Weather:

When is the best time to travel Lijiang?

Spring(Mar-May) with temperature ranging 6°C to 20°C, is warm and dry in most of time. The early spring is dry and sunny and good for the outdoor sightseeing. The blooming flowers in Wenhai Lake and Jade Dragon Snow Mountain are a good reward for your time. The Lantern Festival (late Feb-early Mar) is the annual grand occasion for local minorities to do the framing tool purchases and many special stuffs can be seen in the trading market.

Summer (Jun-Aug) is the rainy season. The weather is unpredictably changeable and the temperature is sharp in daytime and night ranging 15°C-26°C. Rain-proof or UV-proof items like the umbrella or sun block are required. Summer is the peak travel season and better to prebook your accommodation to avoid the fully-booked hotels.

Lunar June 24th-26th (usually in late July) is Torch Festival when every local family lit the flower torch on fire at night and many interesting activities take place.

Autumn (Sep-Nov) is best time to travel Lijiang for clearer sights in the dry season. Color-drenched plants, clear sky against the distant white Jade Snow Mountain and the murmuring stream from the melting snow shows you the appeal of this dream destination. It is relatively less touristy during this time and all service prices are lower than the peak season except for the first week of October.

Winter (Dec-Feb) is cold and dry with temperature of 0°C-12°C. It is also windy time and not so suitable for mountain climbing and the Tiger Leaping Gorge also become less impressive for the dry time. But the warm sunlight is nice to have a lazy day. Sunblock and lotion are required to care for your skin.

Tips:

• Morning is the best time to shoot for photos before the tourists are noisily round. If you want to take a full shot of the Lijiang Old Town, Mu Family Mansion and Wenchang Palace are nice shooting spots.
• Lashihai Lake is worthy of a visit in a clear day for its amazing sunrise or sunset scene. And it also becomes the recharging home to thousands of migratory birds around October till the spring.
• To tour Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, it is better to take the cable car in the morning to avoid the tourist lines.
• It is not allowed to ride the bike and you only can walk your bike in the Lijiang Old Town.
• It is better to skip Jade Dragon Snow Mountain in the rainy or foggy day and save it for the sunny day to better appreciate the clear snow mountain scene.

Safety:

Is it safe to travel in Lijiang?

As well as other cities in China, theft rather than the serious crime should be traveler's concern in Lijiang.

Tips:

1. Try to wear your bag in front. Keep wallet in your bags and put some small changes in the easily accessible place like your bag's side pocket or pant pockets to avoid flashing your wallets unnecessarily.
2. Avoid walking phoning. If you do have urgent call to make or answer, try to find a place like the wall behind you to avoid the thieves to snatch from your back.
3. Do some caution work when you take the overnight train, it is better to keep the valuable items inside your clothing. To enable you can wake up easily when necessary, sleep aids like sleeping pills, earplugs are not advised.
4. Ignore the touts that approach you and try to get you to somewhere when you come out /to the train stations, bus stations or borders.
5. Better to go to big shops or restaurants or hotel lobby to get your orientation if you loss your way.
6. Get the Xerox copy of your passport and your Chinese visa to avoid the trouble of steal loss and respond the police's check..

Transportation:

By Walking

Walking the Lijiang Old Town (the only option in the old town) or around the town can enable you to better soak in its leisurely pace of life.

Tip: Watch your step for it is easy to trip on the cobblestones or fall into the canals from the unfenced walkways or bridges.

By Bike

Bike can be rented in Hongtaiyang Square bike rental service at 15 yuan/day. Some hotels in the old town also offer bike rental service.

By Bus

Over 10 bus lines running in new district of Lijiang City except for the vehicle-forbidden Lijiang Old Town, pricing from CNY 0.5 to CNY 1. Every morning, No.7 bus to Jade Dragon Snow Mountain leaves from Hongtaiyang Square in the north of the old town. The ticket fee is about CNY 15. No.8 that leaves from the Department Store also operates a circular route.

By Taxi

Taxi fare starts from about CNY 7. A bargain with the taxi driver is generally accepted except during the travel busy season.

• Make sure the driver starts the meter. If they refuse, you can just get out and take the next taxi.
• If possible, pay exact or small money to avoid getting a fake CNY 50 back or a fake CNY 100 swopped by the driver. Or try to remember the last 4 digits of your big notes when you pay the taxi fare so that you can make sure whether it is really your money when he returns and claims it's fake.
• Write down or print out on paper the name and address of your destination and hotel in Chinese characters since majority of the driver speak Mandarin rather than English.

Cuisine:

Lijiang are gathering the local minority dishes as well as the foods from the western and various Chinese regions.

Mama Fu's (妈妈付餐厅 Add: Xinyijie miyunxiang) has won its reputation with its superb Chinese dishes and western deserts. Add: Xinyijie.

Sakura café provides the Japanese dishes as well as the Korean food like must-taste Korean Bimbab. Add: Xinhua Jie.

Sifang Street in the Lijiang Old Town features stores of Yunnan snacks like the Yunnan Rice Noodles.

Nightlife:

Where should I color my night life in Lijiang?

Xinhua Street on the right side of the stone bridge is Lijiang's famous Bar Street.

Famous foreign-run pubs or bars like:

• English-run Frosty Morning (雾都英式酒吧, Add: Yu He Corridor #C-13)
• Irish-Naxi Sexy Tractor (性感拖拉机, Add: Guangyi Jie)
• French-run Little Paris (小巴黎, Add: Xinhua Jie) are pretty popular among the night fun seeker.

Others:

Banking information

It is easy to find the Chinese banks or ATM in Dongdajie of Lijiang Old Town and yet not so convenient in places far away from old town like Shigu Village or Tiger Leaping Gorge.

Where can I surf the net in Lijiang?

Bars in Lijiang also offer the internet service. The charge for reference is CNY 5-10/hour.