(Chinese:丽江市;pinyin:Lìjiāngshì)referstoanadministrativedivisioncomprisingofurbanandruralareasinnorthwesternYunnanProvince,People'sRepublicofChina.Itspopulationis1,100,000.Thefamous"Lijiangoldtown"(asitiscommonlyknown)ismorecorrectlycalledtheDayanoldtown(大研古镇).

　　LijiangCityisafairlylargegeographicalareathatcomprisesonedistrict(theoldtowndistrict)andfourcounties,includingtheLiijangnewtown,Dayanoldtown,Shuheoldtown(束河古镇),Baishaoldtown(白沙古镇),andpartsoftheTigerLeapingGorge.

　　TheLijiangoldtownhasahistorygoingbackmorethan800yearsandwasonceaconfluencefortradealongtheoldteahorseroad.TheLijiangoldtownisfamousforitsorderlysystemofwaterwaysandbridges.Ithasbeencalledthe"VeniceoftheEast".

　　TheoldtownofLijiangdiffersfromotherancientChinesecitiesinarchitecture,historyandthecultureofitstraditionalresidentstheNaxipeople,thereforepeopletherearecalled胖金哥and胖金妹(maleandfemalerespectively).

　　OnethirdofthetownwasdestroyedbyanearthquakeinFebruary1996.

　　Lijiangoldtown(includingDayan,BaishaandShuhe)wasregisteredontheUNESCOWorldHeritageListinDecember4,1997.Sincethen,thelocalgovernmenthastakenmoreresponsibilityforthedevelopmentandprotectionoftheoldcity.Lijiang'stourismalsoboomed,andtravellersfromaroundtheworldfloodedin;althoughmanylocalsfearthatduetomuchofthedevelopment,theoldtownofLijiangwillloseitsappeal.

　　Recently,thegovernmenthasstartedtodevelopadditional"oldcity"sectionsadjacenttothesiteoftheoriginaloldcity.Thisistoaccommodatethelargenumberoftourists,particularlyHanChinese,whowalkthecobblestonestreets(carsarenotallowedintheoldcity),typicallyaspartofpackagetours.Eveningsintheoldcitycanbeparticularlyrowdy,notleastduetothemanyoutdoorbars,whereboisterousgroupsoftouriststryto"outsing"othergroups.