Baisha ancient town

Baisha ancient town

Baisha ancient town is located 10 kilometers north of Lijiang City, with Yulong Snow Mountain in the north, Longquan in the South and xiyizhi mountain in the West. It is the ancient capital of Naxi people and a world-class "ancient Naxi kingdom"

It used to be the political, economic, commercial and cultural center of Lijiang. As one of the important birthplaces of Naxi culture, the Mu chieftain of Naxi has accumulated experience in town planning in Baisha.

Located at the foot of Yulong Snow Mountain and 10km to the north of Lijiang ancient city, Baisha ancient town is the birthplace of the regime of Lijiang chieftain "Mu family". Baisha ancient town is the most ancient town with Naxi heritage and the most original Naxi village

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Historical evolution

Baisha ancient town is the origin of Mu's Tusi regime. Baisha, the ancient capital of Naxi, was once the political, economic, commercial and cultural center of Lijiang. As early as the Tang Dynasty, when Yulong Snow Mountain was granted the title of "Beiyue" by Nanzhao king, Mu's ancestors (then the king of Lijiang) began to build Baisha street and Beiyue temple here.

Baisha, the ancient capital of Naxi, was the political, economic, commercial and cultural center of Lijiang. During the song and Yuan Dynasties, until the early Ming Dynasty, the Mu family moved to Dayan town in 1383.

Before the Ming Dynasty, the chieftain Mu lived in Yanjiao village, west of Baisha ancient town. His address had been destroyed for hundreds of years. The center of Baisha ancient town is Sifang street and its surrounding temple buildings. There are Fuguo Temple (the gate and the main hall have been moved to Yuquan Park, namely Heilongtan) in the extrication forest of Zhishan mountain in the west of the ancient town, dabaoji palace, Liuli hall, Dading Pavilion and other religious buildings in the temples in the northeast of Sifang street.

In Baisha ancient town, Mu began to draw spring water from Yulong Snow Mountain to pass through the center of commercial square. Later, he gave full play to the beauty of flowing water in Dayan.

The ancient town of Baisha is very developed in commerce and handicraft. Before liberation, there were more than 150 workshops in Baisha. Bronze wares were mainly used in Tibetan areas and the surrounding ethnic minorities, such as copper hot pot, copper pot, copper ladle, oil lamp and so on. However, due to the historical reasons after liberation, only one workshop in Baisha Street still insists on making copper by hand.

In history, Naxi embroidery mainly focused on the daily necessities, paintings and Tibetan thangkas of local tribal chiefs and noble people. Among the people, it mainly focused on "wearing stars and wearing moon", waist, back, shoes and insoles. Before liberation, almost all Naxi and surrounding ethnic minority women with Baisha as the center embroidered. After liberation, due to the cultural revolution, mechanization and other reasons, there are few good embroidery masters. The existing Lijiang Jinxiu vocational training school, Baisha Jinxiu Art Institute, which is supported by the government, is engaged in the excavation, arrangement, inheritance, training and promotion of Jinxiu traditional manual embroidery.

In the Ming Dynasty, when Mu's Chieftain moved his residence to Lijiang ancient city, his family temples and central factories were mainly concentrated in Baisha. Mu's Chieftain knew poetry and books, had good manners, and highly praised Han culture, architecture, clothing and embroidery. From the Han area, we hired a large number of mulberry planting, silk weaving, embroidery, wood carving, architecture, art and other experts to Lijiang.

In history, the hardworking and enlightened Naxi people were all inclusive and integrated, which made Baisha a center of multi-cultural common development. Baisha architecture, bronzes, embroidery and murals are good examples.

Practical information

Best travel time

April - October is the best, the scenery is charming. From March to August, all kinds of flowers are blooming, especially this year, the flower sea near Baisha ancient town is very beautiful. Lijiang in spring, the wind is relatively strong, the climate is dry, we should pay special attention to fire prevention, sun protection, moisture. Summer is the season with the highest temperature, and it is also the rainy season; in autumn, the temperature is appropriate, with clear sky, colorful trees and flowers; in winter, the temperature is relatively low, with sunny days and warm sunshine in the daytime, and the lowest temperature at night, sometimes up to minus 5 ℃.

Main attractions

Baisha mural

Baisha ancient town has a very famous attraction "Baisha mural". Baisha mural is the product of the great opening of Naxi society in Ming Dynasty. Its painting lasted for more than 300 years from the early Ming Dynasty to the early Qing Dynasty. At the end of Ming Dynasty and the beginning of Qing Dynasty, Lijiang murals flourished with a history of 500 years.

There are 55 pieces of Baisha murals in the town. Most of them were created in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. They are treasures of mural art, and are now stored in dabaoji palace, liulidian palace, Dading Pavilion and Dajue palace. During the Ming Dynasty, the chieftain of Mu family in Lijiang was at its heyday. The political situation was stable and the economy was relatively prosperous. In order to show its wealth, a number of large-scale buildings were built in Daying palace.

The existing Ming Dynasty Murals in Baisha Liuli hall, dabaoji palace and Dading pavilion are extremely precious cultural relics. Dabaoji palace is the largest mural in Lijiang. It was painted in Wanli period of Ming Dynasty. There are 12 murals with 167 characters. The contents are religious themes, but the special thing is that in the same mural, there are not only Buddhist statues of Chinese Buddhism and Taoism, but also Buddhist statues of Lamaism. This kind of religious mural drawing different sects together is very rare.

Sifang Street

The square street of Baisha ancient town is the rudiment of Shuhe ancient town and the square street of Lijiang ancient town. Baisha Town is the earliest political, economic and cultural center of Lijiang with a history of more than 1000 years.

The center of Baisha ancient town is called Sifang street, which used to be a prosperous trade center. So later, when the Naxi ancestors established Shuhe ancient town and Lijiang ancient town, they also absorbed the planning mode of Baisha ancient town, and built the ancient town center into a business and Trade Center, named Sifang street, which means "extending in all directions, with the meaning of" four directions ". Due to its early establishment, the Sifang street in Baisha ancient town is not as perfect as Shuhe ancient town and Dayan ancient town in Lijiang.

Now Sifang street is the main place for local grannies to sell vegetables. The original vegetables and grannies in traditional Naxi costumes are a scenic spot on Sifang street. In the past, the old people in Baisha ancient town didn't like not to take photos. Now there are too many people taking photos, so they should be prepared before taking photos. If they take photos for them, the old people will have to take pocket money.

Memorial Archway

Just to the south of Sifang street, there is a one or two storey archway with a plaque on it: "Baisha, the capital of the ancient kingdom of Nashi, a world cultural heritage.". Due south of guopailou is a peaceful and quiet Naxi home. For more than 1000 years, Naxi people have been farming in spring, harvesting in autumn and hiding in winter. They have lived a life free from the world. Today, when you walk around the village, you will feel that time seems to have stopped flowing. The sky is so blue, the snow mountain is so majestic, the dogs on the street are so leisurely, and the whole ancient town is as simple and peaceful as Naxi old people.

Great Stone Bridge

About 200 meters from Sifang street to the West Lane is Dashiqiao in Baisha ancient town. It is also the oldest Dashiqiao in Lijiang. It is the predecessor of Qinglong bridge in Shuhe ancient town and Dashiqiao in Dayan ancient town in Lijiang. Dashiqiao is an important road connecting Baisha ancient town and Yanjiao village. It is also one of the necessary roads for the horse gang of Chama ancient road in history.

Baisha Airport

Baisha airport the barren dam 5 kilometers east of Baisha ancient town is one of the airports of the Flying Tigers during World War II. It was damaged a lot by the local people's colored sand a few years ago. Now it is protected by Southwest China forest protection air station. There is a small heliport built inside, which is used for helicopter sightseeing and aerial forest protection aircraft take-off and landing. You can do helicopter high-altitude tour of Lijiang, Tiger Leaping Gorge, snow mountain and so on from the airport, but it seems that the cost is not cheap. If you have the conditions, you may as well go there. 　　

Fuguo Temple

Fuguo temple is located on Zhishan mountain to the west of Baisha. It is the family temple of naximu chieftain. It was destroyed during the cultural revolution and has been partially restored. 　　

Main handwork

Jishan copper art

Jishan copper art, there is a copper shop next to Sifang street, which has been handed down from generation to generation. It is a handicraft workshop for inheritors of intangible cultural heritage. The craft is exquisite, but because it is hand-made, the price is a little expensive, so you can't miss it.

Baisha Jinxiu Art Academy

Baisha Jinxiu art academy, between the parking lot and Sifang street, is a typical Naxi quadrangle complex. There are four courtyards with antique flavor. The ground is paved with auspicious patterns of traditional craft tiles and goose warm stone. The doors and windows are old and exquisite, which is very tasteful.

Baisha Jinxiu Art Institute is a demonstration base for the inheritance, promotion and employment of national embroidery and Dongba culture supported by the local government. Here, you can not only enjoy the beauty of Naxi traditional architecture courtyard, but also enjoy the feast of national embroidery culture, which is very shocking.

Some people are creating embroidery on the spot, and there are also high, middle and low-grade works available for purchase in the exhibition hall. However, because they are handmade works of art, there are still differences in the price between cross stitch and machine embroidery. No tickets. It's worth visiting. But you can't take pictures in the exhibition hall.

special snacks

Chicken bean jelly

Chinese PinYin : Bai Sha Gu Zhen