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About Lijiang
Lijiang (Chinese: 丽江) is a prefecture-level city in the northwest of Yunnan province, China. It has an area of 21,219 square kilometers and had a population of 1,244,769at the 2010 census. Lijiang is famous for its UNESCO Heritage Site, the Old Town of Lijiang. Lijiang is located in the northwestern portion of Yunnan and borders Sichuan. It is in a region where the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau converge.
Owing to its low latitude and high elevation, the city centre of Lijiang experiences a mild subtropical highland climate (Köppen Cwb). Winters are mild and very dry and sunny (>70% possible sunshine), although average lows in December and January are just below the freezing mark; January, the coolest month, with 24-hour average temperature of 6.0 °C. Spring begins early and remains dry and sunny until late May, when there is a dramatic uptick in frequency and amount of rainfall that lasts until late September. Summers are warm, rainy (more so than it is sunny) and damp, with June, the warmest month, averaging 18.4 °C. Autumn sees an abrupt reduction in rainfall and return to sunniness. The annual mean temperature is 12.93 °C, while precipitation averages 980 mm, around 80% of which occurs from June to September. With monthly percent possible sunshine ranging from 32% in July to 80% in December, the city receives 2,463 hours of bright sunshine annually.
Old Town of Lijiang (丽江古镇) is a national historical and cultural city. It was built in the late Song Dynasty (late 13th century AD). It is located in the middle of Lijiang Dam. It is the most preserved and most Naxi-style ancient town in China. It is located in the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau. At an altitude of 2,416 meters, the city covers an area of 3.8 square kilometers. In December 1997, it was included in the “World Cultural Heritage” list by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee.