Lijang - everybody gets lucky!

3 days and 2 nights in lijang - good nightlife!

Last month I traveled to Lijiang and stayed for 3 days. It’s a nice place although for me Lijang Old Town has too many tourists. My hotel was called Mama Naxi and reviews I was reading online were true - great place to stay and reasonable priced compared to other Lijang hotels. The first night I went to Sakura Kim, the first bar in Lijang that opened 12 years ago. To my big surprise when coming close to Sakura I saw a Doner Kebab shop called “Kebaba” and after already travelling in Yunnan for 14 days with serious stomach problems, I saw the western chef and gave it a try. It was one of the best Kebabs I ever had and a good start into the night. I continued at Sakura Kim with beer and dancing with pretty girls. After checking out some other bars that where pretty much the same but with less good music I returned to Sakura, had a couple of more beer and went back to my hotel.

The next morning when I woke up (pretty late and with a huge headache) I decided to love Lijang and to stay 2 more days. An aspirin, another Doner at Kebaba (as my stomach felt very good) and I was ready for sightseeing. I walked around Old Town and then visited the Black Dragon Pool and Mu Palace – the most popular places in Lijang - very impressive.

In the afternoon I returned to my hotel and had a rest to be ready for another night of drinking. I tried some Naxi food for dinner which was a bad idea as in the night already my stomach started to hurt. In Lijang you have to start early as every bar in old town has to stop music at 11:30pm. But it’s enough time to get drunk with other tourists - Chinese say “everybody gets lucky in Lijang” and it seems to be true.

The next day and my last day I spend on the Snow Mountain 25km away from Lijang, which offers a beautiful view even I could not fully enjoy it because of the naxi food the evening before. Afterwards I stopped at Suhe which belongs to Lijang and is very similar to the main Lijang Old Town. The last night I had my third Kebab to make sure that my body is fine for the bus trip to Kunming the next morning. The Sakura Kebaba shop was the only place I trusted in Lijang besides KFC or Dicos (not my favourite food). This time I tried the lamb skewers and I was not disappointed. Some more drinks in Sakura and a bar called Yi Mi Yang Guang which is also a good bar. I decided to go home on my own as my bus was leaving Lijang at 8:30.

My conclusion of Lijang: nice traditional looking old town but too commercial, but as single a great place to have fun at night! And again the Kebab Shop – safe to eat and delicious!