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.
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
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.
Reconstructed Qing Wenmiao, in a nice park setting.
Yunnan's only Shui-Township with stunning karst scenery.
C. Patterson Giersch: Asian Borderlands: The Transformation of Qing China's Yunnan Frontier
Yunnan was not always China: indeed not so long ago large parts of Yunnan were only nominally part of the empire. To make Yunnan, outside the main Han cities, a Chinese province required significant effort. Here Giersch's study on Yunnan's hinterland makes an interesting if academic read.
Donglianhua is a Muslim caravan town with plenty of historic 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.
Upcoming Festivals
| Name | Date |
|---|---|
| Benzhu Worship | 03 Jun |
| Guniangjie | 03 Jun |
| Grain in Ear | 05 Jun |
| Yanguang Birthday | 05 Jun |
| Praying for Rain | 05 Jun |
| Start of Raosanling | 07 Jun |
| Yu An Ceremonies | 07 Jun |
| Raosanling | 07 Jun |
| Benzhu Worship | 08 Jun |
| Raosanling | 08 Jun |
| Raosanling in Heyicheng | 09 Jun |
| Benzhu Worship | 10 Jun |
Markets this Wednesday
| Dali | 大理 |
|---|---|
| Shunbi | 順濞 |
| Wanqiao | 湾桥 |
| Xintun | 辛屯 |
| Songgui | 松桂 |
| Shaba | 沙坝 |
| Shuanglang | 双廊镇 |
| Huangping | 黄平镇 |
| Zhongying | 种英 |
| Shanglan | 上兰 |
| Zhouguanying | 周官营 |
| 三胜 | |
| Midian | 米甸镇 |
| Caifeng | 财丰 |
| Miaojie | 庙街镇 |
| 西庄 | |
| 寅街村 | |
| Gongguoqiao | 功果桥镇 |
| Houshancun | 后山村 |
| Shangcang | 上沧 |
| Xiazhuang | 下庄镇 |
| 龙洞村 | |
| 顺荡 | |
| Longjie | 龙街 |
| 龙街 | |
| Shalong | 沙龙镇 |
| Honghe | 红河 |
|---|---|
| Zhicun | 芷村镇 |
| Mengla | 勐拉 |
| Shaochong | 哨冲镇 |
| Xinjie | 新街 |
| Baiyun | 白云乡 |
| Yongning | 永宁乡 |
| Niujie | 牛街镇 |
| Maandi | 马鞍底 |
| Tutai | 土台 |
| Hongtian | 红田 |
| Baoshan | 保山市 |
|---|---|
| Xiaopingtian | 小平田 |
| Tengchong | 腾冲县 |
| Wama | 瓦马彝族白族乡 |