Yunnan - China's most beautiful province


The Red Soil of Dongchuan

The Red Soil of Dongchuan
The Wumeng Mountains' bright red soil, the buckwheat's yellow and Yunnan's dramatic skies make the region around Dongchuan a paradise for photographers.



An important Dai festival traditionally marking the beginning of the summer retreat for monks.


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

Cover Image
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.


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

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

Cover Image
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 well-preserved Bai merchant town with perhaps the best examples of Bai traditional architecture.



A spectacularly narrow canyon high above the Jinsha River.

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
Shanyang 衫阳
Xintun 辛屯
Shunbi 順濞
Shaba 沙坝
Songgui 松桂
Shuanglang 双廊镇
Caojian 漕间
Huangping 黄平镇
Zhongying 种英
Shanglan 上兰
Zhouguanying 周官营
龙街
Xiazhuang 下庄镇
Midian 米甸镇
西庄
Junhuacun 均华村
龙洞村
Gongguoqiao 功果桥镇
顺荡
寅街村
Longjie 龙街
Shalong 沙龙镇
Shangcang 上沧

Lijiang 丽江
Shigu 石鼓镇

Honghe 红河
Zhicun 芷村镇
Mengla 勐拉
Xinjie 新街
Baiyun 白云乡
Yongning 永宁乡
Maandi 马鞍底
Tutai 土台
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
Shizhong 适中乡
Yaoan 姚安县

Baoshan 保山市
Xinzhai 新寨
Hehua 荷花傣族佤族乡

Lincang 临沧
Mengding 孟定
Lushi 鲁史
Nanmei 南美拉祜族乡
Banhong 班洪乡

Qujing 曲靖市
Daibu 待补镇
干海子
Jiache 驾车乡
Kuangshan 矿山镇
Laochang 老厂乡
Sandao 三道
Wuxing 五星乡
Xinjie 新街回族乡
Yangmeishan 杨梅山
Yulu 雨碌乡

Zhaotong 昭通
Shikan 石坎
Jiucheng 旧城
Weixin 威信
Changan 长安
Menggu 蒙姑镇

Yuxi 玉溪
Jiasa 戛洒镇
Tadian 塔甸

Nujiang 怒江
Lazan 腊咱
Lumadeng 鹿马登乡

Puer 普洱
Nuofu 糯福
Dashan 大山乡
Baozang 宝藏乡
Mengma 孟马镇
Mengxian 勐先镇

Diqing 迪庆
Shangjiang 上江
Kaifaqu 开发区