From
Dali to Lijiang, about
70 kilometers (44miles)
from Lijiang town.
On the upper reach of
the Yangtze River, its
three tributaries - the
Jinsha River, Lancang
River and Nu River run
parallel for more than
400 kilometers on the
deep valley region
northwest of the Cross
Mountains, forming a
well-known scenic spot
of "three rivers flowing
parallel". Due to the
Alpine movements, when
the Jinsha River reaches
Shigu (Stone Drum) town,
it makes an abrupt turn
to leave Lancang River
and Nu River, and rushes
northeast rapidly to
form a rare V-shape bend
which famous in the
world.
With quiet and broad
water, the bend has been
of strategic importance
since ancient times. The
famous historical event,
such as Zhuge Liang’s
"Crossing the Lu River
in May", Kublai Khan’s
"Crossing the River on
Leather Rafts" all
happened here. In May
1936, the Red Army, led
by He Long and Ren Bishi,
also crossed the river
here.
The village of Stone
Drum stands by the
Jinsha River and faces
the great bend. It got
its name from a large,
cylindrical, marble
tablet shaped like a
drum. Serves as an
engraved memorial
honoring the Sino-Naxi
victory over a Tibetan
army in the summer of
1548, the stone drum is
1.5 meter in diameter, 7
centimeters in
thickness. It is one of
the earliest stone
tablets hitherto found
at Lijiang. |