| Tips and photos of Lijiang tourist attractions and tourist traps, posted by real travelers and Lijiang locals. Lijiang Map |
 | Lijiang Tourist Traps | Tips 1 - 10 of 18 |  |
 Naxi women dancing by GillianMcLaughlin
Its historical importance and traditional feel are not to be underestimated. However upon our arrival, clearly a quiet day for the Naxi capital, we noticed ancient white-brearded men drop their mah jong pieces and scuttle to a table to play the congenial hosts. At the same time the womenfolk stopped their gossipping in a corner and ushered us in to visit the impressive murals housed within the complex.
We paid our entry, then were "encouraged" to pay again for a short burst of traditional music played on a collection of ancient instruments, and then fleeced once more by the women, who meanwhile, were dancing, hand in hand, a repetitive step to the left and again to the right.
Bai Sha is a feature of many trips out of Lijiang and of many organised tours of northern Yunnan. It is worth the visit, but certainly not worth paying out for an expensive organised tour.
Should you be a very lucky person, Dr Ho will surely accost you too. He will encourage you to visit his clinic, under the sign of "Taoist physician in the Jade \mountains of Lijiang".
You should anticipate the 3-stage entrance fee (none of the main features is optional), enjoy the traditional mural, smile encouragingly during the impromptu concert and clap politley at the dancing. I managed to take my leave politely without visiting Dr Ho's clinic.
Then get back on your bike and head off into the wilds, towards the foot of the mountains and see some truly traditional Naxi villages. Leave a Comment
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 THIS is the bus to take!!! by sugarpuffLeave a Comment
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 DO NOT TAKE THESE KINDS OF
VANS! by sugarpuff
Lijiang as many of you will know has the beautiful Jade Snow Mountain in the background of the city. It has snow on its peak throughout the year and really is a truely beautiful sight. So of course every tourist wants to be a part of it and get as close to it as possible. This can be done by many different ways as other VTers have mentioned! I actually jotted down all the different combinations of getting there..and STILL fell in the trap! I asked at my hostel how to get to the Mountain, and she said that although she could arrange a trip for us through the hostel, we could also just get the No. 7 Bus from near the Mao statue. She drew me a little map and so we set off! It was literally just round the corner, so we were all in high spirits!!!After walking for around 5 mins we came across the small mini vans with a big No. 7 on the front. We asked how much it would cost to go there and they told us there were four different places we could drive to. These have been mentioned on other VTers pages..I forget where I got the info from, but most likely either from FreeCloud or Sharrie. So I already had a vague idea of where to go and prices. The prices they quoted were as the VTpages had written so I was pleased. But then there was the added mini van fare. She calculated it for the four of us and quoted 150RMB. I didnt really bargain on this as it wasnt a lot to pay between four. I asked if there were any other tickets we would have to buy when we got there and she said 160RMB for the cable car ride per person. This was also true according to VT. SO OFF WE WENT!
We arrived at the entrance to the National Park in about 20 minutes or so and THIS is where the trap began! As we pulled up, the driver said we each had to pay 120RMB to get into the area. We couldn't believe it! I had SPECIFICALLY asked them if there would be any extra costs and she had only told us about the cable car fee..nothing else! So we all said we weren't paying and that we wanted to go back to town. We were all furious. The funny thing is that I had read about this on VT, something along the lines of 40RMB for the toll fee and 40RMB to get into the Old Town, which is part of the National Park area. But the fact that we hadnt been told about this, made us believe that the 150RMB we were paying between us, was part of this price. But NO! The driver got annoyed and said because I had notes with me..yes yes yes..my VT notes,she thought we knew about this entrance fee. I told her not to give me such rubbish, and that we wanted to turn back as this was a scam! We turned round and headed back but not without her trying her hardest to take us somewhere else. She said it seemed like a waste of time to be paying her 150RMB and not go anywhere!!!!HA HA HA!!Thats when we turned round and said "WHAT? You think we are paying you for this trip that didnt' take us anywhere?!" She was shocked and said she would reduce the price to 100RMB...we said forget it!!! So I was therefore surprised that she drived us back..thought we were going to be thrown out of the van there and then!
Got back to town and got out. She tried to bargain with us and we just gave her 10RMB. As we walked away, she came running after us and gave it to us back wishing us a good rest of our trip....we left quite puzzled!
I think she gave us the money back due to two reasons. One, she knew that she had tried to fool us and seen that we hadnt fallen for it and two, she didnt want to lose face, which is what she was doing by accepting the 10RMB. So came out of ti not looking like a money pinching thief...
So, yes, what do you do as an alternative?!!!! Well you follow instructions a bit better and actually go to the Square where the Mao Statue is and catch the REAL NO. 7 bus as advised by my hostel lady!!Ha ha!!! As we were walking back to the town, we came across this and I asked how much it was and guess how much per person it was.................... just 8RMB.....!!!! We were so getting ripped off with the 150RMB deal!!!! Leave a Comment
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Someone persuaded me that there was another route to the top of Yulong Snow Mountain, I could enjoy different scene and there was no tickets. Coz I had traveled there twice before, I entered in the trap.
Finally I paid 3 times of money, didn't get to the point they promised, even there was no official insurance or receipt. If there was any accident......
So, don't believe them, go to the right place, buy the ticket.
Don't let others, such as your driver, guide to help you, buy the ticket of horse riding by youself.
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I know I will get flak for saying this but I'm not the type to promote a place to earn popularity points.
Lijiang Old Town is a gigantic tourist trap filled with reconstructed wooden houses which are overpriced gift and souvenir shops, restaurants and guesthouses. The Unesco world heritage award, the new airport and the floods of local tourists have all but destroyed the soul of the place. Every day, the cobble-stoned streets are clogged with local visitors toting video cameras led by guides with little flags and loud hailers.
Genuine backpackers are few and far between, many of them have decided to skip altogether and head for the other 2 villages in town or to Dali which is less touristy. Things were different before the earthquake of 1996. My friends claimed that this place was a backpackers haven then since it took at least 8-10 hours to travel here by bus from Kunming.
I think I came here too late.
Only 2 original gems remain there. The Naxi Old Orchestra and the reconstructed Mu Mansion.
Since this is a commercial place, the night scene ain't too bad. Do check out the bar scenes and cafes for comfort food.
Do visit the other villages, in particularly Su He Old Town. Leave a Comment
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 Mario and his 'new bride' by konniemario
Just hold on to your wallet and just play dumb. It's not really mandatory to give any particular amount anyway. Leave a Comment
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Most restaurants that serve Naxi food will offer Yak Meat in their menu. One of the locals told us that most of these are actually just regular beef but they call it Yak meat to be able to charge higher prices. We tried it once and it was indeed not something you'd like to have again, and yes, it was expensive! (almost 8 usd per dish so that's high for local standards).
just order veggie, it's gotta be safer ;-) Leave a Comment
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If you see lamas who wander about in the Old Town of Lijiang begging from people, please ignore them, because they are not real lamas or monks. They are professional beggars. Real monks or lamas will not ask money from people.
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 by gigi_huangLeave a Comment
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I understand that Lijiang is a preservation of old China. I understand that it's cultural and historical sights are interesting and great. But Lijiang RAKES in the money from tourists. Touts gouge tourists, with no moral dilemma about lying to customers about the quality or origin of their products. For example, I took a 99.9% pure silver coin and compared weight with one of the coins at a jewelry store. The woman nodded and said, basically, "yes, but look- your coin doesn't make the proper sound that my coin makes. Ding! And when you blow hard on my coin, it makes a sound too." What? When did the sound of blowing on a coin determine its silver content? She told me that my coin wasn't real (though, of course, it is) and that I should buy her fake coins for 80 yuan a piece. 80 yuan... Oh, and she said that her coin was bigger around... like that makes a difference. The minting was suspect- poorly minted and misspelled words... a dollar coin with Chinese characters on the back... and here's the kicker... her coin weighed 0.8712678 ounces or 24.7 grams. Mine was 1 ounce, or 28.3495 grams (actually mine weighed 31.1034768 grams... also known as a Troy ounce.)
I know their business is gouging tourists. I know how to bargain, haggle... whatever you want to call it. Touts and vendors don't like me very much because I won't be ripped off like tourists who don't know how to haggle. All that said, it's not very decent of them to try to charge such ridiculous prices for souvenirs just because tourists don't know any better or happen to have money.
Now, add to all this another problem: 80 yuan is required to see the Black Dragon Pond. 80 yuan is recommended to be paid at tourist sites. You pay it once and get a receipt so you don't have to pay it elsewhere. This fee is for preservation of the old town. Now, with the new town around them and with the amount of money made by the stores, hotels, restaurants and bars in-town, they don't need this money. If it's worth seeing in China, they'll gouge you.
Wanchu Temple, built in 1997 just for tourists, isn't that expensive- only 15 yuan... but it's the principle... Wanchu was built just for tourists... not as a holy site, not for religious or other cultural significance... it was built to get money out of tourists... if you build it, they will throng.
Anyway, Lijiang is a tourist trap that gouges visitors. Be aware and hang on to your money, or bargain hard. If they aren't smiling when you walk away, you probably got a fair price.
Avoid paying the 80 yuan. Maybe you can't get in somewhere, but so what? Leave a Comment
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Shangri-la Road, Lijiang - Ancient Spruce Grand (Zhi Yun Shan)
Mid - Xueshan Road, Lijiang - The Ancient Town Inn (Gucheng Kezhan)
Jishan Road, Xinyi street, Lijiang - Finance Hotel
Middle Section of Fu Hui Road, Lijiang
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