Slideshows

Cock fighting is a popular pastime in the countryside, particularly with the Dai.

Where the Nujiang first opens to a broader valley lies Mangkuan, home to one of the northernmost Dai populations, with Lisu, Yi and Miao living in the mountains to either side.

Horse caravans still cross the Nujiang on one of the oldest chain bridges in Yunnan.

Being a film star in Europe: near Dali a field with flowers and a fake movie set, dubbed 嘎纳小镇, makes it possible.

Lianxiangguan 炼象关 is a historic village on the old trading route from Kunming to Dali.

Tonghai's Xiushan is one of Yunnan's oldest Taoist temple mountains, a retreat once very far from the realms of Han civilization. Today, Xiushan remains a beautiful collection of temples facing the Tonghai plain and lake.

New business, new festivals. Mushrooms, once a free addition to the local diet, are now big business in Yunnan. In the mountains north of Shiping the mushroom season now has its own festival, mixing Yi and Han influences.

The merchants of Shiping grew rich on the tin trade at the beginning of the century. Their family fortunes did not survive the times but some of their residences did. The communist revolution saw the families turned out of their homes and those that took their place were often too poor to modernize the buildings, leaving them largely intact. Today a number have been converted into lifeless museums, but others are inhabited by families who can claim them as home for half a century.

Xihu 西湖, a 坝子 in the south of Eryuan county, with its seasonally fluctuating lake is one of the last remnants of mixed aquatic and dry agriculture which must have been quite common in Yunnan before Ming and Qing dynasty settlers drained most valleys.

Stinky Tofu from Shiping 石屏臭豆腐 is a Yunnan delicacy. Here we have a look at how it is made. Bon appétit.

Xiaoshuijing 小水井 is the largest Miao village in the Kunming area and predominantly Christian.

History has left its marks on this hometown of many wealthy Bai merchants.