Lijiang is an old city with gorgeous surroundings resting in northwest Yunnan, located on a plateau at an elevation of 8,530 feet. Tectonic movement, which took place over 65 million years ago, created the Himalayas and gave rise to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. In the southeastern part of this plateau and the northwestern part of the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, meandering mountain ranges tower into the sky and swift rivers roar in deep gorges, presenting magnificent landforms over an area covering more than 77 thousand square miles. This area embodies the beauty of Lijiang Prefecture.