Yesterday we arrived in Lijiang. From my twitters, you’ll see that it is a very scenic place, like Kunming, sitting on a mountain plateau. Unlike Kunming, the mountains are visible all around.

The main part of the commercial city proper seems quite small, having, even, a dusty country town feel to it. Very low rise, with only very few buildings over 4 or 5 stories, perhaps to keep the view.

The central avenue is three lanes either way, lines with buildings and terminating, not in some suburban sprawl, but in a snow capped mountain.

Our hotel, a sprawling complex of very nice villas, is on the outskirts of town, overlooked by the biggest of the nearby mountains. It was amazing to walk back from breakfast and see it towering over me.

Interestingly, many woman workers visible, diving taxis, working on roadwork crews and on building sites at the hotel. I have no idea why this is the case, perhaps the men have moved to larger cities for other work. Perhaps my observations to slight and not sufficient to judge.

The key tourist attraction is the old town, which, rather than being demolished has become what seems to be the city’s key industry. Very large by old town standards (we wandered for 6 hours), it consists of narrow streets and streams, lined with restaurants, stores selling traditional local wares and tourist tat.

The restaurants and shops are housed in stone and tile buildings with seemingly typical oriental ornaments. They wind in ways suggestive of some Greek islands (say, Hydra or Mykinos).

The town seems part cultural heritage site and part ethnic minority theme park. While the atmosphere was great, mildly festive even, I also thought I was playing part in some strange play, turning a local culture into a performance. Whereas once the local crafts would have been made for use by the maker and barter, they are now sold to tourists. Dances once performed for pleasure now performed for the pleasure of paying customers. People like me, of course, are complicit, however discretely we attempt to photograph.

While this reflection does leave something of a wary regret, I think the colour and atmosphere override it. Hopefully, this balance can be maintained and the old town can remain, as it seems so far, an exemplar of Chinese tourism management.