Lijiang Travel – Lion Park & Wangu Tower

Destinations — By Brendon on 24/10/2011 3:44 pm

The Wangu Tower

Wangu Tower sits at the top of Lion Hill in Lijiang’s Old Town and provides incredible 360 degree panoramic views of the Old Town, New Town and Jade Dragon Snow Mountain.

The Park and tower are not an outstanding attraction and not particularly memorable but if you are in Lijiang’s Old Town, they are definitely worth a visit and the views will make a climb up the tower well worthwhile.

The Park

The park is 15 hectares in size, includes all of Lion Hill and 90% of the park area is covered in woods. There are supposed to be over 40 ancient Cypress trees in the park that are 800 years old.

The Tower

The Wangu Tower was recently constructed to boost local tourism and has no historical value. The tower itself is 33 meters high and has five floors. It is said to have a record breaking beam structure but you will not notice that when you visit the tower.

On the first floor of the tower is an alter on the inside of the main entrance. On either side of the entrance are monks sitting down at desks consulting visitors to the tower. The second floor is empty and the third and fourth floor are used to display art work such as traditional scroll paintings. The top floor of the tower provides the 360 panoramic views of Old Town and rivers to the east, the new section of Lijiang to the west, the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain range to the north and Naxi villages and farmland to the south.

The top story of the tower has 13 angles with each angle representing one of the thirteen peaks the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain range.

Tickets and Hours

The ticket to enter the park is 15rmb and it is open from 8am to 6pm.

Getting There

The Lion Park and Wanggu Tower can be seen from all over Old Town and impossible to miss. The best way to get to the park is to take a set of stairs at the north western end of Sifang street. The way to the park is clearly marked by signs.