Large Water Wheel at the Lijiang Ancient Town 丽江古城
Lijiang Ancient Town in the southwestern province of Yunnan in China is one of the most well preserved ancient town in the country. It is by far the most imitated ancient town in the country, and with good reason. This place is raking in the tourist dollars or yuan and other ancient towns in the country are keen to emulate its success. While other ancient town are still working on it, Lijiang is already basking in its glory being known as a water town what with is numerous waterways that flow throughout the town. The waterways are not wide enough to be navigable though but they are still useful for every life such as cleaning food or clothes.
Lovely Water Wheel at the Lijiang Ancient Town Plaza
The plaza at the entrance of Lijiang Ancient Town features two large water wheels which were more common back then. It used to be used to retrieve water from the waterways but those have now given way to more modern methods of retrieving water. In some parts of China though, the water wheel is still in use, as I have seen in my travels in Hunan and Guangxi provinces. Nevertheless, the water wheel is displayed here as a symbol of Lijiang’s past. I would have to say that it does make a very good decoration for the UNESCO World Heritage Site marker at the entrance to the ancient town.
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