Yunnan - China's most beautiful province


Black Well, White Gold

Black Well, White Gold
Heijing is a small town in the northern Chuxiong mountains. Salt once made Heijing one of Yunnan's richest towns. Now its architectural splendours are being rediscovered.



A Lahu minority Christian service in a hill village near Menglian.


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.

C. Patterson Giersch: Asian Borderlands: The Transformation of Qing China's Yunnan Frontier

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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.


Historic village on the old Kunming-Dali road.

Markets this Monday

Kunming 昆明
Banqiao 板桥乡

Dali 大理
Biaocun 表村
Jizushan 鸡足山
Weishan 巍山彝族回族自治县
Qinghua 清华
Fengyi 凤仪
Wase 挖色
Tuanjie 团结
Misha 弥沙
Baishi 白石
Niujie 牛街
Shaping 沙平村
Dianzhong 甸中
田口
北桥
Hongyan 红岩镇
Taiping 太平乡
Miaowei 苗尾傈僳族乡
Puping 普淜镇
妙姑村
Luming 鹿鸣乡
Shidongcun 石洞村
Hedian 禾甸镇

Honghe 红河
Shengcun 生村
Nafa 那发
Laozhai 老寨苗族乡
Chemalong 车玛龙
Jiache 架车
Puxiong 普雄
Zhongzhai 中寨
Baihe 白河乡

Wenshan 文山
Puyang 普阳
Shupi 树皮彝族乡
Xichou 西畴县

Chuxiong 楚雄
Qianchang 前场镇
Chadian 插甸乡

Baoshan 保山市
Xiaopingtian 小平田
Tengchong 腾冲县
Wama 瓦马彝族白族乡

Lincang 临沧
Mangka 芒卡镇
Fengwei 风尾镇
Boshang 博商
Fengqing 凤庆县
Mengjiao 勐角乡

Qujing 曲靖市
Wopo 窝坡
Fenghuang 凤凰
干海子
Laochang 老厂乡
Wuxing 五星乡
Xinjie 新街回族乡

Zhaotong 昭通
Menggu 蒙姑镇

Yuxi 玉溪
Fuliangpeng 富良棚

Nujiang 怒江
Pengdang 捧当
Maji 马吉乡
Fugong 福贡

Puer 普洱
Jiangcheng 江城哈尼族彝族自治县
Kangping 康平乡
Yongping 永平镇
Meng'a 孟啊

Diqing 迪庆
Zili 梓里
Kaifaqu 开发区