Lijiang has two distinct drinking cultures operating simultaneously. The back streets of the old town, especially around Bar Street (Jiuyi Jie), are lined with bars playing loud music for Chinese domestic tourists celebrating on group trips — lively and chaotic, not particularly interesting to independent travellers. A second, quieter scene of small cafes and teahouses exists in the side lanes, run by younger Naxi and Han entrepreneurs who have created genuinely pleasant places to sit, drink Yunnan coffee or pu-erh tea, and watch the lane traffic go by. Seek out the second kind.