Yunnan - China's most beautiful province


1875: Death of a British Diplomat

After Britain's 1852 annexation of lower Burma lucrative trade with China through its back-door seemed more than a distant possibility. But after a successful first mission up the Irrawaddy and into Yunnan in 1868, the second British mission six years later ended in tragedy.



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


Judith Shapiro: Mao's War Against Nature: Politics and the Environment in Revolutionary China

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

Jim Goodman: Children of the Jade Dragon: the Naxi of Lijiang and their mountain neighbours the Yi

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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.


The turn of the Yangzi made Chinese civilization possible and was the location of many important battles.

Markets this Wednesday

Kunming 昆明
Shilin 石林彝族自治县
Longtou 龙头街
Kedu 柯渡镇

Dali 大理
Duomei 朵美
Junhua 均化
Shanyang 衫阳
Shunbi 順濞
Shaba 沙坝
Liuhe 六合
Caicun 才村
Dali 大理
Heqing 鹤庆县
Dacang 大仓镇
Shuanglang 双廊镇
Caojian 漕间
Zhongying 种英
Shanglan 上兰
Zhouguanying 周官营
龙洞村
西庄
寅街村
Shangcang 上沧
Gongguoqiao 功果桥镇
顺荡
Xiazhuang 下庄镇
Midian 米甸镇
Longjie 龙街
Junhuacun 均华村
龙街
Shalong 沙龙镇

Lijiang 丽江
Liming 黎明

Dehong 德宏
Lianghe 梁河县
Kachang 卡场镇

Honghe 红河
Zhicun 芷村镇
Mengla 勐拉
Daheigong 大黑公
Wuwan 乌弯
Xinjie 新街
Baiyun 白云乡
Yongning 永宁乡
Tutai 土台
Maandi 马鞍底
Hongtian 红田

Wenshan 文山
Shadou 沙斗
Nijiao 腻脚彝族乡
Jijie 鸡街乡
Tienpeng 田蓬镇
Donggan 董干镇

Chuxiong 楚雄
Maojie 猫街镇
Mixing 弥兴镇
Yaoan 姚安县

Baoshan 保山市
Wafang 瓦房彝族白族乡
Mangbang 芒棒

Lincang 临沧
Yongde 永德县
Luodang 洛党
Danjia 单甲乡
Lushi 鲁史
Fuhe 复合
Mengdui 孟堆乡

Qujing 曲靖市
Baiwu 白雾
Daibu 待补镇
Daqiao 大桥乡
Jiache 驾车乡
Leye 乐业镇
Malu 马路乡
Sandao 三道
Zhichang 纸厂乡

Zhaotong 昭通
Shuanghe 双河

Yuxi 玉溪
Jiasa 戛洒镇
Tadian 塔甸
Xingmeng 兴蒙
Hexi 河西

Nujiang 怒江
Lazan 腊咱
Lumadeng 鹿马登乡

Puer 普洱
Mangxin 芒信镇
Qiannuo 千糯

Diqing 迪庆
Kaifaqu 开发区
岩瓦