Webcam in Lijiang, China: Market Square Ancient Town of Lijiang

Market Square Ancient Town of Lijiang - Built in the late Song Dynasty, 800 years ago, crisscrossed by canals and bridges, the Old Town of Lijiang attracts tourists to spend most of their time in the town. There are roughly 6,000 families living in the Old Town, who used to fetch and carry their drinking water from the canals. With its center at the Market Square, where the Naxi ladies meet for chatting, local hunters standing proudly with falcons resting on their gloved fists, the Old Town looks very charming, especially after rain. All the houses are built in the traditional style, a combination of Naxi, Bai and Tibetan architecture. These wooden houses mostly stood up strongly to survive the 1996 earthquake of 7 on the Richter scale happened in 1996, better than the more recent concrete houses in the new town. UNESCO was so impressed by how well the old part of the town has been preserved that they listed the Old Town of Lijiang as a World's Cultureal Heritage Site. Near the center, there is stands Mu's Mansion, recently rebuilt after the earthquake with loans from the World Bank. It was once the palace where the local chieftains of 22 generations spent their lives. Click the preview image to watch the original webcam.