Black Well, White Gold
Heijing is a small town in the northern Chuxiong mountains. Salt once made Heijing one of Yunnan's richest towns. Now its architectural splendours are being rediscovered.
An important Dai festival traditionally marking the beginning of the summer retreat for monks.
Judith Shapiro: Mao's War Against Nature: Politics and the Environment in Revolutionary China
Even if Chinese civilization has developed more against than with nature, the Mao years were a particular exercise in environmental destruction. In one case-study Shapiro tells the story of the draining of the northern part of Dianchi Lake, one of the first steps turning Kunming's lake into the fetid cess-pool it is today.
A number of Chinese historic texts covering life and politics in Yunnan have survived over the centuries. I have translated a few of them.
Bai wedding customs.
Best surviving station on the French-built Vietnam-Kunming railway.
Jim Goodman: Children of the Jade Dragon: the Naxi of Lijiang and their mountain neighbours the Yi
In the first half of the 1990s Lijiang had barely made its appearance on the Chinese tourism stage, even less so the then remote mountains of Ningland and Lugu Lake. Jim Goodman's account of the Naxi and the Yi draws back to a time where not everything was staged for mass tourism: an account of a lost world.
Cantilevered wooden bridge.
Upcoming Festivals
| Name | Date |
|---|---|
| Ghost Month | 13 Aug |
| Mule Fair | 17 Aug |
| Benzhu Worship | 19 Aug |
| Qixi Festival | 19 Aug |
| Benzhu Worship | 21 Aug |
| Moerduo Temple Fair | 22 Aug |
| Playing the Fragrant Dragon | 23 Aug |
| End of Heat | 23 Aug |
| Benzhu Worship | 25 Aug |
| Maulid an-Nabi | 26 Aug |
| Burning Bag Festival | 26 Aug |
| Benzhu Worship (Jianchuan Area) | 26 Aug |
Markets this Thursday
| Kunming | 昆明 |
|---|---|
| Kedu | 柯渡镇 |
| Dali | 大理 |
|---|---|
| Nanxin | 南新 |
| Niujie | 牛街 |
| Yangcen | 羊岑 |
| Haidong | 海东 |
| Maidi | 脉地 |
| Weishan | 巍山彝族回族自治县 |
| Gudi | 古底 |
| Fengyi | 凤仪 |
| Wase | 挖色 |
| Qiaohou | 乔后 |
| Shuanglang | 双廊镇 |
| Daying | 大营 |
| Taiyi | 太邑彝族乡 |
| Dianzhong | 甸中 |
| 田口 | |
| 北桥 | |
| Xiazhuang | 下庄镇 |
| Shidongcun | 石洞村 |
| Qiaodian | 乔甸镇 |
| Luming | 鹿鸣乡 |
| 龙洞村 | |
| 鲁庄 | |
| 太和社区 | |
| Longjie | 龙街 |
| 妙姑村 | |
| Shalong | 沙龙镇 |
| Xishuangbanna | 西双版纳 |
|---|---|
| Xiding | 西定哈尼族乡 |
| Yuxi | 玉溪 |
|---|---|
| Mosha | 漠沙镇 |
| Fuliangpeng | 富良棚 |
| Puer | 普洱 |
|---|---|
| Donghui | 东回镇 |
| Xuelin | 雪林佤族乡 |
| Menglian | 孟连傣族拉祜族佤族自治县 |
| Kangping | 康平乡 |
| Dehua | 德化镇 |
| Mengsuo | 勐梭镇 |
| Liming | 黎明乡 |
| 把边 |