DESTINATIONS

Shangri-La

“The first place where the sun shines is Jiantang in the east, and the most extraordinary place on earth is Shangri-La on the banks of the Milky River.” James Hilton wrote so in his book. The white snow-capped mountains, the vast expanse of grassland, the bright red datura metel and the mysterious lamasery all constitute the most beautiful scenery here. The Tibetan transliteration of Shangri-La is “Shamballa”, which means “the bright moon in the heart”, which also refers to an ideal lifestyle. In English, it is Shangri-La, which means paradise. It is indeed a paradise, a paradise on earth. The city of Shangri La is situated in the centre of the sacred region of the three rivers: the Yangtze, the Mekong and the Salween. It used to be named as Zhongdian or Gyalthang in Tibetan until 2001.

Lijiang

Lijiang, located at the junction of the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau and the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in northwestern Yunnan Province, has been a transit point for the southern Silk Road/the Old Tea-Horse Road since ancient times. The old town of Lijiang was built in the Southern Song Dynasty. It is a rare and well-preserved ancient city in China. It not only contains the essence of Naxi culture but also fully retains the historical features formed since Song and Yuan. This city has so many beautiful symbols and was approved to be included in the World Cultural Heritage List by UNESCO. It owns both of the feature of a water-bound town and a mountain city. It is praised as “the Gusu on the plateau and the Venice in the East”.

Tengchong

With the scene of mountains and rivers and the flower fields that in the light, Tengchong is a touring destination which full of surprises. In this extraordinary countryside, all your imagination about a pleasant visiting in the rural area can be satisfied with its atmosphere infused with local colour. If you want to launch on a journey of searching for natural beauty, joy, and ancient experience, then you should go to visit Tengchong!

Xishuangbanna

Countless reasons attract people to visit beautiful Xishuangbanna. It presents visitors the original ethnic customs, the annual Songkran Festival, fresh and cheap tropical fruits, rare tropical rainforest plants, and various kind of wild animals.

When most parts of China are in the harsh winter, winter is the most comfortable time for the city. Even in the coldest months, the average temperature here can reach 16°C, making it the preferred city as the shelter from the coldness in winter.

You cannot miss it when travelling in Yunnan.

Yuanyang

Yuanyang terraces lie in the southern part of Ailao Mountain which belongs to Yuanyang County, Yunnan Province. They are masterpieces that created and left by Hani people for generations. They cultivated about 170,000 acres of terraced fields in Yuanyang. These terraced fields stretch across the territory of the Red River and vary with the mountain topography and adjust measures to local conditions. Huge terraced fields could be reclaimed from larger lands with gentle slopes, while the minor terraced fields from smaller lands with steep slopes. Even the rock gaps under ditch ridges are reclaimed as terraced field too. Therefore, the terraced fields here can be as large as a few acres, and also be as small as just a dustpan. Usually, there would be thousands of acres of terraced fields on each slope. Filled with water and paddy, layers of terraced fields are rippling and sparkling with silver waves. From the foot to the top of the mountain, the terraced fields present a scene of boundless variety and magnificent.

Puzhehei

In Puzhehei, there are dense rivers and lakes and winding waterways surround the range upon range of green mountains. Lotus blossom, which fills the entire lake with elegant pink, stretching across thousands of acres in the summertime. Occasionally, boats passing by the surface of the water cause ripples and sprinkles that breaking through the reflected shades of blue sky, white clouds and distant mountains in the water. There are also fish and shrimps swimming and jumping happily in the water. Puzhehei, where lives unsophisticated villagers of the Yi ethnic group, has interesting folk customs and festivals, as well as touring attractions of ancient villages, cave landscapes, and pastoral scenery. It is praised as another paradise in Yunnan.

Jianshui

Known as Lin’an ancient town from long times ago, Jianshui County, as a city still preserving its classic tranquillity, has always been mentioned at the same breath with Dali. The beauty of Jianshui County bases on its elegant and sedate air. Inside and outside of this historical town, its classic beauty materialized from the splendid traditional construction disposition is released and spread, from the imperial ancestral temple to the marketplace, from the seclusion to the wild fields.

The beauty of Jianshui County also comes from the local delicious cuisines and handicraft art of purple pottery. The well water and soil here possessing the distinctive local traits, which fully revealed on the products made of these ordinary materials, even a piece of tofu and pottery can emerge its extraordinary quality.

Dongchuan

Dongchuan Red Land is located in the northeast of Kunming City. Because the soil here contains more iron and aluminium, it forms a dazzling crimson colour. The unique red soil covers the undulating mountainous land in patches, intertwined with green crops, silver-grey roads and white villages which forming a huge multi-coloured and magnificent picture just like an “oil painting”. The land here is separated into colourful blocks by fields and crops. Gazing from the distance, the land is colourful, lined with blue sky and white clouds, which seems even more spectacular. People name this red land as the colour box created by haven and the kaleidoscope under the sky. As four seasons alternated, different kinds of crops in various colour would create a land of dynamic colourful scenery.

Luoping

Xu Xiake, the famous traveller in the Ming Dynasty, once wrote “Luoping is a well-known place in the eastern Dian area” to praise Luoping.

In July, the sun of midsummer sprinkled from the transparent blue sky, spreading the heat evenly to the earth. In this scenery picture, the green hills are boundless but not rolling continuously; the breeze blows, as the dark green paddy waves slowly unfolding, and the refreshing fragrance of rice rushes forward. Strolling through Buyi Village, boating on the Duoyi River, with the green hills scene on both sides, you could enjoy the ten scenic beaches at even one glance. The secluded and charming natural scenery makes tourist forget the time to return, and also bear the quaint Buyi lifestyle in their minds constantly.