Last week tourist hotspot Lijiang began charging visitors 80 yuan to enter the old town. The 80-yuan 'old town maintenance fee', which was previously 40 yuan, was raised to its new price on the first of this month.

Not everyone entering the old town - a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1997 - has to pay the 80 yuan fee. According to Chinese media reports, all citizens administered by the Lijiang municipal government, all certified tour guides and drivers, handicapped soldiers or veterans, children shorter than 1.2 meters, retirees or anyone older than 70 can enter Lijiang's old town without charge.

Looking ahead, it appears possible that in the long term a significant amount of travelers will skip Lijiang for other nearby destinations in Yunnan such as Dali or Tiger Leaping Gorge.

China has recently been warned by UNESCO regarding the impact of tourism on Lijiang. It is unclear if there is any connection to the 80-yuan entrance fee and the concerns voiced by the World Heritage Committee late last month.

Most Chinese media reports appear to support Lijiang's new entrance fee, a notable exception being Chinese news site CRI, which recently published an article entitled "Don't Let 'Protecting Culture' Become 'Selling Culture'".

Lijiang Old Town Image: Mac Xu

UPDATE: GoKunming readers have sent feedback indicating that although the fee does officially exist, it is not being enforced very strictly.

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Comments

[UNF] • July 9, 2007, 7:41pm

That's awfully pricey.

[UNF] • July 10, 2007, 2:13pm

planning to visit Lijiang in Aug this year. Wished I'd done it sooner when i had a chance 8 yrs ago! The price doesn't bother me so much as the touristiness of it all. oh well!

[UNF] • July 16, 2007, 11:03pm

It was already a theme park.

The mock ming extension to the old town is a travesty.

The town clearly needs to control visitor numbers, but price is not a fair way to do it, and is hardly in line with socialist principles.

hedgepig • July 17, 2007, 5:08pm

i worry that Dali is going the same way...

[UNF] • September 11, 2007, 2:05pm

we were in lijiang this summer and although i saw the notices at our hostel, the hostel admin did not enforce it.

Geogramatt • March 3, 2014, 11:57pm

Seven years later, and while the 80 yuan maintenance fee is still posted at the main entrances to Dayan, no one's collecting and no one's paying.

Too bad the same can't be said of Heshun (和顺) near Tengchong