Yunnan province in south China is one of my favorite places to visit. Just north of Viet Nam, Laos and Burma, Yunnan has two distinct climates. In the North are mountains and in the south there are semi-tropical forests. In the middle is Kunming known as the Spring City because of its altitude and cooler weather during the summer at 5,000 feet. In the north is LiJiang, Dali, Zhongdian, the Leaping Tiger Gorge and other remote spots like Lugu Lake famous for the beautiful lake surrounded by mountains occupied by the Muoso people who seldom if ever marry. Most people go to Kunming to see the Stone Forest which is about two hours by car and a wonderful site to see which is one of the most unusual in the world. In the south the city of Jinghong in the Xishuangbanna area has the only airport or is two days by bus from Kunming. This area has many minority peoples living here with their own language, dress and culture. You may visit several of these minority villages to see how they live and work. One group the men retire after marrying and the women do all the work. Another live in stilted houses with two entrances; one for the women and one for the men. Learning the customs of each group is interesting and makes for good photography. This area also has beautiful parks that were once the research areas for tropical plants before the revolution. There is also the Wild Elephant Preserve in the jungle which you may visit not far from Jinghong. A walk way above the canopy of the forest/jungle makes it easy to tour with a cable car to bring you back.
Tourists usually spend about 4 days in the southern part of Yunnan and about 4 days in the north.
For more information on touring China contact me at email: interlak@eskimo.com My friends call me ChinaDave and I have travelled all over China for the past 26 years.
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