The ancient town of Lijiang, in Yunnan Province of China is a traveler's wonderland which has been classified in 1997 as a World-class Cultural Legacy by UNESCO.

It was originally built at the very beginning of the Yuan Dynasty (13th century) when the first emperor, Hu Bilie, led his army on a southern expedition to Yunnan province. Retained as an intact, authentic historic town, it is an old community of national ethnic groups as rarely found elsewhere in China. The Old Town is a mountain town situated on a plateau 2400 meters above sea level.

Most of the residents of the Town are today "Naxi" chinese minority people. Their houses are traditional buildings with carved beams and painted rafters. Bridges, courtyards and springs are everywhere. Lijiang is also one of the few ancient towns that have no city walls in the world. The hereditary (master) of the Naxi minority all come from the "Mu" (wood) family. In Chinese, "Mu" plus a frame becomes "Kun" (surrounded), so they did not build city walls...