From nearly 500 years, from the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) to the early days of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), the Lijiang area was ruled by a hereditary succession of chieftains from the Mu clan of the ethnic Naxi people, under the jurisdiction of the royal court. In 'Notes on Travel in Yunnan', Xu Xiake (1587-1641), a renowned geographer of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), described Lijiang as a town of "tile-roofed houses standing in close order", and the halls of the Chieftain Mu's office as "so magnificent as to be comparable to those at the emporer's palace".


The Mu's Mansion is located at the southwestern part of Lijiang Old Town, occupying a land area of over one hundred mu. The architectural style of the mansion takes after that of the Forbidden City in Beijing. The buildings within the mansion are all built one higher than another from the south to the north. On a clear day, you can get a splendid view of the tiled-rooftops of the whole of Lijiang Old Town from the top of the mansion, with the snow-capped Yulong (Jade Dragon Snow Mountain) forming an imposing and magnificent backdrop to the view in the distance.