The Old Town of Lijiang lies on the Lijiang plain at an elevation of 2，400 meters in Yunnan Province of China， which is one of the last surviving ancient towns in China. It has preserved a historic townscape of high quality and authenticity.

The architecture of the Old Town of Lijiang is well-known for the blending of elements from several cultures， and its ancient water-supply system of great complex5q74uvYyqrz/Q8aSZ2qJwg==ity still functions effectively today.

The Old Town of Lijiang is also known as Dayan town， meaning large ink stone， as it is laid out in the shape of a traditional Chinese ink stone.

With Square Street as the central thoroughfare， it has houses made of stone and wood， combining the architectural features of the Han， Bai and Tibetan ethnic groups， as well as the Naxi.

A typical house has two stories. A row of three main rooms on the ground floor faces south and is flanked on each side by a row of three rooms.

The three main rooms are for the elders， and the side rooms are for the younger members of the family. The roof edges over the gables are decorated with fish-shaped boards， known locally as “suspended fish”. In the Chinese language， “fish” and “surplus” sound the same， so the fish are a sort of prayer for auspiciousness and wealth.

麗江古城位于中國云南海拔2 400米的麗江平原上，是中國現(xiàn)存幾座古城之一。它很好地保留了歷史城鎮(zhèn)的原始景觀。

麗江古城的建筑以多文化元素的融合而聞名，其古老而復(fù)雜的供水系統(tǒng)至今仍在有效地發(fā)揮作用。

麗江古城也被稱為“大研鎮(zhèn)”（即大硯鎮(zhèn)，古時“研”和“硯”相通），因為它是按照中國傳統(tǒng)硯臺的形狀設(shè)計的。

麗江古城以四方街為中心大道，房屋建筑一般是石木結(jié)構(gòu)，結(jié)合了漢族、白族、藏族以及納西族等民族的建筑特色。

在麗江古城，有代表性的房屋一般有兩層。一層有一排三間朝南的正房，正房的兩側(cè)各有一排三間廂房。

三間正房住的是家里的老人，廂房則住的是年輕人。山墻上方的邊緣裝飾著魚形板，在當?shù)乇环Q為“懸魚”。在中文中，“魚”和“余”發(fā)音相同，所以懸魚是人們祈求吉祥和財富的一種方式。

Word Bank

elevation /'el?'ve??n/ n. 海拔

authenticity /'??θen't?s?ti/ n. 真實性

thoroughfare /'θ?r?fe?（r）/ n. 大街；大道

be flanked by側(cè)面（或兩側(cè)）有

The road is flanked by neat rows of trees.

suspend /s?'spend/ v. 懸；掛