Yunnan - China's most beautiful province


Into the Land of the Black Lisu

The Nujiang Canyon, on Yunnan's western frontier, was until the 1930s a blank area on the map that not even Chinese troops dared to enter. In 1905 two British explorers made the first foray into this land of the Black Lisu.



The annual Bai Raosanling is one of the wildest temple fairs in the province.


John Israel: Lianda: A Chinese University in War and Revolution

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Everyone knows about the Mao's Long March, but a few years later another long march took place: that of Chinese students leaving their cushy campuses on the east coast, trekking all the way to Yunnan where their universities reformed as Lianda, the united university. Kunming, then a total backwater, became a hotbed for new ideas, not just scientific. We liked the section of east coast girls scampering around Mengzi in their latest fashion.


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

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.


马健雄 (Ma Jianxiong): The Lahu Minority in Southwest China: A Response to Ethnic Marginalization on the Frontier

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The Lahu, with a population of around 470,000, inhabit the mountainous country in Yunnan Province bordering on Burma, Laos and northern Thailand. Buddhists, with a long history of resistance to the Chinese Han majority, the Lahu are currently facing a serious collapse of their traditional social system, with the highest suicide rate in the world, large scale human trafficking of their women, alcoholism and poverty. This book, based on extensive original research including long-term anthropological research among the Lahu, provides an overview of the traditional way of life of the Lahu, their social system, culture and beliefs, and discusses the ways in which these are changing. It shows how the Lahu are especially vulnerable because of their lack of political representatives and a state educated elite which can engage with, and be part of, the government administrative system. The Lahu are one of many relatively small ethnic minorities in China – overall the book provides an example of how the Chinese government approaches these relatively small ethnic minorities.


Largest Miao village in the Kunming area with a large Christian community and a nationally-acclaimed church-choir.

Markets this Saturday

Kunming 昆明
Jiulong 九龙乡
Fazhe 法者镇
Wumeng 乌蒙乡
Shilin 石林彝族自治县
Tuanjie 团结
Tangdan 汤丹镇

Dali 大理
Zhoucheng 州城
Yongping 永平县
Lijiao 力角
Xintun 辛屯
Longjie 龙街
Paiying 排营
Songgui 松桂
Shijing 师井
Diannan 甸南
Dali 大理
Caicun 才村
Longjie 龙街
Jiangwei 江尾镇
Huangping 黄平镇
Deju 德苴乡
Changyi 长邑村
桥街
Puping 普淜镇

Lijiang 丽江
Shigu 石鼓镇
Jiuhe 九河

Dehong 德宏
Husa 户撒乡
Nangsong 曩宋阿昌族乡

Honghe 红河
Xinansuo 新安所镇
Niujiaozhai 牛角寨
Leyu 乐育
Daheishan 大黑山乡
Sankeshu 三棵树
Xinxian 新现乡
Dixibei 地西北

Wenshan 文山
Badaoshao 八道哨乡
Matang 马塘镇
Pingba 坪坝镇
Heizhiguo 黑支果乡
Dongma 董马乡
Boai 剥隘镇
Xinzhai 新寨乡

Chuxiong 楚雄
Xiaoju 小苴
Shizhong 适中乡
Wanyaoshu 弯腰树
Dahekou 大河口乡

Baoshan 保山市
Manglong 芒龙

Lincang 临沧
Cangyuan 沧源佤族自治县
Fengqing 凤庆县
Yalian 亚练乡
Shuangjiang 双江拉祜族佤族布朗族傣族自治县
Quannei 圈内
Junsai 军赛乡
Zhenkang 镇康县

Qujing 曲靖市
Baiwu 白雾
Daba 大坝
Daqiao 大桥乡
Leye 乐业镇
Malu 马路乡
Zhehai 者海镇
Zhichang 纸厂乡

Zhaotong 昭通
Shikan 石坎
Jiucheng 旧城
Weixin 威信
Changan 长安

Yuxi 玉溪
Chahe 岔河
Mosha 漠沙镇
Dalongtan 大龙潭

Nujiang 怒江
Hexi 河西
Puladi 普拉底乡
Laowo 老窝
Aludi 阿路底

Puer 普洱
Jiahe 嘉禾乡
Fuyan 富岩

Diqing 迪庆
Xiaoweixi 小维西
Kaifaqu 开发区