China Travel: Yunnan Province

This photo was taken by Daryl Snow.

Yunnan is located in the southwestern part of China, and borders Burma, Laos and Vietnam. Though the province is seated at the headwaters of half a dozen major river systems, including the Mekong, the Irrawaddy and Yangtze, only a small portion of Yunnan’s rivers are navigable. The landscape is varied, ranging from the mountains of the Tibetan plateau to semi-tropical lowlands, and attracts visitors and photographers from around the world. The provincial capitol, Kunnming is renowned for its “eternal spring” and mild winter weather. Yunnan is connected by air flights to domestic and regional international destinations through Kunmings’ Wujiaba Airport, although a newer airport is expected to be completed around 2015.

The rich and varied mineral and natural resources of the area was and is a magnet for human occupation and trade from the earliest times. Indeed, the oldest hominid fossil in China, the “Yuanmo Man” was discovered there in the 1960s. The trade route between China and India which passed through Yunnan was known as the “Southern Silk Road”.

The province is the most ethnically diverse in China, and is home to a large minority of ethnic Thais who once had their own kingdom of Nanchao. The Naxi people, a sub-group of the Tibetans who live around the town of Lijiang, are famous for having preserved a matriarchal society into the present day. The Xishuangbanna people, whose communities are located along the Mekong, hold a “Water Splashing Festival” over the Lunar New Year, very like Thailand’s “Songkan” festival, during which everyone must be doused with water. The popular tourist destination of Dali is renowned for the Erhai Lake, where fishermen work with “fishing bird” assistants. Dali is also famous for local horse fairs and the Pagodas of Saintly Worship, three towers that are part of a ruined temple complex over a thousand years old.

This photo was taken by Craig Leslie Hodges.

Another popular tourist destination is the Stone Forest, an area near Kunming where spectacular limestone stalagmites grow among a number of lakes. The noted geological wonder known as the “Jade Dragon Mountains,” which are said to look like a gigantic jade dragon holding up the sky, is also located in Yunnan. Tourism has developed into one of Yunnan’s major industries, aside from tobacco farming, mining of copper and other metals, and the collection of botanical and herbal samples. Traveling to Lijiang will lead you to Tiger Leaping Gorge, a long range of mountains with a amazing scenic view including a massive river and a long hiking trail with dozens of small, cozy guest houses along the way.

Cuisine tends to be rather spicy, a fact often attributed to the presence of so many ethnic cultures. A curious habits in food here are the use of flowers as food, and certain local dishes feature such things as pineapple or goat cheese. Marinated and roasted duck is also extremely popular.

Although relatively undeveloped, Yunnan is self-sufficient in agricultural production. Tobacco and rubber are among the cash crops grown there, as well as tea, its most famous product. The custom of drinking tea is supposed to have begun in the high plateaus of Yunnan. Of all the plant species found in China, over half of them can be found in Yunnan alone, ranging across the province’s four different growing zones.