Slideshows Yunnan · Honghe
Shiping County 石屏县

The 1846 murals at Luose Temple 罗色庙 on the southern side of Yilong Lake 异龙湖 near Shiping 石屏 depict an Yi battle against the Ming army. (Photographed through a crack in the door)

Market day in Shiping's Guanyin Temple Alley 观音寺巷 appears almost unchanged from twenty years ago.

Laoxudian 老旭甸 in Shiping 石屏 has been dubbed Fossil Village 化石村 as the houses are built from sandstone containing many fossilised plants. In a region mostly inhabited by Yi, this village is entirely Han with the families from the Zhou 周 clan.

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.

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.

The Huayao Yi in Shiping are some of the best dressers in the province. Here they are seen at the Longpeng Mushroom Festival.