An Aman resort in picturesque, historic Lijiang – away from the tourist hordes
Lijiang, in China’s Yunnan province, attracts about 16 million visitors a year, but you wouldn’t know that if you found yourself at the quietly refreshing Amandayan resort in the Unesco-listed Old Town
Ah. Those Aman names are a little confusing ... remind me. Certainly. There are now 31 Aman resorts and hotels scattered around the globe. This one’s in Lijiang, in Yunnan province. Dayan is the name for Lijiang’s Old Town, which was mainly developed by the Naxi people a millennium ago and grew into a trading post on the ancient Tea Horse route, which stretched from southwest China across Asia.
You mean the equine equivalent of “One Belt, One Road”? Exactly. Without the seminars.
So Amandayan must be pretty historic? Actually, it’s been open only a couple of years. Mind you, much of the “Old Town” is fairly new. Lijiang was badly damaged by an earthquake in 1996. Subsequent restoration efforts earned it Unesco World Heritage Site status the following year. Amandayan itself has a specially preserved edifice, Wenchang Palace – built circa 1725 – in one of its courtyards.
That’s impressively high-end. In every sense. Lijiang sits at 2,400 metres above sea level and Amandayan’s on top of Lion Hill, which overlooks the grey-roofed billows of the town. It’s, literally, breathtaking. The hotel supplies oxygen canisters in each room, but we’re not talking Tibetan levels of gasping.