Here we listed all the popular destinations we recommend as follow:
- Kunming
- Shilin (The Stone Forest)
- Jiuxiang Scenic Spot
- Anning Hot Spring
- Dongchuan Red Land
- Yuanyang Terraced Fields
1. Kunming
Kunming, the capital of Yunnan Province, is the political, economic, communications and cultural center of the province. Located In the middle of the Yunnan-Gulzhou Plateau, Kunming covers an area of 21,473 sq km, and has a population of more than 5.18 million.Kunming is known as the spring city because of its year round mild climate. With a history more than 2,400 years, Kunming owns its importance to the fact that it was the gateway to the well-known South Silk Road that facilitated trade with Tibet, Sichuan, Myanmar and India.
Main attractions in Kunming are Stone Forests, Dian Lake, The Western Hills, Golden Temple Park, Bamboo Temple etc.The Stone Forest is a fantastic natural phenomenon located 90 kilometers southeast of Kunming. The various shapes of karst landscape was formed due to the millions years movement of Earth. Major Stone Forest, Minor Stone Forest and Naigu Stone Forest, the entire feature stones in various formations. Animals, plants, and even human figures can be found here. An old local saying says that 'If you have visited Kunming without seeing the Stone Forest, you have wasted your time.' Truly, the Stone Forest is one of the most important attractions in Kunming.
Kunming's cuisine is distinctly Yunnanese and combines fresh ingredients afforded by the moderate climate with mild herbs and spices giving its cooked dishes sufficient flavour but lacking the pungency associated with food from other regions of the country. Some popular dishes are Braised Mushroom (Jizong) in Soy Sauce and Kunming Bitter Duck. Surely, you are eager to have a taste of Yunnan over the Bridge Rice Noodles.
Kunming is among the first group of famous historical and cultural cities and one of the top tourist cities in China, rich in tourism resources. Thanks to its pleasant climate, spectacular plateau scenery, time-honored history, unique ethnic customs and unusual plants and animals, Kunming attracts domestic and foreign tourists all the year round. As the tourist center of Yunnan Province, Kunming has convenient transportation facilities. From the city, tourists can go easily to famous scenic aeas, such as Dali, Lijiang and Shangri-La.
The annual Water Splashing Festival is the New Year Celebration for Dai ethnic group. It begin on April 11 and last for four days. According to local customs, splashing water is a kind of blessing and helps to wash away sickness and bring a happy life.
2. Shi Lin (The Stone Forest)
The Stone Forest lies in the hinterland of the Middle Yunnan Plateau, 103°11″—103°29″ east longitude and 24°40″—24°56″ north latitude. Located in Shilin Yi Autonomous County, it’s over 70 kilometers away from Kunming. The climate belongs to the subtropical low latitude monsoon climate, with an average temperature of 16℃. It’s a large-scale comprehensive tourism area incorporating natural scenery, national customs, leisure and holiday, and scientific research.
As the essence of the world’s karst, the Stone Forest is well-known for “grandness, rarity, danger, elegance, quietness and vastness”. It is dubbed as “the first wonder of the world” and “a natural museum of physiognomy” and enjoys a good reputation in geology circles for its remote history, wide variety, and large scale. It took shape 270 million years ago, experienced long geological evolution and complex geographical change and became the precious geological relic it is today. It includes numerous physiognomy types of the world such as the stone forest of Malaysia, America and Africa. It seems that the stone forests of all the world assemble here. With well-structured stone teeth, peak clusters, water-eroded caves, karst lakes, waterfalls and underground rivers, it’s a typical plateau karst ecological system and a solid panoramic picture.
Covering an area of 1100 square kilometers and having a protection area of 350 square kilometer, there are all kinds of unique natural sceneries. According to the lay-out and features of the scenery, the scenic area is divided into eight sub areas: the Stone Forest Scenic Area, Heisongyan (Naigu) Stone Forest, Zhiyundong Cave, Changhu Lake, Feilong Waterfall (Dadieshui) Scenic Area, Kuishan National Forest Park, Yuehu Lake, and Qifengdong Cave. Among these, the Stone Forest Scenic Area (the key scenic area), Heisongyan Scenic Area, Feilong Waterfall Scenic Area and Changhu Lake Scenic Area have been developed and opened to tourists. In the Stone Forest Scenic Area, the key area, over 100 scenic spots familiar to tourists such as “Shilinshengjing (the highlight of the Stone Forest)”, “Qianjunyifa (in a most dangerous condition)”, “Phoenix Combing Wings” and Ashima are all here. Entering the scenic area is like entering the tunnel of time. You can feel the great works of Nature. Traveling in the maze below the sea, you can see barranca and stone peaks, just like a lively and grand natural painting.
In addition, there are many peripheral sights and potential scenic areas to be developed gradually for the people.
The charm of the Stone Forest lies not only in the natural sights but also in the customs of the Sani people of Shilin County, for it is “the hometown of Ashima”. In the endless stone peaks and red earth of Shilin, there are also precious national and historical culture resources. Sani People, a branch of Yi, have lived here for over 2000 years and are famous for their diligence, bravery and warmth. Yi culture typical of Ashima has rich connotations and great influence. What Ashima represents is not only the image of Shilin, but also that of Yunnan tourism. In Ashima culture, the most influential are “one poem”, “one film”, “one song” and “one festival”. The ancient narrative poem Ashima written in Yi characters has been translated into over 20 languages; adapted from this poem is China’s first stereo film Ashima which enjoys a great reputation in the world; the Sani song Please Stay here, You Guest from afar is famous in the world; and the Torch Festival of Yi, which falls on the 24th of the 6th month of the lunar year and incorporates wrestling and bullfighting, is dubbed as the “Oriental Carnival”.
The Stone Forest Scenic Area has the following titles approved by relevant international and national departments
▲China Key Scenic Area (State Council, 1982)
▲Demonstration Site of Chinese Civilized Scenic Areas (Central Office of Civilization, the Ministry of Construction and National Tourism Administration, 1999)
▲State AAAAA Scenic Area (National Tourism Administration, 2006)
▲Chinese Geological Park (the Ministry of Land Resources, 2001)
▲Demonstration Unit of Chinese Protection of the Legal Rights and Interests of Tourism Consumers (Consumer Protection Fund of China, Scenic Area Association of China, 2001)
▲Quality Management System Authentication ISO 9001:2000, Environment Management System Authentication ISO14001：1996, Professional Health and Safety Management System Authentication GB/T28001：2001
▲Famous Tourism Brand of China (China Tourism Newspaper)
▲World Geological Park (UNESCO, 2004)
▲World Heritage (UNESCO, 2007)
3. Jiuxiang Scenic Spot
Jiuxiang Scenic Spot is 20 sq km in area and includes 5 tourist attractions, Diehong Bridge (5 km southeast from Jiuxiang Street, famous for the karst caves, the twin waterfalls and the huge natural stone dam cluster), Dasha Dam (consisting of picturesque karst caves and thick forest), Sanjiao Cave (5 km north of Jiuxiang Street, famous for the karst caves), Alu Long [a scenic area 6 km west of Jiuxiang Street, famous for the excavated Yi Nationality cliff paintings of Qin 221BC-206BC) and Han (206BC-220AD) dynasties] and Mingyue (meaning the bright moon) Lake.
Jiuxiang is known as the "museum of karst caves", which boasts its caves as the largest in scale and number (there are about a hundred karst caves) and has the most wonderful in-cave scenes in China. The caves in Jiuxiang fall into 4 cave clusters: Sanjiao Cave, Dashang Cave, Diehong Cave and Dasha Dam Cave. 66 out of the numerous caves in the area are profitably exploitable and the karst cave cluster is the largest of its kind on Yunnan-Guizhou plateau. The caves in the area are praised for their grandeur, wonder grotesquerie and natural beauty.
Jiuxiang, the birthplace of the aboriginal Yi ethnic people, has a strong minority custom color, a long cultural history, and widely spread old myths and tales. These include Hunting Festival, the Worship the White Dragon Festival, Love Song Contest, Bullfighting, Wrestling, Sanxian Dance (Sanxian is a three-stringed plucked instrument), Rattle Stick Dance and so on.
Tourists should take enough clothes since they may get wet in boats when they visit the karst caves and the gorges. The folk songs and dances and the local food are also special. What's more, Yangzonghai Lake Scenic Spot and Little White Dragon Forest Park are not far from Jiuxiang Scenic Spot. Tourists can take buses at the gate of the Jiuxiang to go there.
4. Anning Hot Spring
Anning Hot Spring is a famous tourist attraction and holiday resort near Kunming, located at the foot of Yuquan Mountain about thirty-eight kilometers from the city center. It is endowed with lush trees, graceful mountains and peaceful surroundings perfect for bathing and relaxing. Anning Hot Spring is said to have been discovered during the Eastern Han Dynasty (AD 41 - 44) and thus has a history of nearly 2,000 years. The water of the plentiful spring is crystal clear and of outstanding quality. Throughout the year, the water temperature varies between 40ºC and 50ºC and is always free of the odor of sulfur. With a variety of minerals and trace elements, Anning Hot Spring is reported to be very effective against many diseases, such as the aftereffects of injuries, gastric ulcers, insomnia, dermatitis, chronic gastritis, and so on. It is traditionally regarded in China as the “finest hot spring under Heaven.”
5. Dongchuan Red Land
If there is one word that best captures Dongchuan Red Land, it must be "palette". It is such an amazing spectacle that you can never imagine if you have never been there. God knocked over his palette, dropping the heaven paint, which makes Dongchuan such a stunning masterpiece. Red, green, white and yellow are matched into rolling rainbow ribbons stretching to sky.
Dongchuan, a rural area in the northeast of Kunming, is believed that it has the world's most imposing red earth, even more magnificent than that in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Because of the warm and humid climate in Yunnan, the Iron oxide in the soil deposited slowly through years and gradually developed an extraodinary reddish brown soil. It is seldom visited by general tourists for its remoteness and inadequete lodging facilities, however, the land with picturesque scenery is paradise for photograghy fans.
Dongchuan Red Land represents Yunnan mountain valley most attractive colors. It is decorated with multi-color crops. Fiery red soil, emerald green barly, golden yellow buckwheat and snow white oil flowers against the floating coulds, ever-changing light and the dramatically blue sky make a marvelous painting, bringing not only the strong visual impact but also the banquet of soul.
Dongchuan Red Land scenery is centralized around Huashitou of Xintian Township, about 50km away from Dongchuan County seat. The highlights include Jinxiu Garden, Qicai Slope, Yuepu Hollow, Yueliang Field, Damakan and Lexiagua.
Lexiagua is the most dazzling color in this painting. Lexiagua, also called Luoxiagou in Chinese, means a gully of fallen rosy clouds and it's situated between two mountains on both sides. Thanks to Creater's superb craftsmanship, it is a wonder that the breathtaking landscape should hide in such a gully. It is outlined by the crops' curve, ornamented with terrace in variety shapes, vibrant out of the multi-color wave. There are no words that can completely describe the gorgeousness of Lexiagua. Besides, it is really difficult to capture the best of Lexiagua as well. For the photography fans, Lexiagua is a dream and also a test.
6. Yuanyang Terraced Fields
Yuanyang Terraced Fields are also, as mentioned the wonderland of tourists, a paradise of painting clubs and photographers! With their amazing landscape, unique shapes, and ethnic customs and culture deposit behind themselves, the scenic areas of Yuanyang Terraced Fields are the excellent places you must take your cameras to.
Situated in the south of Ailao Mountain in Yuanyang County of Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province, Yuanyang Terraced Fields are known as an unprecedented masterpiece of the Hani Ethnic Group. According to the record, the rice terraces were worked out by the ancestors of Hani people when they relocated their homes to Ailao Mountain area from the Tibetan Plateau in around 2500 years ago. In Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), the emperor granted them the title of "Magic Mountain Sculptors".
Being built up from generation to generation, the fields today on the mountains have covered an area of 11,333 ha. Now we can see the abstract pattern of terraced rice fields lie at an altitude ranging from 144 along the Red River up to nearly 3,000 meters above sea level. In Yuanyang, the terraced areas of interest to visitors are mainly found between 1,000 and 2,000 meters above sea level. From the tidy and well-constructed fields, anyone has to admit that it is a human engineering feat only made by those hard working people.
