Yunnan - China's most beautiful province


Xu Xiake 徐霞客 in Dali

Xu Xiake (1586 - 1641) was China's first travel blogger. During the third lunar month in 1639 he travelled through Dali and recorded his experiences in his diary, posthumously published as 徐霞客游记. Is it still possible to retrace Xu's steps on the Dali plain?




In Huize, the old capital of copper in Yunnan, many splendid guildhalls survive.


Jim Goodman: The Terrace Builders: The Hani and their Neighbors in Yunnan's Ailao Mountains

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Abstract: The rice terraces of the Ailao Mountains in southern Yunnan province, China, are some of the oldest terraced farms in Asia. First mentioned in Tang Dynasty records, these farms, 80% of which are irrigated, with water running through them all year round, have been in continuous use for over a thousand years. In 2013 UNESCO declared the heartland of this area a World Heritage Site. The Terrace Builders is a detailed account of how these farms are made and used, the cities and mountains of Honghe Prefecture and the far north of Vietnam, as well as the various ethnic minorities who live there. The book pays special attention to the Hani people, the largest ethnic group in the area, and includes summaries of the culture and clothing of their neighbors the Yi, Miao, Yao, Zhuang and Dai. The book includes 300 photos of the land and its people.


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

Fei Hsiao-Tung and Chang Chih-I: Earthbound China: A Study of Rural Economy in Yunnan

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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.


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 Tuesday

Kunming 昆明
Jiulong 九龙乡

Dali 大理
Junhua 均化
Zhongsuo 中所
Fuheng 富恒
Duomei 朵美
Yongping 永平县
Liandong 炼洞
Fengyu 风羽
Haidong 海东
Longjie 龙街
Guanping 关平
Liuhe 六合
Baofeng 宝丰乡
Longjie 龙街
Binju 宾居
Madeng 马镫
Heqing 鹤庆县
Shuijing 水井
Puping 普淜镇
Beiya 北衙
Deju 德苴乡

Lijiang 丽江
Shunzhou 顺州

Honghe 红河
Niujiaozhai 牛角寨
Mingjiu 鸣鹫镇
Wantang 湾塘乡
Caoba 草坝镇
Longwu 龙武镇
Sankeshu 三棵树
Dixibei 地西北
Dayangjie 大羊街

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

Chuxiong 楚雄
Gaoqiao 高桥镇
Dalongkou 大龙口乡
Mixing 弥兴镇

Baoshan 保山市
Xinzhai 新寨
Hehua 荷花傣族佤族乡

Lincang 临沧
Mengding 孟定
Fengqing 凤庆县
Yalian 亚练乡
Nanmei 南美拉祜族乡
Banhong 班洪乡

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

Zhaotong 昭通
Shuanghe 双河
Menggu 蒙姑镇

Yuxi 玉溪
Mosha 漠沙镇
Yani 亚尼
Yuanjiang 元江哈尼族彝族傣族自治县
Nanuo 那诺乡

Nujiang 怒江
Gudeng 古登
Bingzhongluo 丙中洛
Lishadi 利沙底乡

Puer 普洱
Nuofu 糯福
Dashan 大山乡
Mengma 孟马镇
Wenggake 翁嘎科镇

Diqing 迪庆
岩瓦