Huangshan Town in Yulong County, Lijiang 

Huangshan Town, which belongs to Yulong Naxi Autonomous County, Lijiang City, Yunnan Province, is like a bright pearl inlaid southwest of the World Cultural Heritage Lijiang Ancient City. It is only 2 kilometers away from Lijiang Ancient City, enjoying a unique geographical location. It borders the Gucheng District (古城区) in the northeast, reaches Wutai Mountain (五台山) in the south, and leans against Ma’anshan Mountain (马鞍山) and Wenbi Mountain (文笔山) in the west. The whole town covers an area of 92 square kilometers. It administers five village committees, namely Changshui (长水), Baihua (白华), Wenhua (文华), Wutai (五台), and Nanxi (南溪), with a total of 29 villager groups, 2,652 households, and a total population of 10,252 people. Among them, the Naxi ethnic group accounts for as high as 95% of the population, making it a highly representative Naxi ethnic town.

Except for the Nanxi Village Committee, the rest of Huangshan Town is located in the dam area. It has a low-temperature zone plateau climate. The four seasons do not change significantly, but the dry and wet seasons are extremely distinct. The annual average temperature is between 12.6℃ and 19.6℃, and the annual rainfall is 953.9mm. Such pleasant climate conditions have given birth to the unique ecological and cultural landscapes of this land.

As a classical music widely spread among the Naxi people, Naxi Ancient Music integrates Taoist ritual music, Confucian ritual music, and even the music of ci (词) and qu (曲) from the Tang, Song, and Yuan dynasties. Its melody is unique and its charm is extraordinary. The representative work, “Baisha Xiyue” (《白沙细乐》), is preserved in Huangshan and passed down here. In 1980, after enjoying the Naxi Ancient Music, the famous painter Wu Zuoren praised Huangshan as the “Hometown of Naxi Music and Dance”. Up to now, each village in Huangshan Town has an ancient music band. On important occasions such as festivals or weddings and funerals, folk artists gather together to play this wonderful melody that has passed through thousands of years.

The Naxi ethnic group has always been known for its talent in singing and dancing, and folk singing and dancing are very popular. When singing, it is accompanied by simple and rough dance steps, making people seem to travel back to the distant nomadic era, vividly showing the hardships and joys of the Naxi people’s nomadic life in the past.

Huangshan Town completely preserves the traditional farming culture. The plowing methods of “two oxen lifting the plow” (二牛抬杠犁耕法), “coupled plow” (耦犁法), and “standard yoke plow” (典辕犁) used during farming have the style of the Sui and Tang dynasties and have a history of more than 1,200 years. In the long years, Naxi culture has been integrated into it. The impromptu singing of “Liniutiao” (犁牛调) while farming and the antiphonal singing in the fields all show distinct ethnic characteristics.

The Naxi ethnic group has many festivals, rich activities, and unique contents. Their clothing, food, housing, transportation, weddings, and funerals all exude a strong ethnic flavor. In the Naxi villages of Huangshan, tourists can fully experience the real production and living styles of the Naxi people.

As a religious culture, Dongba Culture has now become a popular focus of tourism exploration in Lijiang. Huangshan Town is the main inheritance place of Dongba Culture. There are still the ruins of large-scale sacrificial activities of the ancient ancestors, and many ceremonies have been preserved.

As the main carrier of Naxi Dongba Culture, the Dongba Ceremony shows and inherits the content recorded in the Dongba scriptures with pictographic characters in various forms.

During the process of the Dongba religion performing the Dongba Ceremony, the religious singing and dancing performed by the Dongba priests according to different ceremonies and Taoist rules have the characteristics of flexibility and simplicity. Its strong primitive flavor and strict action norms make it occupy a special position in the dances of Lijiang.

The classical tune chanted by the Dongba during religious sacrificial activities, accompanied by musical instruments, is an important part of Dongba Culture.

Wenfeng Temple (文峰寺), located on the mountainside of Wenbi Mountain in the southwest of Huangshan Town, is a renowned Lamaism holy land and the highest institution of learning for the Kagyu School of Lamaism in northwest Yunnan. It not only has a great influence in the religious circles of Tibet, Qinghai, Gansu, Sichuan, Yunnan and other places in China but also occupies an important position in the religious circles of countries such as India, Nepal, Myanmar, and Thailand. It is also a famous Buddhist holy land and an ideal place for tourism and recuperation. Wenfeng Temple has magnificent halls and a grand momentum. There are gurgling streams, fragrant flowers, towering ancient trees in the temple, including the “Ginkgo biloba” (银杏树) known as the living fossil of trees, the “Shilixiang” (十里香), dense pine forests, gushing mountain springs, and birds playing on the branches. Tourists can deeply feel the tranquility of the Buddhist temple, the breath of nature, and the harmonious integration of man and nature.

Qiwen Temple (启文寺), located at the foot of Ma’anshan Mountain in the west of Huangshan Town, is a temple that combines Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism. There are pear orchards around the temple. In spring, pear blossoms are in full bloom, and in autumn, the sky is filled with red leaves, presenting a picturesque scenery.

Basically retaining the architectural characteristics of the Ming and Qing dynasties, most of the Naxi folk houses are tile-roofed buildings in the style of “three rooms and one screen wall” (三坊一照壁), “four compounds with five courtyards” (四合五天井), and “circular corridor on the upper floor” (走马转角楼) made of civil engineering. Their architecture not only pays attention to the structural layout but also pursues carving and painting decoration. They are exquisite and delicate and have been praised as the “Folk House Museum” by Chinese and foreign architectural experts.

The well-arranged rural scenery is extremely attractive. The farmland and the black-and-white Naxi folk houses set each other off. The scenery varies in different seasons. In spring, there are blooming flowers; in summer, it is full of greenery; in autumn, the red leaves are like fire; in winter, it is covered with snow. Everywhere presents a prosperous scene of bumper harvests of grains and thriving livestock. The famous Chinese painter Mr. Zhou Lin (周霖) would go to Ma’anshan Mountain to enjoy the rural scenery of Huangshan every spring and autumn and compose poems and paint. When tourists are on the scene, they seem to be in a 桃花源 – like world.

As the largest plateau lake in Lijiang Dam, Wenbi Lake (文笔海) is an important part of the provincial-level plateau wetland nature reserve. There are lush aquatic plants and a large number of fish in the lake. It is far away from the hustle and bustle of the city and is an excellent place for leisure and vacation.

Huangshan Town, this charming land, with its unique natural environment, profound folk culture, rich religious connotations, and charming scenic spots, attracts tourists from all over the world and has become a shining treasure in the tourism landscape of Lijiang.