Yunnan
The region maintains a strong agricultural focus. Agriculture is restricted to the few upland plains, open valleys, and terraced hillsides. Level land for agriculture is extremely scarce and only about 5 percent of the province is under cultivation. Rice is the main crop; corn, barley, wheat, rapeseed, sweet potatoes, soybeans (as a food crop), tea, sugarcane, tobacco, and cotton are also grown. On the steep slopes in the west livestock is raised and timber, a valuable resource, is cut (teak in the southwest).
Yunnan is the most southwestern province in China, with the Tropic of Cancer running through its southern part. The province has an area of 394,100 square kilometres (152,200 sq mi), 4.1% of the nation's total. The northern part of the province forms part of the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau. The province borders Guangxi and Guizhou in the east, Sichuan in the north, and the Tibet Autonomous Region in the northwest. It shares a border of 4,060 kilometres (2,520 mi) with Myanmar (Kachin and Shan States) in the west, Laos (Luang Namtha, Oudomxay, and Phongsaly Provinces) in the south and Vietnam (Hà Giang, Lào Cai, Lai Châu, and Điện Biên Provinces) in the southeast. For practical purposes, all of Yunnan province falls within the Zomia (region) of Asia.
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Our travel journal
Langbapu Earth Forest [浪巴铺土林] – the beginning of everything
Back in November 2014, there were quite limited options to getting around, we took a long-distance coach from Kunming [昆明] to Yuanmou [元谋] and stayed the night at Xinhua Village [新华乡] that is closest to the earth forest. There is really nothing much to do around here except taking a walk around the nearby village,
Xizhou [喜洲] – our happy place
Xizhou [喜洲] – literally Happy [喜] Continent [洲] in Chinese – is a little town in Dali [大理] located on the west of Erhai [洱海] and 29km away from Dali Ancient Town [大理古镇]. In her heyday, it served as an important trading post along the Chama Gudao [茶马古道] – literally Tea [茶] Horse [马] Ancient
Dali Ancient Town [大理古镇]
The cafe owners in the ancient town work extremely hard over the various Chinese public holidays because that's when most Chinese people travel to Dali. With all the income made from these peak seasons, it is enough to cover costs for the entire year. And that's enough for them, anything extra is a bonus. It
Chuxiong [楚雄]
Chuxiong [楚雄] was an impromptu stop along the way before we made our way to Dali [大理] and we had the most unexpected experiences… It is the simplest of town with not many tourists and we spent the day doing what the locals do. We enjoyed watching the Yi people, dressed in their traditional costumes,
Yunnan [云南]
Yunnan [云南] – literally Cloud [云] South [南] in Chinese – is a region in western China with the most spectacular terrains. At an average of 2,000m above sea level, locals believe that this is the closest anyone could get to the skies. It is good to know the elevation of these major places before planning a trip so
The inseparable Cangshan Erhai [苍山洱海]
It is impossible to mention Erhai [洱海] without first emphasising that Cangshan [苍山] is a long stretch of snow-capped mountain parallel to it. With 19 peaks and elevation between 3,500m to 4,000m above sea-level, Cangshan [苍山] is quite impossible for an average human to conquer. Most often, travellers would resort to taking aerial tram rides
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