Old Town of Lijiang memoir: 20 years as a World Cultural Heritage site

 

The town has made tremendous efforts to construct infrastructure and eco-environments, and has achieved good results in culture conservation and academic research, as well as tourism development.

Infrastructure construction backs up further development

Lijiang has invested a total of 3.7 billion yuan since 1997 to build and improve six engineering systems in the Old Town: a drainage and sewage system, a street lighting system, a water supply network, a firefighting system, a telecommunication system and an ancient city road network system.

A total of 92,773 meters of drain pipes and 6,358 drain inspection wells have been installed across the city, connecting to drain outlets of 3,878 households. Some 1,967 sets of street lights have been installed or renovated. The Protection and Management Bureau of Lijiang Old Town has put another 180 million yuan into an emergency project for fireproofing and drought prevention.

Legal protection invigorates the Old Town

Lijiang pioneered to draw up the Yunnan Provincial Conservation Regulation of Old Town of Lijiang and the Yunnan Provincial Conservation Regulation of Dongba Culture to specifically manage and protect the World Heritage.

The Yunnan Provincial Conservation Regulation of Old Town of Lijiang was put into effect on March 1, 2006. It provides a strong legal guarantee for the protection of the town. The protection and management bureau of Lijiang Old Town amended the regulation this year to close loopholes caused by social and economic developments.

A systematic legal frame of protection and management of the Old Town has gradually formed to ensure its sustainable development. It plays an important role in the city's efforts to be a cultural tourist city and world-class tourist destination, and to promote local traditional ethnic culture.

Market street in Lijiang 1995 [Photo by Bruce Connolly]

Naxi people walk through the new street of the Old Town of Lijiang in 2017. [Photo by Du Jianhui provided to chinadaily.com.cn]