Blogs from Yunnan, China, Asia

Hi All This is the 3rd time I have visited Tuanjiezhen 团结镇 about 3/4 of an hour outside of Kunming. Love this hostel as I can camp. Such a beautiful peaceful place. On this visit I went in search of Bai architecture. Scattered around the village are small Bai minority settlements which have either been abandoned totally or semi abandoned. These must have been thriving little hamlets only 20 years ago. Now the locals are leaving them behind as they become richer and have built large new houses. Some new houses have also incorporated the old house into the new. One cannot blame them as the old mudbrick houses much be damp and cold. Enjoy the photos JAH bless... read more

September 25th - Back to Shangri-la - Dia 96 Left Yubeng Village bright and early today. We had to walk around 7 hours through another valley to later take a van towards Shangri-la. The walk was incredible. I though I was trekking through Nepal already! Following a river downstream we saw how it grew in power as we descended. It became a massive living creature, bigger then usual as it overtoppled its own banks.  The terrain changed and with it the lush green vegetation disappeared. We now found ourselves walking on a small ledge carved through the wall of a huge canyon. Beneath us a 300 meter drop towards the ranging river. Arriving at the end of the trail we were met with around 8 drivers. Every single one wanting to take us to Shangri-la, a ... read more

September 21st - Kunming ➡️ Shangri-la - Dia 92 My original plan was heading to Dali in search of some climbing. But during my stay in Kunming, while I was resting in the Hostel, a gorgeous series of big canvases containing a white snowy peak attracted my attention. Searching for the name of the peak I realized it was not too far away from Kunming. Situated in a small town called Deqin around the northernmost point in Yunnan, right next to Tibet. Around this town were some incredible hikes in alpine and Tibetan communities. Not about to let that opportunity pass I changed my plans for the day next 4 days 😁 In order to reach Deqin I had to essentially travel for 2 days. Not too worried about it since the scenary on the way ... read more

We arrived in Shuhe, which is one of the three old towns which make up the Old Town of Lijiang, about 2 hours after leaving Tiger Leaping Gorge. The Old Town of Lijian is located at an elevation of 2400m. The Old Town of Lijiang was awarded UNESCO World Heritage status in 1997 in recognition of the towns role as the intersection between the Silk Road and the Tea Horse Road; the architecture (including housing influenced by Han, Bai, Tibetan and Naxi) which is well preserved and urban planning and landscaping (including impressive water distribution system which conveys water throughout the town in a series of engineered channels among other things. The Old Town of Lijiang is one of the most popular tourist attractions in China. Apparently 80 million tourists visited last year. At times the ... read more

We left Shaxi the following morning and continued our trip north towards Laojan Shan National Park. After almost two hours of driving through nice scenery we stopped in at Shiguzhen. Shiguzhen is a fairly unremarkable town but just happens to be positioned at a point where the Yangtze river does an almost 180 degree turn and runs almost parallel to itself for a few kilometers. We walked through the town until we reached a museum dedicated to the long march (which passed through the town). William talked us through the history of the long march and filled us in on the local context in Shiguzhen as well. After checking out the museum we admired the view of the 180 degree bend in the Yangtze. We then made our way back down the hill and to the ... read more