A couple of years ago we flew into Lijiang, travelled up to Zhongdian and flew out from there.

We stayed at the Grand Hotel Lijiang which was fine and in a good location. This was before the Banyan Tree opened but it'll still be a lot cheaper in the Grand Hotel now. Breakfast was fairly good for Chinese hotels.

Old town gets pretty busy late morning till about mid afternoon and the streets are narrow. However outside these times it's lovely, especially in the evening, to sit outside a restaurant or cafe - very relaxing. No particular restaurant recommendations I'm afraid as I can't remember the names of where we ate.

In Zhongdian we stayed at the Angsana hotel.