The Old Salt Roads in Yunnan
The Tea Horse Road 茶马古道 into Tibet has become a romantic moniker for Yunnan, but economically more important were the old salt roads.
The watermills in Fengqing's Gumo village operate just like a thousand years ago.
Fei Hsiao-Tung and Chang Chih-I: Earthbound China: A Study of Rural Economy in Yunnan
Fei is the father of modern sociology in China: western-trained, he came to Yunnan at the end of the 1930s when China's eastern universities relocated west. In "Earthbound China" he applied modern empirical techniques that he had pioneered around Shanghai to the Chinese hinterland. The economical development, and subsequent societal changes, of three un-named, but typical villages in Yunnan is analyzed in great detail in this fascinating study.
A number of Chinese historic texts covering life and politics in Yunnan have survived over the centuries. I have translated a few of them.
Bai architecture style.
John Israel: Lianda: A Chinese University in War and Revolution
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.
Midu Folk song is a national level intangible cultural heritage.
A spectacularly narrow canyon high above the Jinsha River.
Upcoming Festivals
| Name | Date |
|---|---|
| Yangmei Festival | 01 May |
| Benzhu Worship | 13 May |
| Mouding March Fair | 14 May |
| Yi Costume Festival | 14 May |
| Master Earth | 14 May |
| Baimakou Village Festival | 14 May |
| Donghuangdadi Birthday | 14 May |
| Beggars' Convention | 14 May |
| Rice Transplanting | 15 May |
| Benzhu Worship | 15 May |
| New Moon Ritual | 17 May |
| Damo Temple Fair | 17 May |
Markets this Wednesday
| Dali | 大理 |
|---|---|
| Xintun | 辛屯 |
| Shunbi | 順濞 |
| Songgui | 松桂 |
| Shaba | 沙坝 |
| Huangping | 黄平镇 |
| Zhongying | 种英 |
| Shanglan | 上兰 |
| Zhouguanying | 周官营 |
| Xiazhuang | 下庄镇 |
| 龙洞村 | |
| 龙街 | |
| 三胜 | |
| Shangcang | 上沧 |
| Caifeng | 财丰 |
| Miaojie | 庙街镇 |
| Hedian | 禾甸镇 |
| Shalong | 沙龙镇 |
| Hongyan | 红岩镇 |
| Gongguoqiao | 功果桥镇 |
| 顺荡 | |
| Houshancun | 后山村 |
| Honghe | 红河 |
|---|---|
| Zhicun | 芷村镇 |
| Shengcun | 生村 |
| Sancun | 三村 |
| Shaochong | 哨冲镇 |
| Mengping | 勐坪 |
| Baiyun | 白云乡 |
| Yongning | 永宁乡 |
| Niujie | 牛街镇 |
| Tutai | 土台 |
| Hongtian | 红田 |
| Wenshan | 文山 |
|---|---|
| Lida | 里达镇 |
| Zhujie | 朱街镇 |
| Shuanglongying | 双龙营乡 |
| Mugan | 木杆 |
| Zhulin | 珠琳镇 |
| Puer | 普洱 |
|---|---|
| Jiangcheng | 江城哈尼族彝族自治县 |
| Nuofu | 糯福 |
| Dashan | 大山乡 |
| Mengma | 孟马镇 |
| Mengxian | 勐先镇 |