Yunnan is not only beautiful in mountains and rivers, but also a place with a long history of multi-ethnic culture and rich historical precipitation.
There are 25 ethnic minorities in Yunnan, accounting for one third of the province's total population. In the long river of historical development, multi-ethnic exchanges and integration have created unique folk culture, and the ancient town of Yunnan is the best place to experience this folk custom.
Yunnan is famous for its many ancient towns, not only Lijiang and Dali, but also many small ancient towns hidden in the depths, which are even called "secret places". The following five ancient towns must have the simple, quiet, elegant and quiet years you want.
I. Shaxi Ancient Town
If Shuhe was Lijiang ten years ago, Shaxi was Lijiang thirty years ago.
Shaxi is neither a new building nor a high imitation. It is a real ancient town, so there is a saying in northwest Yunnan that you must not miss Shaxi when passing through Lijiang, Dali.
This is an ancient town that can bypass the bustling Dali and Lijiang because it is simple and quiet.
Although Shaxi Ancient Town is located between Dali and Lijiang, compared with those two ancient cities, few people here know about it.
Shaxi ancient town is an important post station of the ancient tea-horse road. With the decline of the ancient tea-horse road, the ancient town was gradually forgotten. Because it has been forgotten, it is more primitive. The ancient town still maintains the style of Chama ancient town, including ancient temples, ancient stages, ancient shops, Madian, ancient red sandstone slate street, century-old trees, ancient alleys and ancient villages. Because of its long history, Sideng Street here was selected in June 2002.
Walk past Yujin Bridge, an ancient stone bridge, and walk along the ancient road for 100 meters to reach Dongzhaimen, which is made of adobe and only allows two horses to pass at the same time, retaining the original appearance of Shangzhaimen on the ancient tea-horse road.
Xingjiao Temple is the only remaining "Atoli" Buddhist temple of Bai nationality in Ming Dynasty in China. The murals and sculptures inside are exquisite, elegant and lifelike.
The old stage is the most distinctive building in the fourth-class street, which is located in the center of the building on the east side of the street and the center of the ancient town.
Shaxi ancient town is small, quiet and antique. I suggest staying here for one night to slow down, or sitting there alone in a daze, or visiting old streets, drinking tea, riding horses, basking in the sun, and slowly enjoying your own relaxation. Come here early before it is overexploited.
skill
Address: 084 County Road, Jianchuan County, Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture
Route: go on road trip is recommended. If you don't drive, you can go to the front of Jianchuan Bus Terminal, where there are many minibuses between Shaxi Ancient Town and Jianchuan County. The journey takes about 40 minutes, and the fare is 15 yuan.
Accommodation: There are youth hostels and inns in the ancient town, where you can stay.
Special food: ginseng, Tricholoma matsutake, milk cake, goat milk cake, etc.
Second, Xizhou Ancient Town
If you come to Dali instead of Xizhou, then you have never been to Dali.
This is not a remote ancient city, less than 20 kilometers away from the famous Dali ancient city, but it is an ancient town full of historical charm, literary petty bourgeoisie and rich national characteristics.
The blend of history and business here is shallow, and there are many shops, but it is not noisy. There is still a strong smell of fireworks and life above the business atmosphere.
In Dali, if you really want to experience the cultural remains of the Bai people, you should go to Xizhou, where there are the largest and most distinctive Bai folk houses and ancient cultural relics that have not been destroyed even in a special period. Outside the town is a large paddy field, and then Erhai Lake.
Yan Jia quadrangle is the essence of Bai architecture.
The Yanshi family was once the first of the "four big families" in Xizhou, and the ancient tea-horse road brought them great wealth. Yan lived in the southwest corner of Sifang Street, a large house with a building area of more than 3,000 square meters, which was built during Guangxu period. You can imagine the style of the Yan family in those days.
Address: East Section of Dali Line, Dali City, Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture
Tickets: free, (Yan Jia Siheyuan tickets, Ctrip, 20 yuan)
Special food: Xizhou Baba
Three. Yi ancient town in Yunnan
It can be seen from the name that this is an ancient post station, the largest post station on the ancient tea-horse road, and has always been called Yunnan.
Many people who have been here say that this ancient town is lonely, even a little desolate, but it is alive.
In 122 BC, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty sent messengers to trace this place and set up Yunnan County, which is the birthplace of Yunnan.
Yunnan Post was the throat of the ancient Silk Road in southwest China more than 2,000 years ago and reached its peak in Qing Dynasty. It has become the most important and prosperous distribution center on the ancient tea-horse road. Caravans from east to west came here with a lot of leather, medicinal materials, tea, cloth, salt and department stores. On the ancient bluestone road in the ancient street, the footprints left by the caravan are still faintly visible.
At that time, because there were too many caravans coming and going, opening a horse shop in the ancient town became a means of livelihood for many people here. At most, there are more than 30 horse shops, large and small, and the largest can accept more than 300 horses.
The most glorious history of the Yi people in Yunnan is in the period of War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression. It is an important military base in the China-Myanmar theater and an air transit station to Southeast Asian countries. Yunnanyi airport transfer station is an important passage and air supply line of the famous hump route. The Central Aviation Academy and the 38th Air Force Station are stationed here, and the world-famous Yunnan-Myanmar Highway also passes through here. Thousands of anti-Japanese volunteers and migrant workers died heroically to build and defend this important military base.
This town still retains the historical relics of War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression. Outside the town, the hangar and airport runway where allied planes are parked are still clearly visible. In a yard in the town, there are still more than a dozen huge stone mills used in the construction of the airport.
There are two post roads in the village, one east and one west, one south and one north, forming a T-street pattern. Old buildings can be seen everywhere in the street, with exquisite wood grain carving and mottled walls full of vicissitudes.
The ancient post road paved with 1 km bluestone slabs in the ancient town is the most historic ancient road in China. The bluestone tablets polished by the years, watching people come and go, witnessed the rise and fall of the caravan era.
Nowadays, there are not many residents in the ancient town, there are not so many shops and bustling tourists, and there is also a lack of various decorations of cultural petty bourgeoisie. It is primitive, simple, quiet, and even a little depressed and deserted. I hope that the prosperity will disperse, and people in the future will still not forget the glory of this ancient tea-horse town.
Address: Next to National Highway 320, Xiangyun County, Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture
Admission: free.
4. Nuodeng Ancient Town
In the deep mountains north of Yunlong County, Dali, there is a Bai village with a history of thousands of years, that is Nuodeng Ancient Town. Nuodeng means "hillside with tigers" in white language. According to research, this ancient town is the oldest village in northwest Yunnan, and it is also the only village with the same original name recorded in Schumann, the earliest history book in Yunnan. Many ancient towns have been packaged and publicized for one or two thousand years.
The ancient town once became a commercial center on the ancient tea-horse road in western Yunnan because of salt industry. However, due to the impact of low-cost sea salt, Nuodeng ancient well salt gradually faded out of the historical stage, but Nuodeng ancient town still retains the traditional method of making salt with ancient wells. As the name of Yanjing, Nuodeng has become a symbol of salt culture in Yunnan.
The ancient town is rich in salt wells, and the ancient village has a unique architectural style. Residential buildings are built on the mountain, layered, mostly in Ming and Qing dynasties. They are well preserved. Looking from the foot of the mountain, the houses are scattered on the hillside, which has become the most beautiful scenery in the ancient town. There are temples, archways, halls, ancestral halls and other buildings in the town, among which the Jade Emperor Pavilion complex is the most magnificent, and Lingxingmen in front of the pavilion is the largest existing ancient wooden archway in western Yunnan.
Nuodeng village is a small village famous for ham. Its ham is delicious because the salt tastes good. The salt used comes from a salt well with a history of nearly 2000 years and is made by the oldest method.
Since the beginning of winter, every household in Nuodeng Village has begun to pickle ham. The curing process is very simple. Spread corn wine, sprinkle Nuo Yan evenly on the ham and rub it repeatedly. After pickling in the workshop for 30 days, hang it and dry it. Hams over 3 years old can be eaten raw, which is the only ham that can be eaten raw in China.
The ancient town of Nuodeng was discovered and publicized for nearly 20 years, and it was also published in China on the Tip of the Tongue. But today, there is no excessive commercial development here, and it still retains a strong ancient charm and customs, which is really commendable.
Address: Nuodeng Town, Yunlong County, Dali Prefecture, Yunnan Province
Admission: free.
Verb (abbreviation of verb) Nayun ancient town
Nayun ancient town has a history of more than 700 years, and it is the last Dai ancient town preserved in China.
"Nayun" means "inner city" in Dai language. This is a very sacred place in the minds of the Dai people in Southeast Asia, because the Menglian Fu Xuan Department of the Dai Tusi yamen was located here.
During the Yongle period of the Ming Dynasty, the court set up the "Meng Lianchang lawsuit" here and formally established the toast system. It experienced four periods: Yuan, Ming, Qing and Republic of China, and experienced 28 chieftains before and after, ruling for 660 years. Menglian, Lancang and Ximeng were once the political, economic, cultural and religious centers of Fiona Fang.
The architecture of Nayun ancient town embodies the integration of Dai and Han nationalities and contains rich and colorful Dai Tusi culture.
At present, the well-preserved ancient buildings in the ancient town are mainly Buddhist temples and Fu Xuan Tusi House in Menglian.
The outermost is the Xiacheng Buddhist Temple, which is the residence of officials in charge of internal and external affairs, the presiding judge and several officials. The Xiacheng Buddhist Temple was destroyed by fire, and now it is rebuilt by later generations and named as the General Buddhist Temple, so it is the most magnificent of the three major Buddhist temples.
Zhongcheng Buddhist Temple is a Buddhist temple dedicated to Dai officials. Although the smallest and most dilapidated, it is the most primitive and tasteful of the three Buddhist temples.
Menglian Fu Xuan is located at the top of the mall, which is called "Hehan" in Dai language, that is, the king of Jindian. It is the core and symbol of chieftain rule, and it is also the only large-scale building complex in Yunnan where Dai and Han buildings are combined into one. Burned down in Qing dynasty, 1878- 19 19 was rebuilt. There is a wall more than 2 meters high outside, with side doors on all sides, a main hall, a parliamentary hall, a back hall and a wing room. It is a building complex with the architectural characteristics of Han and Dai. Now it is Menglian National History Museum.
Address: Chengxi Road, Menglian Daizu, Lahu and Wa Autonomous County, Pu 'er City
Admission: free visit.
Note: When visiting Buddhist temples, you should respect local religious customs. You need to take off your shoes when you enter the temple to worship and visit the exhibition hall of Fu Xuan Department in Menglian.