Early Maps of Yunnan
The history of maps in Yunnan began more than a thousand years ago. But it was the Jesuits who revolutionised mapping in China, producing the first accurate maps of the provinces, including remote Yunnan.
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.
Remote temple on mountain top, site of religious gathering at the end of the New Year period.
Yunnan's only Shui-Township with stunning karst scenery.
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.
Jiama are religious woodcut prints.
Once an important salt-mining town, now the second largest town along the Heihui River north of Yangbi.
Upcoming Festivals
| Name | Date |
|---|---|
| Kuoshi | 20 Dec |
| New Moon Ritual | 20 Dec |
| Mojiang Winter Solstice Festival | 21 Dec |
| Winter Solstice | 21 Dec |
| Hat Festival | 22 Dec |
| Christmas | 25 Dec |
| Festival of Lights | 26 Dec |
| Kuoshi Lisu New Year | 27 Dec |
| Bulang Harvest Festival | 27 Dec |
| Atai Birthday | 27 Dec |
| Mizhi Festival | 29 Dec |
| Coffee Festival | 01 Jan |
Markets this Friday
| Dali | 大理 |
|---|---|
| Xiangtu | 象图乡 |
| Hecun | 萂村 |
| Gunipen | 沽泥盆 |
| Jiancao | 捡槽 |
| Xintun | 辛屯 |
| Longjie | 龙街 |
| Waxi | 瓦溪 |
| Wuxing | 五星 |
| Songgui | 松桂 |
| Pingchuan | 平川 |
| Longjie | 龙街 |
| Baidangping | 白荡坪 |
| Yangbi | 漾濞彝族自治县 |
| Shaxi | 沙溪 |
| Yousuo | 右所镇 |
| Huangping | 黄平镇 |
| Qinghaiying | 青海营 |
| Jijie | 鸡街乡 |
| 汤涧 | |
| Puping | 普淜镇 |
| Wachang | 瓦厂乡 |
| Xishan | 西山乡 |
| 大栗树 |
| Lijiang | 丽江 |
|---|---|
| Shigu | 石鼓镇 |
| Honghe | 红河 |
|---|---|
| Xinhua | 新华乡 |
| Niujiaozhai | 牛角寨 |
| Lengquan | 冷泉镇 |
| Lengdun | 冷墩 |
| Dongshan | 东山镇 |
| Shitouzhai | 石头寨 |
| Sankeshu | 三棵树 |
| Dixibei | 地西北 |