古镇: Death-knell for Yunnan's Historic Towns
In China even the 'old towns' are new. Under the 古镇, or ancient town, moniker old towns are razed and their population driven out to make space for sanitized versions of Chinese history that drive the tourist dollar.
In Huize, the old capital of copper in Yunnan, many splendid guildhalls survive.
Fei Hsiao-Tung and Chang Chih-I: Earthbound China: A Study of Rural Economy in Yunnan
Fei is the father of modern sociology in China: western-trained, he came to Yunnan at the end of the 1930s when China's eastern universities relocated west. In "Earthbound China" he applied modern empirical techniques that he had pioneered around Shanghai to the Chinese hinterland. The economical development, and subsequent societal changes, of three un-named, but typical villages in Yunnan is analyzed in great detail in this fascinating study.
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 rattlestick dance in the Dali region.
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.
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.
A Bai village rich in cultural heritage.
Unspoiled Weishan boast Yunnan's most beautiful county town, an important Taoist mountain and areas of strong Muslim and Yi tradition.
Upcoming Festivals
| Name | Date |
|---|---|
| Miluoqimi Fair | 23 Feb |
| Emperor Day | 27 Feb |
| Receiving the Village Protector | 27 Feb |
| Receiving the Village Protector | 27 Feb |
| Benzhu Worship (Binchuan) | 28 Feb |
| Receiving the Village Protector | 28 Feb |
| Receiving the Village Protector | 28 Feb |
| Benzhu Festival | 28 Feb |
| Benzhu Festival | 28 Feb |
| Benzhu Festival | 28 Feb |
| Benzhu Festival | 28 Feb |
| Welcoming the Benzhu | 01 Mar |
Markets this Saturday
| Dali | 大理 |
|---|---|
| Zhoucheng | 州城 |
| Yongping | 永平县 |
| Paiying | 排营 |
| Lijiao | 力角 |
| Shijing | 师井 |
| Diannan | 甸南 |
| Dacang | 大仓镇 |
| Huangping | 黄平镇 |
| Jiangwei | 江尾镇 |
| Zuòyì | 作邑 |
| Zhongjiang | 中江 |
| 三胜 | |
| Houshancun | 后山村 |
| 桥街 | |
| Caifeng | 财丰 |
| Mizhi | 密祉镇 |
| 果城村 | |
| Miaojie | 庙街镇 |
| Changyi | 长邑村 |
| Jindunjiecun | 金墩街村 |
| 三鹤 | |
| Deju | 德苴乡 |
| Liuchang | 刘厂镇 |
| Xinjie | 新街镇 |
| Honghe | 红河 |
|---|---|
| Xinansuo | 新安所镇 |
| Daheishan | 大黑山乡 |
| Sancun | 三村 |
| Leyu | 乐育 |
| Shalatuo | 沙拉托 |
| Xinxian | 新现乡 |
| Shaochong | 哨冲镇 |
| Niujie | 牛街镇 |
| Panzihua | 攀枝花 |
| Tongchang | 铜厂 |
| Zhemi | 者米拉祜族乡 |
| Baoshan | 保山市 |
|---|---|
| Xiaopingtian | 小平田 |
| Wama | 瓦马彝族白族乡 |
| Tengchong | 腾冲县 |
| Puer | 普洱 |
|---|---|
| Lancang | 澜沧县 |
| Fubang | 富邦乡 |
| Qushui | 曲水乡 |
| Yongping | 永平镇 |
| Mujia | 木戛乡 |
| Meng'a | 孟啊 |
| Ankang | 安康佤族乡 |
| Wendong | 文东佤族乡 |