The famed show at the mountain was initially not on our itinerary in view of how packed our day was going to be visiting the natural scenery in the area. But our assigned local tour guide managed to squeeze time for us to catch the 1:20PMshow. The AI-generated summary of the show goes like this: “Impression Lijiang” (or Lijiang Impressions) Ethnic Show is a massive, open-air cultural performance featuring hundreds of local Naxi, Yi, and Bai people, showcasing their traditional music, dance, and customs against the stunning backdrop of the snow mountain, a breathtaking spectacle directed by the renowned filmmaker. It’s a daytime event, focusing on raw, cultural authenticity rather than elaborate lighting, and offers an unforgettable cultural experience for visitors to Lijiang.
The show was certainly impressed, and yep, there were hundreds of performers on the massive stage. Clearly, the Chinese don’t believe in doing things half-way. The show is in Chinese – obviously – but there were large displays with English translations for westerners to catch the rough gist of what is going on. The backdrop against the mountain also provided an incredible sense of sheer scale. The pictures below only show a glimpse of how large the spectacle was. The closer-up shots were taken using either the Samsung S25 Ultra at 10x zoom, or the Sony RX100 VII maximum focal length of 200mm.
The theater was packed with several hundreds of guests in the audience: we stepped out a bit earlier just before the show ended just to escape the invitable crowds all exiting at the same time, and headed to our last stop of the day: Glacier Park. Continued in the next post!