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 temple in Mangdao 芒岛, built in 1899, is one of few surviving examples of Dai Buddhist temples having survived the Cultural Revolution by being converted into grain storage.
Few people know as much about Chinese architecture as Knapp: from palaces to humble homes he explains important building principles; the connection between environment and housing styles and the development of style over time. A section on minority housing styles complements the book.
A number of Chinese historic texts covering life and politics in Yunnan have survived over the centuries. I have translated a few of them.