Why Yunnan?
From rainforest to high mountains, follow the changing landscapes and ways of life.
There are few places quite like Yunnan.
To understand this part of China, it helps to go back tens of millions of years.
The collision of the Indian and Eurasian plates helped raise the Tibetan Plateau and reshape the land along its southeastern edge. In northwestern Yunnan, the Hengduan ranges run north to south, with great rivers flowing between them. As the mountains rose and the rivers cut deeper, they formed the steep peaks and deep valleys we see today.
The Jinsha, Lancang and Nu rivers flow south through neighbouring gorges in the region known as the Three Parallel Rivers. Farther west lies the Dulong River. On a map, they look like blue lines close together. On the ground, reaching the next river can mean crossing one mountain ridge after another.
Another way to understand Yunnan is through its extraordinary range of elevations.
From Hekou, at around 76 metres above sea level, to Kawagebo, the highest peak of the Meili Snow Mountains at 6,740 metres, the province spans more than six vertical kilometres. The warmth of the low latitudes meets the cold of high mountains. Those mountains also shape the movement of wind and rain, so even neighbouring valleys can have very different environments.
Tropical rainforests and snow-covered mountains belong on the same map here. Between them lie evergreen broadleaf forests, conifer forests and alpine meadows, as well as hot, dry valleys. In the rainforest, vines climb tree trunks towards the light. High on the scree slopes, small flowers hug the stones and bloom during a brief summer.
These changes are easy to notice as you travel. Cross a ridge and the air cools, the trees change, and so does the birdsong. Yunnan can feel rugged, vast, hushed or gentle. Each word describes only part of it.
Life among these mountains and rivers is just as varied.
Han Chinese and 25 long-established ethnic minority groups make their homes here. Their languages, beliefs and customs are part of village architecture and market food, of farming and festivals, and of the ways people understand the forests around them.
Mountains once kept some villages far apart, while river valleys and trade routes brought people together. Getting to know Yunnan can begin with a meal, a market visit or a conversation about someone's hometown. Even within the same ethnic group, every village and family has its own story.
Those encounters continue today. Places such as Dali draw people from across China and overseas. Some stay for a short visit; others settle, work or open a small shop. Long-time residents and new neighbours are changing everyday life together.
People often ask us how long they should spend in Yunnan. That may be one of travel's hardest questions. You could spend five days in the rainforest, sharing meals and staying with people in a Dai village. Or take ten days through the Gaoligong, Nushan and Meili mountain regions, watching the elevations, vegetation and villages change along the way. Or, like me, you could spend eight years here and still be exploring.
That is Yunnan. Come for the snowy peaks and rainforests, or leave time for the people you meet along the way. There is often more to a journey here than you imagined before setting out.