Yunnan - China's most beautiful province


Into the Land of the Black Lisu

The Nujiang Canyon, on Yunnan's western frontier, was until the 1930s a blank area on the map that not even Chinese troops dared to enter. In 1905 two British explorers made the first foray into this land of the Black Lisu.



The watermills in Fengqing's Gumo village operate just like a thousand years ago.


Jim Goodman: Children of the Jade Dragon: the Naxi of Lijiang and their mountain neighbours the Yi

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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.


A number of Chinese historic texts covering life and politics in Yunnan have survived over the centuries. I have translated a few of them.

Small Benzhu shrine, used for rituals on the third day of Raosanling.



Hometown of many Bai merchants, Xizhou boast some impressive architecture.


John Israel: Lianda: A Chinese University in War and Revolution

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Everyone knows about the Mao's Long March, but a few years later another long march took place: that of Chinese students leaving their cushy campuses on the east coast, trekking all the way to Yunnan where their universities reformed as Lianda, the united university. Kunming, then a total backwater, became a hotbed for new ideas, not just scientific. We liked the section of east coast girls scampering around Mengzi in their latest fashion.


Baofeng's Benzhu festival is classed as Dali-level intangible cultural heritage.



This old caravan town on the Jinsha River is Yunnan's gateway to Tibet.

Markets this Wednesday

Kunming 昆明
Shilin 石林彝族自治县
Longtou 龙头街
Banqiao 板桥乡

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

Lijiang 丽江
Yongsheng 永胜县
Banqiao 板桥

Honghe 红河
Zhicun 芷村镇
Shengcun 生村
Nafa 那发
Jiache 架车
Baiyun 白云乡
Shaochong 哨冲镇
Zhongzhai 中寨
Yongning 永宁乡
Niujie 牛街镇
Tutai 土台
Hongtian 红田

Wenshan 文山
Puyang 普阳
Shupi 树皮彝族乡
Xichou 西畴县

Chuxiong 楚雄
Maojie 猫街镇
Yaoan 姚安县

Baoshan 保山市
Xiaopingtian 小平田
Tengchong 腾冲县
Wama 瓦马彝族白族乡

Lincang 临沧
Mangka 芒卡镇
Fengwei 风尾镇
Boshang 博商
Mengjiao 勐角乡

Qujing 曲靖市
Wopo 窝坡
干海子
Kuangshan 矿山镇
Laochang 老厂乡
Sandao 三道
Wuxing 五星乡
Xinjie 新街回族乡
Yangmeishan 杨梅山
Yulu 雨碌乡

Zhaotong 昭通
Shuitian 水田
Linfeng 麟风
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
Jiangcheng 江城哈尼族彝族自治县
Qushui 曲水乡
Yongping 永平镇
Meng'a 孟啊
Mengxian 勐先镇

Diqing 迪庆
Kangpu 康普
Kaifaqu 开发区