Lijiang

Lijiang is a prefecture-level city in northwestern Yunnan and one of China's most celebrated tourist destinations, drawing millions of visitors each year to its lattice of cobbled lanes, canals and stone bridges. Its Old Town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1997, was the historic seat of the Mu chieftains and the cultural heart of the Naxi people, keepers of the pictographic Dongba script. The economy is overwhelmingly tourism-driven, supported by tea, horticulture and hydropower along the upper Yangtze. Above the city rises the glacier-capped Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, while the fierce Tiger Leaping Gorge cuts through the surrounding ranges. Nearby Lugu Lake preserves the matrilineal traditions of the Mosuo, adding to the region's remarkable ethnic diversity.