Yunnan - China's most beautiful province


Protecting Erhai: The Seven Big Activities

When in April 2017 guesthouses and restaurants around western Yunnan's Erhai Lake were suddenly summarily ordered closed until further notice, big character slogans also began proclaiming: "Protecting Erhai: The Seven Big Activities" 保护洱海七大行动. The slogan suggests that the closure of tourist facilities is just one part of a wider campaign to clean up the Erhai environment.



Lingjiu Temple near Fengyu is said to date back to Nanzhao, but the current structures are from the Qing Dynasty


Judith Shapiro: Mao's War Against Nature: Politics and the Environment in Revolutionary China

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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.

The Danxia, or red sandstore, cliffs around Liming are a hikers' and climbers' paradise that is just now being discovered.


Jim Goodman: Xishuangbanna: The Tropics of Yunnan

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For most of its history Xishuangbanna existed as an autonomous state on the remote southern periphery of China, run by the same Dai family since the 12th century. Lying in the tropical zone, on the northern rim of Southeast Asia, with flora and fauna not only unlike the rest of China, but even unique in Yunnan province, it has had close ethnic and cultural relations with its neighbors in Myanmar, Thailand and Laos. The valleys are home to the Dai nationality, while several ethnic minorities inhabit the hills. Xishuangbanna: the Tropics of Yunnan narrates the history and development of the Dai people, their culture, society and religion, from ancient times through the period of incorporation into the Chinese state. It also covers the characteristics of the lifestyle, culture and celebrations of the peoples of the mountains, as well as the economic and political changes of recent times and their effects on both hill and plain.


A well-preserved Bai merchant town with perhaps the best examples of Bai traditional architecture.



Fog swirling on a cold winter morning over endless rice-terraces, the red of the early morning sun reflected in the flooded paddies: this is the classic view of the Hani Rice Terraces of Yuanyang, now of UNESCO World Heritage status.

Markets this Wednesday

Kunming 昆明
Jiulong 九龙乡
Shilin 石林彝族自治县
Longtou 龙头街

Dali 大理
Shunbi 順濞
Longjie 龙街
Shaba 沙坝
Longjie 龙街
Dacang 大仓镇
Huangping 黄平镇
Zhongying 种英
Zhongjiang 中江
Shanglan 上兰
Zhouguanying 周官营
Gongguoqiao 功果桥镇
顺荡
Puping 普淜镇
Houshancun 后山村
Caifeng 财丰
Miaojie 庙街镇
龙街
三鹤
Jindunjiecun 金墩街村
三胜
Shangcang 上沧

Lijiang 丽江
Yongsheng 永胜县
Banqiao 板桥

Dehong 德宏
Husa 户撒乡
Nangsong 曩宋阿昌族乡

Honghe 红河
Zhicun 芷村镇
Niujiaozhai 牛角寨
Sancun 三村
Sankeshu 三棵树
Shaochong 哨冲镇
Baiyun 白云乡
Dixibei 地西北
Yongning 永宁乡
Niujie 牛街镇
Tutai 土台
Hongtian 红田

Wenshan 文山
Badaoshao 八道哨乡
Heizhiguo 黑支果乡
Boai 剥隘镇
Dongma 董马乡
Xinzhai 新寨乡

Chuxiong 楚雄
Maojie 猫街镇
Yaoan 姚安县

Baoshan 保山市
Manglong 芒龙

Lincang 临沧
Cangyuan 沧源佤族自治县
Yalian 亚练乡
Quannei 圈内
Shuangjiang 双江拉祜族佤族布朗族傣族自治县
Zhenkang 镇康县
Junsai 军赛乡

Qujing 曲靖市
Daba 大坝
Fenghuang 凤凰
干海子
Laochang 老厂乡
Sandao 三道
Wuxing 五星乡
Xinjie 新街回族乡

Zhaotong 昭通
Linfeng 麟风
Shuitian 水田
Menggu 蒙姑镇

Yuxi 玉溪
Yangjie 羊街乡
Xingmeng 兴蒙
Dianzhong 甸中
Hexi 河西

Nujiang 怒江
Lazan 腊咱
Lumadeng 鹿马登乡

Puer 普洱
Qushui 曲水乡
Fuyan 富岩

Diqing 迪庆
Kangpu 康普
Kaifaqu 开发区