Shopping in Lijiang

Good to Know

• Lijiang Old Town's shops are overwhelmingly tourist-facing (tea, silver, textiles, souvenirs); locals and budget-conscious residents typically do everyday grocery shopping at the Walmart-anchored Xianghe Commercial Plaza or at local markets like Zhongyi/Xiangshan rather than in the old town itself.
• Bargaining is common and expected in old-town souvenir and craft stalls; fixed-price retail (supermarkets, the modern shopping plaza) does not involve haggling.
• Pu'er tea and silver jewelry sold in the Old Town range widely in authenticity and price — buying from a shop with a visible, established storefront rather than a street vendor reduces the risk of low-quality or mislabeled goods.
• Some visitors and reviewers note the Old Town has become increasingly commercialized in recent years, with generic souvenir shops replacing some traditional craft stores.
• There is no Apple Store or certified Apple repair center in Lijiang itself — the nearest official Apple Store is in Kunming, roughly a 1-hour flight or 5-6 hour drive/bus ride away, so plan ahead for any hardware issues.
• For urgent Apple hardware problems, mailing the device to Apple's official repair service or waiting until a Kunming trip is usually more reliable than using an unverified local phone shop advertising 'Apple' repairs.
• Buying on Taobao/JD/Pinduoduo generally works fine in Lijiang, but as a smaller, more remote city it isn't in the fastest delivery tier — expect deliveries to sometimes take longer than they would in Kunming or China's bigger coastal cities.
• A Chinese payment method (Alipay/WeChat Pay tied to a Chinese bank account or verified ID) is effectively required to shop on Taobao/JD directly; this can be a hurdle for very short-term visitors without local banking set up.