when i went, the old town was pretty saturated with chinese (and a few western) tourists buying random crap from the souvenir stalls that have taken over the downtown. the “old town” now more resembles a shopping mall (set inside beautiful chinese architecture), though there are some out-of-the-way residential areas left for wandering around. but i guess western breakfast at the cafes is a bonus.

but definitely try heading north towards the jade dragon snow mountain, to check out the relatively undeveloped villages up there: yuhu, baisha, etc. here’s a picture taken in yuhu.