of tranditional minority costume in shops inside of Old Town. Get one and become real local people!

What to buy: Bai minority costume and other minority costume.

What to pay: RMB ??15~250
US$ 2~30

What to buy: Lijiang is the perfect place to buy souvenirs and local handicraft. Woodcarving, old chinese advertising posters, combs, tea, herbs, clothes, bags, books about Lijiang, dried yak meat and lots more can be found in every street of the old town. Many shops have nearly the same things, so compare and don't forget to bargain!

What to pay: A small talisman for the car for example will cost about 10 Yuan, a piece of woodcarving about 100 Yuan, and a poster about 30 Yuan (not so sure about that)

If you love shopping, you'll spend 2 or 3 days just shopping around in Lijiang. There are just tooo many!

The local crafts are really cute and not expensive compared with those in Europe. But as mentioned in my tourist trap tip, please bargain and compare the price.

What to buy: Wax printed cloth, silver bracelets, necklace, wooden plates, hand printed T-shirt (you can choose the design and people will draw it for you. ready within half an hour.

What to pay: Not every shop accepts credit card.