Baoshan Stone Town Overview
1. Basic Information
● Chinese Name: 宝山石头城
● Area: 0.5 square kilometer
● Population: 902
● Zip code: 674123
● Dialing code: (+86) 0888
2. Location
Baoshan Stone Town lies at an elevation of 4,600m and in a section of the beautiful Tiger Leaping Gorge, about 110 km from Lijiang Old Town. Geographical coordinates is about 27 ° 28 '31 " north latitude, 100 °10 '50 " east longitude. It is surrounded by three steep cliff sides and one of those stretches directly down to Jinsha River.
3. Administrative Division
Baoshan Stone Town has jurisdiction over 3 Villages and 14 Groups of villagers, respectively Keling Village(克灵村, including 4 Groups), Changfeng Village(长丰村, including 4 Groups) and Baoshan Village(宝山村, including 6 Groups).
4. Climate
It belongs to Stone Mountain area, with high mountain, steep slope, deep valley and ravines and gullies criss-cross. The climate of Baoshan Stone Town integrates the three-dimensional changes of hot and humid river valleys, mid-levels and alpine mountains, with an average annual temperature of 11.6 degrees and annual precipitation of 500-1000 mm. It's cold on the mountain and hot in the valley.
5. People
Most people live in Baoshan Stone Town is Naxi Ethnic Group and their language is Naxi dialect. In this ancient "castle", four families has lived here including Big He, Small He, Mu and Li.
6. Best Time to Visit
Autumn is the most beautiful season of Baoshan Stone Town. The sky is clear and the world is colorful here. In the winter and spring, we can see the snow scene that of the most beautiful four seasons. Summer is the rainy season of Baoshan Stone Town, which is not recommended to come.
7. Features
• Over 100 Naxi families live in a compact community on a gigantic stone like a mushroom. Houses in the village are all made of natural stones, and people carve the houses in the stones. Visitors are amazed by the superb craftsmanship done by the village ancestors hundreds of years ago.
• There are terrace fields on the hillside around Stone Town with wonderful independent aqueducts/irrigation system.
8. Things to Do
The main attraction in Baoshan Stone Town includes the stone village itself, Taizi Pass, Cave of Dropping Flood Praying for Children, Rock Painting of Taizi Pass, Keling Karst Cave, etc.
9. History
Baoshan Stone Town was built in the early Yuan dynasty. It is said that the people in Yongning of Ninglang County(宁蒗县) moved here and they built a stone wall of five feet high around it to make it more defensible and sheltered. Then people can enter the village from only two stone gates, one on the south and one on the north. Thus it is a safe town once closed its door.
10. Culture
Baoshan Stone Town is an important place where the Naxi ancestors migrated and lived together. It gives birth to the ancient Dongba culture and rich Naxi folk customs. Local Naxi people keeps the most oldest and solemn sacrifice ceremony of Heaven worship and the most primitive Naxi ethnic songs and dances, as well as Dongba Religion of the Naxi people.
11. Economy
The economy of Baoshan Stone Town is dominated by agriculture and animal husbandry. The main products are rice, wheat, corn and the economic crops are walnut, banana, orange, pomegranate, etc. The animal husbandry is mainly cattle, horses, donkeys, pigs, etc.
12. Festivals
Besides the traditional festivals of Han People(Spring Festival, Qingming Festival, Dragon Boat Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival), there are Sanduo Festival, March Festival, Kaobabu Festival, Wash Ox Feet Festival, etc.
13. How to Get to Baoshan Stone Town from Lijiang
There are three ways of getting there including private mini bus, coach and boat.
14. Dining and Accommodation
There is no high-end hotels located in Baoshan Stone Town. Tourists can stay and eat in the local guesthouse with clear and safe environment.
