Lijiang was a major staging post on the tea-horse road, the network of caravan routes that carried brick tea from Yunnan and Sichuan to Tibet in exchange for horses. Caravans rested here for days, and the old town's canals, stone bridges and courtyard houses were built in part to serve that trade. The connection to a bar culture is loose but real: inns and teahouses served travelers for centuries.
What happens now
After about eight in the evening the lanes along the canals fill with bars, most with live singers and open fronts facing the water. Two of the most famous face each other across the canal and hold informal singing contests, each side trying to drown out the other. It is loud, and the volume is part of the experience. Smaller bars in the side lanes play quieter folk music and serve local fruit wine and barley spirits.
What to drink
Plum wine and other fruit wines are local specialities and are sweet and low in alcohol. Highland barley wine, closer to a light spirit, is also common. Tea is still the traditional drink of the route, and several teahouses sell aged pu'er brewed at the table.
Practical notes
The bar area is in the old town, within walking distance of most guesthouses, but it is genuinely loud and rooms near the canals get the noise until late. If you want quiet accommodation, book on the edge of the old town or in the new town. Prices are higher than in the rest of Lijiang. If the crowds are too much, walk fifteen minutes to the quieter lanes near the Black Dragon Pool and have tea instead.
