Slideshows Yunnan · Qujing
Fuyuan County 富源县

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.