Slideshows

On the 15th day of the new lunar year, the Yi of Zhizuo village, in the mountains of Yongren county, hold the Costume Competition Festival 赛装节, a splendid display of their traditionally embroidered dress.

Not far from Dali, the market at Dacang in Weishan County regularly boasts a good number of Yi.

Whoever said there was nothing of ethnic interest in central Lincang should take a close look at Wumulong, a small township below the mighty Daxueshan in Yongde county. Young and old, (some) men and (many) women don the traditional garb, complete with silver breast-plates.

Winter in the Wumeng Mountains is a grim and miserable affair, acerbating the grinding poverty. Travelling here sets one back a decade or more as little of China's recent progress has arrived here. It is a living museum of mankind - would you want to live in it?

As the wrecking-ball has arrived with a vengance in Zhaotong and the last bits of the old quarter are scheduled to fall by spring 2010 we take a last look at the city's urban culture, its unique shops and markets. With Zhaotong's old centre the last of Yunnan's large cities is being turned into modern China blandness. Good-bye Zhaotong.

The wetlands of the Daqiao Reservoir north of Huize are one of the few wintering grounds for the extremely rare black-necked cranes. At 2500m above sea-level, the weather is often cold and grim, but the stark scenery makes up for any hardship endured.

In Yunnan, the Lisu do not just live along the Nujiang, but also in sizeable groups in Dehong and Tengchong as well as in Weixi. Here we present a collection of the Lisu's finest costumes - shot at a Lisu cultural festival in Weixi, attended not only by Yunnan Lisu, but also groups from Sichuan and Myanmar.

In October Diqing, the Tibetan Autonomous Region in Yunnan's northwest, bursts out in a sea of colour with deep blue skies above. It is the best season for hiking here with almost always sunny weather that helps to lift the temperatures up into the twenties from nights that can already get quite chilly.

Shengjingguan 胜境关 is the old border crossing from Yunnan to Guizhou near Fuyuan. The archway with the four stone lions described by many early explorers still stands, as does the (now renovated) stone gate. From here a narrow path leads down into a peaceful valley, presenting the modern-day traveller with views that have changed little since the caravan days.

Gugan 古敢, a remote township surrounded on three sides by Guizhou province, is the home of Yunnan's Shui ethnic minority. In their villages, in the beautiful Huangnihe Valley below towering karst mountains, time seems to have stood still: houses are built from rough unhewn stone, hot-springs provide warm water and not even the wheel seems to have been invented: bullocks and buffaloes pull sledges not carts.

Zhoucheng in Binchuan County is another town that history forgot: stripped of it status as county town in the 1950s (its name means 'old town'), nothing much happened here since: Mao still adorns the walls of the ancient tower, the temple is rotting away and a dog is still waiting for its turn at the dog butcher.

Every year on the 25th day of the seventh lunar month the Mosuo who live around beautiful Lugu Lake bring their offerings to the mountain goddess.