According to Lonely Planet “the most alluring travel destination in China.

The most geographically varied of all of China’s provinces”. From tropical rain forest in the southern Xishuangbanna to the icy highlands of Tibet.

Yunnan is famous for it’s temperate climate all around the year. It gathers half of Chinese animal species and more than 2 500 varieties of plants and flowers. No wonder it’s capital, Kunming, is referred to as the “4 Springs City”.
Yunnan is also the home of more than a third of all Chinese minorities. A patchwork of different ethnicities and colorful villages, a blend of traditions, languages, handicrafts….a “concentration” of the Empire of the Middle within itself.

As Lonely Planet puts it “if you could only go to one province, this might well be it”.

Its highlights are Kunming, Dali and Lijiang.

Kuming is a thriving capital is at the meeting routes of Vietnam, Laos and Burma. Of course modern buildings in the center remind you that it has fully stepped into the 21st century. But some nice funky roads lined with pine trees will take you to some back alleyways lined with fascinating wooden one-storey little houses.
A Provincial Museum, 2 Pagodas from the Tang Dynasty, the Buddhist temple of Yuantong Si, the Shi Lin Stone Forest and the marvelous Green Lake Park where anonymous people gather to hear a story teller, make music, practice Tai Chi or dancing sessions, plus hundreds of restaurants with cuisine from all over the world, make it a good place to stay for a couple of days.

Located at the western side of the gorgeous Er'hai Lake, at an altitude of 1900m and at the foot of the impressive Chang Shan Mountains, Dali is a small and charming medieval city surrounded by walls and defended by four impressive fortified Gates. You can visit the cinema compound where most of the films related to the Middle-Age period are shot. So many things to visit in and around Dali (see the list of excursions) that some people stay there for two weeks or more and depart with the feeling of not having seen all of it…
Among the highlights : hiking in the mountains (by foot or horse riding, by cable car or chair lift), bicycling around the lake, swimming, watching the cormorant fishing, taking a 3 hours cruise on the lake, visiting the 3 pagodas and the Buddhist temples compound, looking around the minorities villages, enjoying local food and the colorful costumes of the smiling Bai people, appreciating the works of craftsmen (silk, jade, silver), attending traditional dances or… a service at the marvelous little catholic church. So unexpected! And so much more…

At the doorstep of Tibet, set in a beautiful open valley, this is a jewel of traditional architecture. By mid-morning you will watch the Naxi women dancing on the market square before strolling through the cobbled stone narrow streets lined with red painted wooden small houses with parrots and plants front porches.
Small stone bridges cross narrow rivers filled with red fish. Women sell griddle cakes in front of teahouses while proud men walk around with hunting falcons keeping balance on their gloved fists.
Not to be missed are the immense Mufu Palace from the Mongol and Ming dynasties, the gorgeous Black Dragon Pool Park with its Five Phoenix Temple and the Xuan Ke Museum. Hikers will enjoy the two-days trek of the mythic Tiger Leaping Gorges overlooking the Yangzi river.

Further north west you may push to Zhongdian to catch a glimpse of Tibet or east to the magnificent lake Lugu at the Sichuan border, across the Yi region on a beautiful road snaking through terraces mountains…