The Dengchuan Plain 邓川坝子
The Dengchuan Plain 邓川坝子, north of Dali's Erhai Lake 洱海, has with West Lake 西湖 and the Miju River corridor 弥苴河 some beautiful, if hardly known, scenic areas. It's natural scenery, however, is man-made, the result of more than a thousand years of cultivation and water-management projects that have transformed a swamp and marshland into the current cultural environment.
A Lahu minority Christian service in a hill village near Menglian.
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.
A number of Chinese historic texts covering life and politics in Yunnan have survived over the centuries. I have translated a few of them.
Large Wenmiao and Wumiao complex.
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.
Judith Shapiro: Mao's War Against Nature: Politics and the Environment in Revolutionary China
Even if Chinese civilization has developed more against than with nature, the Mao years were a particular exercise in environmental destruction. In one case-study Shapiro tells the story of the draining of the northern part of Dianchi Lake, one of the first steps turning Kunming's lake into the fetid cess-pool it is today.
A traditional technique making little figures etc from cloth, in Jianchuan county.
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 |
|---|---|
| Street Banquet | 30 Nov |
| Hani New Year | 01 Dec |
| Benzhu Worship (Jianchuan Area) | 02 Dec |
| Full Moon Ritual | 04 Dec |
| Yongning Mule Fair | 04 Dec |
| Benzhu Worship | 04 Dec |
| Benzhu Worship | 04 Dec |
| Panwang Festival | 05 Dec |
| Great Snow | 07 Dec |
| Mother Earth | 07 Dec |
| Geminid Meteor Shower | 13 Dec |
| Muli Temple Fair | 14 Dec |
Markets this Monday
| Kunming | 昆明 |
|---|---|
| Jiulong | 九龙乡 |
| Dali | 大理 |
|---|---|
| Junhua | 均化 |
| Duomei | 朵美 |
| Shanyang | 衫阳 |
| Longjie | 龙街 |
| Biaocun | 表村 |
| Jizushan | 鸡足山 |
| Longjie | 龙街 |
| Liuhe | 六合 |
| Tuanjie | 团结 |
| Misha | 弥沙 |
| Heqing | 鹤庆县 |
| Baishi | 白石 |
| Shaping | 沙平村 |
| Dacang | 大仓镇 |
| Zuòyì | 作邑 |
| Caojian | 漕间 |
| Miaowei | 苗尾傈僳族乡 |
| Junhuacun | 均华村 |
| 西庄 | |
| Midian | 米甸镇 |
| 寅街村 | |
| Puping | 普淜镇 |
| Taiping | 太平乡 |
| Lijiang | 丽江 |
|---|---|
| Liming | 黎明 |
| Honghe | 红河 |
|---|---|
| Laozhai | 老寨苗族乡 |
| Sancun | 三村 |
| Chemalong | 车玛龙 |
| Sankeshu | 三棵树 |
| Daheigong | 大黑公 |
| Wuwan | 乌弯 |
| Xinjie | 新街 |
| Puxiong | 普雄 |
| Dixibei | 地西北 |
| Baihe | 白河乡 |
| Zhaotong | 昭通 |
|---|---|
| Shuanghe | 双河 |