Lijiang: Shuhe Old Town Tea Horse Road Discovery Day Tour

Shuhe Old Town (Suhe), 4km north of Lijiang Old Town, is the older but quieter Naxi settlement — the original 'caravansary' where Tea Horse Road traders rested before the Tibetan crossing. Morning: walk Sifang Listening Square (Sifang Tingyin), Shuhe's main canal-side plaza where Naxi elders still play music in the afternoon. Visit the Tea Horse Road Cultural Museum, the Dragon Spring (Long Quan) where the town's water originates, and the Sansheng Temple. Lunch at a courtyard restaurant in a 200-year-old Naxi house. Afternoon: walk the Saddle Maker's Lane (Pisi Wuhua Stone Lane) where leather artisans still make Tea Horse Road saddles by hand. Return to your hotel.

Quieter than Lijiang Old Town — Shuhe is the original Naxi caravansary, with Tang-era cobblestones, the Sifang Listening Square, and a Tea Horse museum.