Leadership Insights | Illustrated Lectures：A Living Ancient Town in Southwestern China: Thriving for Millennia by Water

A sound balance between conservation and development enables this picturesque ancient city to radiate renewed splendor.

Beneath the silent Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, clear waters wind around the ancient town. Eight hundred years ago, the Naxi ancestors built homes against mountain slopes and channeled water into alleyways, breathing everyday life into this old town on the plateau. Horse hooves echoed ceaselessly along the Ancient Tea-Horse Road, where merchants from Yunnan, Sichuan and Xizang converged and interacted, etching stories of time into its flagstone lanes. The convergence of diverse civilizations gave rise to this spectacular highland water town, where “every household faces flowing water, and every courtyard blooms with flowers.” In 1997, the Old Town of Lijiang was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List as“an outstanding example of the harmonious integration of human settlements and the natural environment.”

Theold town’s greatest value lies in its city-building wisdom rooted in harmony between humanity and nature, as well as its inclusive cultural ethos. Leveraging local terrain and natural conditions, early residents blended traditional dwellings seamlessly into natural landscapes. The majestic Mu Mansion combines official architectural norms of the Central Plains region with indigenous Naxi craftsmanship. Grounded in Naxi culture, the ancient town absorbs the essence of Han, Tibetan, Bai and other ethnic traditions. The Dongba cultural legacy and Tea-Horse Road heritage have been passed down through generations, alongside vibrant intangible cultural heritage practices, forging the distinctive millennium-old cultural lineage of southwestern China.

What makes the ancienttown most captivating is not merely its time-honored architecture, but also the enduring everyday vitality permeating its lanes and alleys. Naxi families washing clothes by streams, age-old Dongba crafts kept alive across generations, and melodious ancient music keep the old town aliveand heartwarming. People of various ethnic groups live in harmony here, while visitors swarm from across the globe, infusing the ancient town with fresh energy.

Past chieftains of ethnic tribes managed water systems and developed the town, and generations of local residentshave guarded it dearly. Thanks to scientific restoration and systematic conservation, the ancient town’s water networks, street patterns and folk customs have been well-preserved, sustaining centuries-old living wisdom and cultural roots.

More than 800 years have passed. Mountains and rivers remain unspoiled, and cultural heritage endures. Today, through ecological renovation, landscape preservation and revitalization of intangible cultural heritage, this millennial ancient town shines brilliantly in the new era with its unique residential aesthetics, profound ethnic legacy and dynamic intangible cultural heritage.

Beneath the snow-capped mountains lies this water-nurtured city—amillennial ancient town where all things coexist in harmony.

Dongba scriptures remain vivid, and time-honored crafts thrive with youthful vigor.

The ancient town never grows old—it is enlivened by water; its cultural lineage never fades, renewed by its people.

Lijiang shows the world the Chinese philosophyof diversity in unity.

Executive Producer:Yu Li

Creative Planner:Ding Suyun

Copywriter: Cai Bin

Produced by China Xi Theory Studio