YUNNAN - CHINA
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
<strong>YUNNAN</strong>-<strong>CHINA</strong><br />
DIMITRA STASINOPOULOU
<strong>YUNNAN</strong>, SOUTH OF THE CLOUDS<br />
THE VANISHING WORLDS OF <strong>CHINA</strong><br />
SHANGRI-LA<br />
KUNMING<br />
<strong>CHINA</strong><br />
LIJIANG<br />
DALI<br />
<strong>YUNNAN</strong>
<strong>YUNNAN</strong>, SOUTH OF THE CLOUDS - <strong>CHINA</strong>’s VANISHING WORLDS<br />
None of the provinces of China has as much diversity<br />
and as many attractions, physical, cultural and<br />
ethnic, as the South Western province of Yunnan.<br />
A legend says that when a prince of Dali visited<br />
the Tang-dynasty court (618) he told the Emperor<br />
that his land was south of the rainy weather. The<br />
Chinese Emperor then named that territory Yunnan,<br />
-meaning South of the Clouds.<br />
The title refers to the fact that rapid change in China<br />
is destroying forever aspects of rural life in China that<br />
should be loved and cherished. With all the news<br />
about China’s rise to global power, most people in<br />
the West are barely aware of the fascinating tapestry<br />
of small rural communities in the different parts of<br />
that huge country.<br />
Chinese in many rural areas are trying to revive local<br />
cultural practices including theater, dance, song,<br />
puppetry, local arts and crafts that had even been<br />
suppressed under the Cultural Revolution. In many<br />
cases this is difficult, because funding is not available,<br />
younger people do not want to learn the old<br />
ways, and many artifacts have been lost or destroyed.<br />
Still encouraging progress in rural revival can often<br />
be noted. In different regions there are distinctive<br />
architectural forms which often reflect the local<br />
building materials, climate, weather, customs and<br />
lifestyles. These fascinating old buildings are often<br />
symbols of the past, like archaeological treasures.<br />
Especially temples fallen into disuse offer insights<br />
into the past.<br />
For centuries the outside world has yearned to<br />
understand the mysterious land of China. Since the<br />
late 1970’s-when China again opened her doors to<br />
foreign tourists and businessmen- millions of visitors<br />
have flocked into the “Middle Kingdom,” sampling<br />
her sumptuous food, photographing her scenic<br />
beauties, and experiencing her bustling marketplaces.<br />
Few, however, have been fortunate enough<br />
to experience the “hidden” China.<br />
Woven into the mosaic of the largest population<br />
on earth is a rich thread. China’s ethnic minorities,<br />
though numbering more than 100 million people,<br />
are largely lost amid the vast ocean of 1.2 billion<br />
Han Chinese. Although numerically the minorities<br />
of China account for only 6.7% of China’s population,<br />
they live in 62.5% of China’s territory.<br />
Within Yunnan’s single province and dwelling among<br />
a stew of border markets, mountains, jungles, lakes,<br />
temples, modern political intrigue and remains<br />
of vanished kingdoms, are 28 recognized ethnic<br />
groups, the greatest number in any province. These<br />
ethnic minorities live together over vast areas in the<br />
region while some live in individual concentrated<br />
communities in small areas. The residences of the<br />
ethnic minorities are various and characteristic;<br />
their clothes are colorful and distinctive; some of<br />
them have their own languages and writings. Each<br />
of these tribes carries on several thousand-yearold<br />
traditions, handing down festivals, languages,<br />
beliefs ranging from animist to Islamic, folklore,<br />
ethnic handcrafts, hundreds of varieties of colorful<br />
dress, and food.<br />
Yunnan’s cultural life is one of striking contrasts.<br />
Archaeologists have discovered sepulchral mounds<br />
containing magnificent bronzes at Jinning, south of<br />
Kunming, dating to the Han dynasty (206 BC–220<br />
BC). At Zhaotong, in the northeastern part of the<br />
province, frescoes belonging to the Dong (Eastern)<br />
Jin dynasty (317–420 CE) have also been uncovered.<br />
Other historical landmarks of Han Chinese culture<br />
in subsequent ages abound. At the same time,<br />
the cultural traditions of Yunnan’s non-Han ethnic<br />
minorities also are very much alive.<br />
The cultures of these peoples remained virtually<br />
unchanged until the mid-20 th century. Although<br />
some minority practices were abolished, such as<br />
slaveholding by the Yi and headhunting among the<br />
Wa, the post-Mao Zedong policy that has encouraged<br />
the expression of minority identity has permitted<br />
many local customs and festivals to flourish again.<br />
In contrast to the period of the Cultural Revolution<br />
(1966–76), when religious practices were repressed,<br />
Yunnan has come to tolerate and even celebrate its<br />
cultural diversity.<br />
Mountain ranges dominate nearly every part and<br />
are home to a great variety of plants and animals. It<br />
is bounded by the Tibet Autonomous Region to the<br />
northwest, the provinces of Sichuan to the north and<br />
Guizhou to the east, and the Zhuang Autonomous<br />
Region of Guangxi to the southeast. To the south<br />
and southeast it adjoins Laos and Vietnam, and to<br />
the southwest and west it shares a long border with<br />
Myanmar (Burma). The provincial capital is Kunming,<br />
in the northeast-central part of Yunnan. Although<br />
richly endowed with natural resources, Yunnan<br />
remained an underdeveloped region until relatively<br />
recent times; for centuries the ethnic, religious, and<br />
political separatism of the province posed obstacles<br />
to the efforts of a central government to control it.<br />
Yunnan has numerous famous mountains, lakes,<br />
rivers and cultural relics, and tourism has flourished<br />
in the province since the late 1990s. The historical old<br />
town section of Lijiang, which embraces a mixture<br />
of several cultural traditions, was designated a<br />
UNESCO World Heritage site in 1997. The watersheds<br />
of the three major rivers of western Yunnan were<br />
collectively named a World Heritage site in 2003.<br />
Other national-level tourist spots include Lake Dian<br />
at Kunming, the Shilin (“Stone Forest”) karst landscape<br />
at Lunan Chongsheng Temple (with its three<br />
pagodas) and Lake Erhai at Dali, the volcanic and<br />
scenic landscape around Tengchong, and the natural<br />
landscape and access to the Dai culture centered on<br />
Jinghong in the Xishuangbanna region.<br />
BRIEF HISTORY<br />
According to the Han historian Sima Qian, the<br />
Chinese warrior prince Zhuang Qiao founded the
pastoral Dian Kingdom in eastern Yunnan during<br />
the third century BC. The Dian were a slave society,<br />
who vividly recorded their daily life and ceremonies<br />
involving human sacrifice in sometimes gruesome<br />
bronze models, which have been unearthed from<br />
their tombs. In 109 AD the kingdom was acknowledged<br />
by China: the emperor Wu, hoping to control<br />
the Southern Silk Road through to India, sent its<br />
ruler military aid and a golden seal. However, the<br />
collapse of the Han Empire in 204 AD was followed<br />
by the dissolution of Dian into private small states.<br />
The Dali and Nanzhao kingdoms<br />
In the 8 th century, an aspiring Yunnanese prince<br />
named Piluoge, favoring Dali for its location near<br />
trade routes between central and southeastern<br />
Asia, invited all his rivals to dinner in the town,<br />
then set fire to the tent with them inside. Subsequently<br />
he established the Nanzhao Kingdom in<br />
Dali, which later expanded to include much of<br />
modern Burma, Thailand and Vietnam. In 937, the<br />
Bai warlord Duan Siping toppled the Nanzhao and<br />
set up a smaller Dali Kingdom, which survived until<br />
Kublai Khan and his Mongol hordes descended<br />
in 1252.<br />
The Muslim Uprising<br />
Directly controlled by China for the first time, Yunnan<br />
served for a while as a remote dumping ground for<br />
political troublemakers, thereby escaping the population<br />
explosions, wars and migrations that plagued<br />
central China. However, the Mongol invasion had<br />
introduced a large Muslim population to the province,<br />
who, angered by their deteriorating status<br />
under the Chinese, staged the Muslim Uprising in<br />
1856. Under the warlord Du Wenxiu, the rebellion<br />
laid waste to Kunming and founded an Islamic state<br />
in Dali before the Qing armies ended it with the<br />
wholesale massacre of Yunnan’s Muslims in 1873,<br />
leaving a wasted Yunnan to local bandits and private<br />
armies for the following half-century.Modern times<br />
Strangely, it was the Japanese invasion of China<br />
during the 1930’s that sparked a resurgence of<br />
Yunnan’s fortunes.<br />
Blockaded into southwestern China, the Guomindang<br />
government initiated great programs of railand-road<br />
building through the region, though it’s<br />
only recently that Yunnan has finally benefited from<br />
its forced association with the rest of the country.<br />
Never agriculturally rich – only a tenth of the land<br />
is considered arable – the province looks to mineral<br />
resources, tourism and its potential as a future<br />
conduit between China and the much discussed, but<br />
as yet unformed, trading bloc of Vietnam, Laos, Thailand<br />
and Burma. Should these countries ever form<br />
an unrestricted economic alliance, the amount of<br />
trade passing through Yunnan would be immense,<br />
and highways, rail and air services have already been<br />
planned for the day the borders open freely.<br />
THE PEOPLE<br />
Yunnan’s population is noted for the great<br />
complexity of its ethnolinguistic groups. Out of the<br />
total population, the Han (Chinese) form the bulk of<br />
both the city dwellers and the agricultural population<br />
on the plains and valleys devoted to rice cultivation.<br />
Descendants of the conquering armies and<br />
immigrants who arrived through the centuries, have<br />
both pushed the non-Han peoples into remote areas<br />
and intermarried with them.<br />
There are a large number of Hui (Chinese Muslims),<br />
the descendants of the immigrants sent in by China’s<br />
rulers to help govern the province after the 13 th<br />
century. The non-Han population of Yunnan remains<br />
substantial; in addition to the Hui, it comprises<br />
more than 50 recognized ethnic minority groups,<br />
accounting for more than one-third of Yunnan’s<br />
population. In distribution, these groups are highly<br />
intermixed; not one county is inhabited by a single<br />
minority. The Yi are the largest minority group.<br />
Once the rulers of large parts of Yunnan, the Yi are a<br />
hill people with subsistence agriculture and proud<br />
warrior traditions. Linguistically, they belong to the<br />
Tibeto-Burman group. Second largest in population<br />
are the Bai, in northwestern Yunnan. Long Sinicized,<br />
the Bai are rice cultivators who are among the original<br />
inhabitants of the region. Other peoples in the<br />
Tibeto-Burman linguistic family are the Hani, Lisu,<br />
and Lahu of the Yi sub-group; the Naxi, who are a<br />
branch of the Xifan subgroup; the Tibetans, who<br />
inhabit the far northwest corner of the province and<br />
practice Tibetan Buddhism; and the Jingpo, who<br />
speak the same language as the Kachin of Myanmar.<br />
A second major linguistic family represented in<br />
Yunnan is the Tai group. Most of the Tai (in China,<br />
called Dai) peoples inhabit the semitropical<br />
lowlands, raise paddy (wet-field) rice, and practice<br />
Buddhism; they are ethnically related to the Shan<br />
tribes of Myanmar and the Thai (Siamese) of Thailand.<br />
Another important linguistic group is the Mon-<br />
Khmer, represented by the Wa, former headhunters<br />
who inhabit several counties along the border with<br />
Myanmar. The Hmong (called Miao in China) and<br />
Mien (called Yao in China) peoples of southeastern<br />
Yunnan make up a separate linguistic group; they<br />
are hill dwellers whose traditional shifting method<br />
of clearing land for cultivation has been replaced<br />
by more sedentary farming practices. The Miao<br />
until relatively recently had no written language.<br />
Finally, a significant number of Zhuang inhabit the<br />
southeastern part of Yunnan, adjacent to Guangxi.<br />
THE LAND<br />
Yunnan’s topography is determined by a series of<br />
high mountain chains that, starting close together,<br />
branch out from the Tibetan border southeastward<br />
across the province in fanlike fashion.<br />
The province consists of two distinct regions separated<br />
by the Ailao Mountains—the canyon region<br />
to the west of it and the Yunnan-Guizhou (Yungui)<br />
Plateau region to the east. In the canyon region<br />
the great mountains descend from an elevation<br />
exceeding 5,500 meters above sea level in the north<br />
to about 1,830 meters in the south. Flowing through<br />
the deep V-shaped valleys between these mountains<br />
are the three major rivers of the province: the<br />
Salween (Nu; the Mekong) and the Black.<br />
The eastern Yungui Plateau region is separated<br />
from Sichuan by the Yangtze River. Yunnan has the<br />
greatest variety of biological resources among the<br />
Chinese provinces, and it includes plants from tropical,<br />
subtropical, temperate, and alpine growing<br />
zones. Of some 30,000 species of plants found in<br />
China, more than half are in Yunnan. These include<br />
more than 6,000 species of medicinal herbs and<br />
some 2,500 species of endemic flowers and ornamental<br />
plants. About half of Yunnan’s total area is<br />
forested.<br />
The gorgeous colors of azaleas, camellias, roses, and<br />
fairy primroses make the mountain meadow country<br />
a gigantic flower garden and a popular destination<br />
for botanists and other researchers. Yunnan is also<br />
foremost among the Chinese provinces in its variety<br />
of animals, with some 250 species of mammals,<br />
360 of fish, 140 of reptiles, 90 of amphibians, and<br />
780 of birds. In the tropical forests of the south,<br />
mammals—including monkeys, bears, elephants,<br />
and porcupines—are found in large numbers.
KUNMING<br />
THE CAPITAL OF <strong>YUNNAN</strong>
KUNMING, THE CAPITAL OF <strong>YUNNAN</strong><br />
Kunming, capital of Yunnan Province, is known as<br />
‘the City of Eternal Spring’ for its pleasant climate<br />
and flowers that bloom all year long. With a history<br />
of more than 2,400 years, it was the gateway to<br />
the celebrated Silk Road that facilitated trade with<br />
Tibet, Sichuan, Myanmar, India and beyond. Today<br />
it is the provincial political, economic and cultural<br />
center of Yunnan, as well as the most popular tourist<br />
destination in southwest China. The city is also the<br />
focal point of Yunnan minority culture.<br />
Kunming boasts a long history. As early as 30,000<br />
years ago, ancient tribes inhabited the area around<br />
Dian Lake. During the 3rd century BC, Zhuangqiao<br />
of the Chu (in the middle reaches of the Yangtze<br />
River led his men to the area around Lake Dian and<br />
established the Dian Kingdom. In 109 BC, during<br />
the reign (141–87 BC) of the Xi (Western) Han<br />
emperor Wudi, the Dian Kingdom became part of<br />
the Han territory and was named Yizhou prefecture,<br />
with Dianchi county as its seat. It was then an<br />
important traffic center, connecting China’s hinterland<br />
with the southern branch of the ancient Silk<br />
Road to the west. Via Yunnan, it also connected<br />
present-day Sichuan to Vietnam. During the Sui<br />
dynasty (581–618), it was renamed Kunzhou.<br />
From the 8th century onward, it was known to the<br />
Chinese as Tuodong city in the independent states<br />
of Nanzhao and Dali. It then came under the control<br />
of the Chinese central government with the Yuan<br />
(Mongol) invasion of the southwest in 1253. In 1276<br />
it was founded as Kunming county and became the<br />
provincial capital of Yunnan.<br />
It is considered by scholars to have been the city<br />
of Yachi, described by the 13th-century Venetian<br />
traveler Marco Polo. During the Ming (1368–1644)<br />
and Qing (1644–1911/12) dynasties, it was the seat<br />
of the superior prefecture of Yunnan. It reverted to<br />
county status in 1912, under the name Kunming,<br />
and became a municipality in 1928.<br />
Kunming’s transformation into a modern city<br />
resulted from the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese<br />
War in 1937. In the face of the advancing Japanese<br />
forces, great numbers of Chinese flooded into<br />
southwestern China and took with them dismantled<br />
industrial plants, which were then re-erected<br />
beyond the range of Japanese bombers. In addition,<br />
a number of universities and institutes of<br />
higher education were evacuated there. When the<br />
Japanese occupied French Indochina in 1940, the<br />
links of Kunming with the west, both via the newly<br />
constructed Burma Road and by air, grew increasingly<br />
vital. Industry became important in Kunming<br />
during World War II. The large state-owned Central<br />
Machine Works was transferred there from Hunan,<br />
while the manufacture of electrical products,<br />
copper, cement, steel, paper and textiles expanded.<br />
After 1949, Kunming developed rapidly into an<br />
industrial metropolis and remained a major cultural<br />
center.<br />
WESTERN HILLS<br />
In the western suburbs of Kunming lies Western<br />
Hills. They are also called ‘Sleeping Buddha Hills’,<br />
for looked at from a distance, they have the appearance<br />
of a giant sleeping Buddha. Here, there are<br />
wonderful scenic spots such as Huating Temple,<br />
Taihua Temple, Sanqing Pavilion, and Dragon Gate.<br />
Huating Temple is one of the largest Buddhist<br />
temples in Yunnan Province.<br />
Daxiong Baodian Hall, Tianwang Hall and Kwan-yin<br />
Hall are some of the features in the temple. In the<br />
temple you can see three golden Buddha figures<br />
with kindly expressions, 500 life-like arhats which<br />
are vivid just like real people, and golden figures<br />
of Laughing Buddha. Besides, there are abundant<br />
colored clay figures depicting vividly various images<br />
of mythical animals. Taihua Temple gained its name<br />
for it is located on Taihua Hill. Originally built in the<br />
Yuan Dynasty (1206 - 1368), the temple is the oldest<br />
one in Western Hills. Daxiong Baodian Hall, Piaomiao<br />
Pavilion, Sizhao Hall are in the temple. The<br />
temple is famous for the beautiful rare flowers on<br />
the grounds.<br />
There is a saying - ‘If you do not visit Western Hills,<br />
you haven’t visited Kunming; if you do not come<br />
to Dragon Gate, you haven’t been to Western Hills.’<br />
Being the outstanding scenic place in Western Hills,<br />
Dragon Gate is a big exquisite stone carved edifice.<br />
The stone paths, stone rooms, stone grottos, and<br />
stone Buddhist figures are all carved with excellent<br />
craftsmanship on a large natural rock. Like Sanqing<br />
Pavilion, Dragon Gate was also built on cliff. You can<br />
stand on the edge of the cliff holding the railing,<br />
looking downward to experience the steepness of<br />
the hill and enjoy the spectacle of Dianchi Lake.<br />
“<strong>YUNNAN</strong> IMPRESSIONS SHOW” ALSO CALLED<br />
AND “DYNAMIC <strong>YUNNAN</strong>”<br />
A grand and original ethnic dance musical. It fuses<br />
the beauty of Yunnan’s ethnic minority dances<br />
and songs with the power of modern stage exhibition.<br />
Chinese folk dance first appeared over 5000<br />
years ago and is a by-product of long historical<br />
development and profound artistic culture. All the<br />
performers are genuine Yunnan ethnic minorities<br />
who left their villages to participate in the theater
and all the costumes are real. It tells audience about<br />
the universe, nature, culture, and the pursuit for<br />
the origins of life, the praise of life and the wish for<br />
everlasting life.<br />
The performance captures the essence of original<br />
rural songs and classical folk dances by means of<br />
the artistic director’s reorganization and recreation,<br />
combining beauty of Yunnan ethnic minorities<br />
dance and songs with the power of modern stage<br />
exhibition. Therefore the richness of the culture of<br />
Yunnan minorities is born again on stage with startling<br />
effects.<br />
This is the first production produced, directed and<br />
choreographed by the famous dancer, Yang Liping,<br />
one of China’s best-known dancers. Twenty years<br />
ago, Yang Liping won first prize in a national dance<br />
competition by performing her solo dance “The<br />
Spirit of the Peacock”. She gathered over 60 highly<br />
capable aboriginal dancers and singers from the<br />
lost corners of the world over several years.<br />
These aboriginal performers dance for life. They use<br />
the enthusiasm from their hearts, dances from the<br />
union of their bodies with nature and natural vigor<br />
for celebration to create a powerful artistic force.<br />
YUANTONG TEMPLE<br />
Yuantong Temple is at the foot of Yuantong Hill<br />
in the northern part of Kunming. With a history<br />
of more than 1,200 years, it is one of the grandest<br />
as well as the most important Buddhist temple in<br />
Yunnan Province. King Yimouxun of the Nanzhao<br />
Kingdom built it during the late eighth century as<br />
a continuation of Putuoluo Temple, and the restorations<br />
performed from the Qing Dynasty onward<br />
had not changed its unique mixed architectural<br />
style of the Yuan and Ming Dynasties.<br />
Unlike all other Buddhist temples, which are built<br />
on an ascendant, you enter Yuantong Temple from<br />
above and descend along a gently sloping garden<br />
path. The view before you starting your peaceful<br />
walk beneath the gigantic cypress trees that line the<br />
garden path to the temple with its extensive array<br />
of flowers and foliage is deeply restful and impressive.<br />
A memorial archway with four Chinese characters<br />
-Yuantong Shengjing (Yuantong Wonderland)-<br />
is standing on the halfway; you can see the entire<br />
temple from here.<br />
The temple complex is built around Yuantong Hall<br />
(Mahavira Hall), which is known as the Fane on the<br />
Water for it is surrounded by a very large pond filled<br />
with limpid water and fish.<br />
A delicate stone bridge which has an elegant<br />
octagonal pavilion stands in the center connects<br />
Mahavira Hall and the temple entrance. The pavilion<br />
is connected to the rest of the complex by various<br />
bridges and walkways.<br />
Sakymuni, Amitabha and the Medicine Buddha,<br />
all Yuan Dynasty statues, are found in the main<br />
hall. The surrounding 500 Buddhist Arhats who are<br />
carved in the walls are rare treasures noted for their<br />
perfect proportions and lively appearances.<br />
Also in this hall are two ten meter high pillars from<br />
the Ming Dynasty that are each engraved with<br />
a dragon - one yellow and one green - who are<br />
trying to extend their bodies and claws into the<br />
air as if they are ready to fly. Like the Arhats, they<br />
impart the feeling that at any moment they could<br />
spring into action. Outside, on each side of the<br />
main hall, there are stone staircases that are carved<br />
out of the mountainside and wind their way to the<br />
top of the hill. As you climb these stairs, there are<br />
ancient inscriptions along the way and various tone<br />
artworks that are considered the most important<br />
historical relics in Kunming.<br />
<strong>YUNNAN</strong> PROVINCIAL MUSEUM<br />
The relics in Yunnan Provincial Museum mainly<br />
include bronze vessels, Buddhism relics, cultural<br />
relics of local ethnic minorities, art works, calligraphies<br />
and paintings, and porcelains.<br />
Among them, the gilding Knight-shaped shellcontainers<br />
unearthed in Jinning Shizhai Mountain,<br />
Tiger and Ox shaped bronze case unearthed in Lijia<br />
Mountain, the Golden Kwanyin Statue from Dali<br />
Kingdom, golden tuinga with jewels of the Ming<br />
Dynasty (1368 - 1644AD), and the ‘Travel in Xishan<br />
Mountain’ painted by Guoxi in the Earlier Song<br />
Dynasty (960 - 1127AD) as well as some others are<br />
regarded as national treasures.<br />
BRONZE VESSELS OF THE DIAN KINGDOM<br />
The related collections mainly include Bronze<br />
Oxhead Ornaments, Chime of the King of the Dian<br />
Kingdom, Bronze Lantern with Three Branches,<br />
Gilding Horsewoman Ornaments, Ox-shaped<br />
Bronze Reed - pipes, etc.<br />
Those bronze vessels reveal people’s daily lives of<br />
that time period vivid. In addition to the bronze<br />
vessels, metal crafts showed in the museum include<br />
gold vessels and silver vessels, all of which came<br />
from the Han (202BC - 220AD) and Ming Dynasty.<br />
THE GOLDEN TEMPLE (JIN DIAN) (TAOIST)<br />
It is the home of the Taoist Hall of Supreme Harmony<br />
and is the largest copper temple in China. It is also<br />
known as the Bronze Tile Temple and by its popular<br />
name, the Golden Temple.<br />
The history of the Golden Temple starts during the<br />
Ming Dynasty and the reign of the Emperor Wanli in<br />
1602. At that time the governor of Yunnan Province<br />
was a devout Taoist who built this temple to honor<br />
the Taoist hero-god Zishi. In 1671 during the Qing<br />
Dynasty, Wu Sangui, the governor of Yunnan Province,<br />
built an exact duplicate of the original one.<br />
This temple was undisturbed for almost two<br />
hundred years until the Muslim rebellion of 1857,<br />
during which it suffered some damages. Emperor<br />
Guangxu ordered its complete repair and in 1890,<br />
using 250 tons (246 gross ton) of solid bronze, the<br />
entire temple was again rebuilt. Except for the staircases<br />
and balustrades, which are made of marble,<br />
the walls, columns, rafters, roof tiles, altars, Buddha<br />
statues, wall decorations and the banner near the<br />
gate tower are all made of copper.<br />
The temple hall is 6.7 meter high, weighs 250 tons,<br />
and is the largest copper architecture in China. All<br />
of the beam columns, doors, windows, roof tiles,<br />
Taoist statues, wall decorations, the banner near the<br />
gate and couplets, and so on, are made of bronze.<br />
The burnished bronze gleams like gold under the<br />
shining sun, and makes the temple the most famous<br />
Taoist shrine in Yunnan Province.
KUNMING, DYNAMIC <strong>YUNNAN</strong> DANCE SHOW
THE GOLDEN TEMPLE
THE OLD TOWN
DIAN LAKE
YUANTONG TEMPLE
<strong>YUNNAN</strong> MINORITIES VILLAGE & PROVINCIAL MUSEUM
WESTERN HILLS - DRAGON GATE
SHILIN - STONE FOREST
DALI<br />
DALI BAI AUTONOMOUS PREFECTURE OF <strong>YUNNAN</strong>
DALI<br />
Dali is located in western Yunnan, approximately 250<br />
km northwest of the provincial capital of Kunming.<br />
It is situated in the transition area between the<br />
dramatic valleys of the eastern Tibetan Plateau and<br />
the distinctive mountains of the western Yungui<br />
Plateau. The county-level city surrounds Erhai Lake<br />
between the Cangshan Mountain to the west and<br />
Mount Jizu to the east. This plain has traditionally<br />
been settled by the Bai and Yi minorities.<br />
Dali Ancient Town is one of the most famous ancient<br />
towns in China. As a major stop on the Ancient Tea<br />
Horse Road, or Southwest Silk Road, it is a town full<br />
of historic sites and traditional culture.<br />
DALI ANCIENT CITY is one of the ‘Three Ancients’<br />
(Ancient Cities, Ancient Pagodas and Ancient Steles)<br />
of the Dali Scenic Spot. With Erhai Lake to the east,<br />
and Cangshan Mountain to the west, its grand city<br />
wall, traditional Bai ethnic minority folk houses<br />
and marvelous scenery has been attracting many<br />
visitors. The traditional Bai ethnic minority folk<br />
houses give the city distinctive feel, unlike any other<br />
Chinese city.<br />
A typical house is characterized by “3 rooms and a<br />
wall screening” meaning that every house has a principle<br />
room and two wing-rooms and facing the principle<br />
room stands the wall screening. The “4 joints<br />
and 5 courtyards” mean that these houses are built<br />
with four sides; and four courtyards in the joining<br />
parts of the houses’ corners and one big courtyard<br />
in the center makes five courtyards. The windows,<br />
doors and the wall screening are adorned with<br />
woodcarvings, colored patterns, marbles and wash<br />
drawings. The delicacy, freshness and elegance of<br />
their construction may be called first-class among<br />
folk residences.<br />
HISTORY<br />
Dali has a long and glorious history. In 738, the<br />
Nanzhao Kingdom was established with Dali as<br />
its capital and covered a large area of Yunnan and<br />
northern Burma and parts of Sichuan and Guizhou.<br />
The original capital of the Nanzhao Kingdom was<br />
located in Weishan and later moved to sites around<br />
Erhai Lake.<br />
The territory conquered was quite substantial and<br />
held over a long period. The kingdom survived<br />
almost 200 years and had 13 kings before collapsing.<br />
After several decades of chaos the Kingdom of Dali<br />
emerged in 937.<br />
Established by Duan Siping was controlled by the<br />
Duan clan and survived until conquered by the<br />
Mongols in the 12th century. The Kingdom retained<br />
a close alliance with the Tang Dynasty, and was one<br />
of the major transit points for the introduction of<br />
Buddhism throughout the rest of China. By 1000,<br />
Dali was one of the 13 largest cities in the world.<br />
These historical events are immortalized in the<br />
Martial Arts literature of Hong Kong author Jin Yong,<br />
giving Dali a fame nationwide. Both the Nanzhao<br />
Kingdom and the Kingdom of Dali had a military<br />
alliance with the Tang Dynasty against the aggressive<br />
Turfan (Tibetan) Empire which made regular<br />
and aggressive incursions into their respective territories.<br />
Many local people in Dali have the surname<br />
Duan to this day.<br />
The rulers of the original Nanzhao Kingdom were<br />
probably precursors to the modern Yi peoples, while<br />
the Kingdom of Dali rulers were precursors to the<br />
modern Bai minority. A huge memorial stele to the<br />
Pacification of Kingdom of Dali was built during the<br />
Ming Dynasty and remains standing today.<br />
The Mongols destroyed the old capital and palace<br />
of the Kingdom of Dali, located just to the south<br />
of the Three Pagodas. Almost all records of both<br />
the Nanzhao and Dali Kingdoms were burnt or<br />
destroyed, leaving much unknown about these<br />
periods. In addition, the Mongols brutally displaced<br />
many of the inhabitants of the prefecture, with<br />
the result that Bai minority people were forced as<br />
far east as Hunan Province. Many ethnic Han also<br />
moved into the Kunming area during this period.<br />
The old Dali City was rebuilt in the early 1400s by<br />
the Ming Dynasty. Since then, the fortunes of Dali<br />
have declined and its importance as a cultural and<br />
economic center in the Yunnan area have been overtaken<br />
by Kunming, the provincial capital.<br />
TANG DYNASTY THREE PAGODAS<br />
Famous in China for their size, beauty, antiquity and<br />
for their preservation. The central one is more than<br />
1,100 years old and is one of the tallest pagodas<br />
ever built in China, representing a period when Dali<br />
was a Buddhist Kingdom. The other two were built<br />
about 100 years later, probably by the Kingdom of<br />
Dali. They are made of brick. They stand at the foot<br />
of one of the high peaks of nearby Cangshan Mountain,<br />
named Yinglo Peak. The main pagoda is called<br />
Qianxun. It is said that it was completed about<br />
the year 840 AD by a Nanzhao King named Quan<br />
Fengyou.<br />
Square faced, it has 16 stories, stands 69.6 meters<br />
high and it is one of the tallest pagodas ever built in<br />
China. At the bottom, the walls are about 3 meters<br />
thick. It looks like a typical Tang Dynasty pagoda,<br />
and it is said that architects from Xian, which was<br />
the capital of the Tang dynasty, designed this<br />
building. To the east of it stands a stone wall which<br />
is engraved with the words “govern the mountains<br />
and rivers forever”.<br />
The other two pagodas were built about 100 years<br />
later. It is thought that they were built by rulers<br />
of the Dali Kingdom that succeeded the Nanzhao<br />
Kingdom. Each one has ten stories, are slimmer and
are about 42 meters high. One of them is interesting<br />
because it leans like the Tower of Pisa in Italy.<br />
DALI CATHOLIC CHURCH. Including 9 chapels, it<br />
was originally built in 1927, by a French bishop Ye<br />
Meizhang and covers 470 square meters, about 36<br />
meters long and 13 meters wide. The complex is a<br />
typical post and lintel construction; its lower and<br />
upper eaves both employ corbel arches and flying<br />
eaves, and every arch has four buttresses engraved<br />
with Chinese traditional auspicious animals and<br />
birds such as Dragon and Phoenix. In the east of<br />
the church, an altar has been built for Virgin Mary;<br />
while in the west, it’s a gate tower modeled after Bai<br />
minority traditional residence, whose top is a vestry<br />
roofed with eaves at four corners.<br />
The gate tower also employs multi-layer corbel<br />
arches and flying eaves, all of which are of superb<br />
workmanship. As a whole, the church complex<br />
adopts wooden structures of Bai minority style and<br />
thus is deemed as a combination of Chinese and<br />
Western architectures.<br />
XIZHOU VILLAGE 20 km north of Dali has almost<br />
200 national heritage listed private houses dating<br />
from the Qing Dynasty. The houses are among the<br />
best examples of traditional Qing architecture in<br />
China and are exquisitely detailed.<br />
Building craftsmen from Xizhou were famous<br />
throughout Southeast Asia and travelled to Vietnam,<br />
Myanmar and throughout Southwest China to build<br />
and decorate houses. When they made their fortune,<br />
they returned to Xizhou to build their own dream<br />
home.<br />
ZHOUCHENG VILLAGE is located 23 kilometers to<br />
the north of the Ancient City of Dali. Zhoucheng<br />
Town is the biggest town of Bai people in Dali with<br />
more than 1,500 families. Here we can see typical<br />
houses of Bai people with close courtyards, “three<br />
rooms and a shining wall”, and “four rows of houses<br />
and five dooryards”. For some of the houses, one<br />
family makes one courtyard; while others have<br />
several courtyards in one family.<br />
These houses have a plane of a square. The roof<br />
contains two layers of eaves made from green tiles,<br />
and is designed in the shape of the Chinese character.<br />
There are three to five major rooms which are<br />
facing east or south. They are built with bricks and<br />
stones with the wooden frame. One courtyard, and<br />
sometimes several courtyards, connect with each<br />
other and make a whole.<br />
Bai people pay special attention to the decorations<br />
of the shining walls, windows, doors, the frontispiece<br />
and the gate-towers. The shining walls is the<br />
necessary building of the construction style of one<br />
major house, two wing-rooms, and courtyards. The<br />
shining wall is covered with two layers of flying<br />
eaves with up-holding corners.<br />
The shining wall stands in front of the major room.<br />
It connects the two wing-rooms and the frontispiece<br />
so that the three form a close courtyard. The center<br />
of the shining wall is brushed with lime, inscribed<br />
with characters, or inlaid with marble screen.<br />
Around these are such patterns as fans, squares and<br />
circles. In the patterns are colored paintings painted<br />
with water mill or powder.<br />
TIE-DYE is one of the Bai people’s traditional handcrafts,<br />
a technology of printing flower patterns on<br />
cloth. As the name suggests, the producing process<br />
is divided into “tie” and “dye”. Tie refers to making<br />
the cloth into certain shapes by pinching, creasing<br />
and flanging it according to the flower patterns.<br />
They are then sew or tie tightly together to make a<br />
bunch of knots. The aim of tying the knots is to dye<br />
the untied part while retaining the original color<br />
of the knotted parts. The tighter the knots are tied,<br />
the better the effect of the color printing will be<br />
achieved.<br />
ERHAI LAKE<br />
The largest highland lake next to Dianchi and one<br />
of the seven biggest fresh water lakes in China. It<br />
means, ‘sea shaped like an ear’, in Chinese. Implying<br />
that the lake is ear shaped and as large as a sea,<br />
hence it was so named. The lake covers an area of<br />
250 square kilometers and is located about two<br />
kilometers east of Dali. In a sunny day, the crystal<br />
waters of Erhai Lake and the snow mantled Cangshan<br />
Mount radiate with each other. Thus the scene<br />
was commonly described as “Silver Cangshan and<br />
Jade Erhai”.<br />
Erhai is an important food source for the local<br />
people, who are famous for their fishing method:<br />
their trained cormorants to catch fish and return<br />
them to the fishmongers. The birds are prevented<br />
from swallowing their fish by rings fixed around<br />
their neck.<br />
THE GOLDEN SHUTTLE ISLAND<br />
The Golden Shuttle Island (Jinsuodao), also called<br />
the Island of the Sea, lies in the southeast part of<br />
Erhai Lake. The island is 1,500 meters in length and<br />
20 meters to 500 meters in width. The west is wide<br />
and the middle is narrow, so it looks like a shuttle or<br />
floating calabash, hence its name. There are a lot of<br />
caverns and precipitous cliffs in the island.<br />
The “Annals of Yunnan” by Fan Zhuo, a historian,<br />
recorded that: “The Island lies in the center of the<br />
Erhai, and is embraced by water on the four sides.<br />
It was cool and comfortable in summer, and was<br />
a summer resort of the royal family of Nanzhao<br />
Kingdom.”<br />
The island is inhabited by the Bai people whose<br />
professions are fishing and water transportation.<br />
Rocks are used for building their walls and greycolored<br />
bricks are dominantly used for building their<br />
houses. In front of the gate there is a screen wall. The<br />
courtyard, decorated with trees and flowers, gives a<br />
graceful atmosphere.<br />
XIAOPUTUO DAO TEMPLE, was originally devoted<br />
to Bodhisattva Kwan-yin and can be traced back<br />
to the 15th century. Though tiny and called xiao<br />
(which means small in Chinese), one can still experience<br />
and see the typical ancient Chinese Buddhist<br />
temple’s unique architectural styles of its buildings’<br />
pointed eaves and decorations.<br />
THREE STAR TEMPLE is dedicated to the Three Star<br />
Gods, i.e. the Three Lucky Gods of China - the Fu<br />
Xing (good fortune, Jupiter); the Lu Xing (prosperity,<br />
Zeta Ursa Majoris); and the Shou Xing (longevity,<br />
Canopus). These Daoist folk gods - often called<br />
simply “Fu Lu Shou” - date back to the Ming Dynasty,<br />
and are still popular today.
THREE PAGODAS - TANG DYNASTY
DALI ANCIENT CITY
CATHOLIC CHURCH
DALI, XIZHOU VILLAGE
DALI, ZHOUCHENG VILLAGE
ERHAI LAKE
ERHAI LAKE - GOLDEN SHUTTLE ISLAND
ERHAI LAKE - LUOQUAN ISLAND
DALI MINORITIES PERFORMANCES
DALI CANGSHAN MOUNTAIN
LIJIANG<br />
HOME TO THE NAXI & OTHER MINORITY GROUPS
LIJIANG<br />
Lijiang is a prefecture-level city in the northwest of<br />
Yunnan province, China and is famous for its UNESCO<br />
Heritage Site, the Old Town of Lijiang, which dates<br />
back to over 800 years ago. The architecture of the old<br />
town is noteworthy for the blending of elements from<br />
several cultures. The town possesses an ancient water<br />
supply system of great complexity and ingenuity. It<br />
is China’s best-preserved minority ancient town, and<br />
the only one among China’s ancient towns without<br />
city walls. It is famous for its ancient architecture and<br />
orderly system of waterways.<br />
HISTORY<br />
Lijiang didn’t become an important town on the<br />
Ancient Tea Horse Road until the end of the Southern<br />
Song (1127-1279) and the beginning of the Yuan<br />
Dynasty (1279-1368). During the early years of the<br />
Yuan Dynasty, about 1,000 families inhabited Lijiang.<br />
The town continued to grow, and it reached a peak<br />
during the Ming (AD 1368-1644) and Qing (AD 1644-<br />
1911) dynasties.<br />
Lijiang was a former trading town and a stop for<br />
traders carrying goods on the Ancient Tea Horse Road.<br />
The Ancient Tea Horse Road was a trade route mainly<br />
through Yunnan, Sichuan, and Tibet. From the 6 th to<br />
the 20 th c, people in Sichuan and Yunnan traveled by<br />
foot and horseback with pack horses to exchange tea<br />
for horses with people in Tibet -and thus the pathway<br />
was called the Tea Horse Road. The waterworks system<br />
is an important engineering feature of the town<br />
mentioned in the UNESCO World Heritage List description.<br />
The people took advantage of the Jade River to<br />
build a complex water system that people liken to the<br />
canal system of Venice. The river flows from the north<br />
of the town, divides into 3 tributaries, and then divides<br />
into many streams that flow through courtyards and<br />
past houses.<br />
Naxi culture is special because the people are less<br />
modernized and the people developed a writing<br />
system, a music style, and a religion different than the<br />
majority of Chinese. The Naxi writing system uses hieroglyphs<br />
instead of Chinese characters and are the only<br />
people who still use hieroglyphs to write in the world.<br />
However, only a handful of Naxi, perhaps ten people,<br />
who are almost all elderly people now know how to<br />
read the glyphs.<br />
The Naxi traditional music style has a long history.<br />
Since the little town was influenced by people from<br />
other lands who passed though, their music probably<br />
incorporated the styles and instruments of ethnic<br />
groups in a wide region.<br />
BLACK DRAGON POOL<br />
Popular with locals, whom you can find dancing or<br />
playing games such as mahjongg or Chinese chess.<br />
Located at the foot of the Elephant Mountain in the<br />
north of ancient town of Lijiang, was first built in 1737<br />
in the Qing Dynasty.<br />
BAISHA VILLAGE is the earliest settlement of the<br />
Naxi people and is the birthplace of “Tusi”, chief of<br />
the Mu clan. There are many ancient buildings built<br />
during the Ming Dynasty, including Dabaoji Palace,<br />
Liuli Temple, and Wenchang Palace. The well-known<br />
Baisha Frescoes are located in Dabaoji Palace. Because<br />
of the white sand on the ground, the town was named<br />
“Baisha”, which means “white sand”. The architectural<br />
complex is made up of two parts, folk residence and<br />
cultural sites. Among these frescos the painting about<br />
Sakyamuni explaining the sutra passages to his disciples<br />
is the most famous one. These mural paintings,<br />
with their fine and smooth lines, bright colors, vivid<br />
pattern, balanced and harmonious composition are a<br />
wonderful display of more than 100 figures depicting<br />
religious tales and activities from Taoism, Buddhism,<br />
and Tibetan Buddhism. The streets all go from south<br />
to north. In the center of the old town there is a square<br />
where three thoroughfares intersect. Houses and small<br />
stores stand on both sides of the streets. A crystal clear<br />
stream winds around all the houses flowing through<br />
the small town from north to south.<br />
The central district of the town is characterized by<br />
temple groups called “Mudu” and a big square symbolizes<br />
the political rights of the Mu family. Among the<br />
surviving ancient architectural groups, the Fuguo<br />
Temple, Dabaoji Palace, Liuli Palace, and Dading<br />
Pavilion were built during the reign of Tusi. During<br />
this time, the Mu people began to channel water from<br />
Yulong Snow Mountain into the town. All of these<br />
ancient buildings witnessed the golden age of Baisha<br />
Old Town.<br />
JADE DRAGON SNOW MOUNTAIN is the most southerly<br />
snow-capped mountain in the Northern Hemisphere<br />
outside of the Andes, soaring to about 5,500<br />
meters. Those who climb to the top will be rewarded<br />
by an amazing panoramic view. Jade Dragon Snow<br />
Mountain is the most southerly snowcapped mountain<br />
in the Northern Hemisphere. It is famous for its<br />
variant and beautiful natural scenes, and is considered<br />
a sacred mountain among the local Naxi people.<br />
Yak Meadow, at an elevation of 3,650 meters, is the<br />
furthest cableway from Lijiang and is an area of grass<br />
near the high peaks. Taking this cableway, not only will<br />
you admire the beautiful scenery of the snowcapped<br />
mountain from a great position, but you will also see<br />
yaks grazing on the highland grassland.<br />
IMPRESSIONS LIJIANG, JADE DRAGON SNOW MOUN-<br />
TAIN– the Highest Outdoor Theater in the World<br />
A cultural show demonstrating the traditions and<br />
lifestyles of Naxi, Yi and Bai minorities in Lijiang area.<br />
Composed of two parts-”Snow Mountain Impression”<br />
and “Ancient City Impression”, the show which has<br />
cost 31 million USD is staged at the Jade Dragon Snow<br />
Mountain and Dayan Ancient Town, two famous scenic<br />
spots in Lijiang. “Impression Lijiang Jokul” is put on<br />
at an outdoor stage with the Jade Dragon Snow Mt.<br />
as its backdrop (3,500 meters above the sea level).<br />
About 700 amateur performers of 10 minority groups<br />
from some 16 towns and villages around Lijiang are<br />
employed to for this grand cultural show, aiming to<br />
provide an insight into the lives of the ethnic minorities<br />
and portray the daily life of the local people. Zhang<br />
Yimou, the director of “Impression Lijiang”, is noted for<br />
his films such as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and<br />
also directed the opening of Beijing Olympic Games<br />
opening.
JADE DRAGON SNOW MOUNTAIN
IMPRESSIONS LIJIANG THEATER
JADE DRAGON SNOW MOUNTAIN
LIJIANG OLD TOWN
LIJIANG - JADE BEE TEMPLE
LIJIANG - YU HU VILLAGE
LIJIANG - BAI SHA VILLAGE
LIJIANG - SHI GU VILLAGE
SHANGRI-LA<br />
DIQING TIBETAN AUTONOMOUS PREFECTURE
SHANGRI-LA<br />
Shangri-La was formerly called Zhongdian, but was<br />
renamed on 2001 and upgraded into a county-level city<br />
on 16 December 2014 as Shangri-La.<br />
Shangri-La is the “Eden in dream”. Since it first appeared<br />
in British novelist James Hilton’s Lost Horizon in the<br />
1939, it has been associated with the mystique of a<br />
place which could not possibly exist here on Earth.<br />
In Tibetan, Shangri-La means the “Sun and Moon in<br />
Heart”, an ideal home only found in heaven. There the<br />
lofty and continuous snowy mountains, endless grasslands,<br />
steep and grand gorges, azure lakes and the<br />
bucolic villages. As a Chinese saying goes, “The earliest<br />
sunrise is seen in Shangri-La; and the most unique place<br />
is also there”.<br />
In China, the poet Tao Yuanming of the Jin Dynasty<br />
(265–420 BCE) described a kind of Shangri-La in his<br />
work The Tale of the Peach Blossom Spring. The story<br />
goes that there was a fisherman from Wuling, who<br />
came across a beautiful peach grove, and he discovered<br />
happy and content people who lived completely<br />
cut off from the troubles in the outside world since the<br />
Qin Dynasty (221–207BCE). In ancient times, it was the<br />
fiefdom of the three sons of a Tibetan King, together<br />
with Batang (in Tibet) and Litang (in Sichuan).<br />
Home to one of Yunnan’s most rewarding monasteries<br />
and surrounded by mountains, lakes and grassland,<br />
it’s also the last stop in Yunnan before a rough five- to<br />
six-day journey to Chengdu via the Tibetan townships<br />
and rugged terrain of western Sichuan. At an average<br />
altitude of more than 3,000 meters, the county is very<br />
difficult to be reached. Without railways leading there,<br />
the main means of transportation is motor vehicles. It’s<br />
about 175 kilometers from Lijiang to Shangri-La.<br />
Shangri-La is rich in natural resources from valuable<br />
herbs to rich mineral deposits (including gold, silver,<br />
copper, manganese and many other rare metals) to<br />
abundant animal resources (such as golden monkeys,<br />
leopards and musk deer). The region is inhabited<br />
by many different ethnic groups, with the Tibetans<br />
comprising the majority of the population.<br />
GANDEN SUMTSELING MONASTERY, SONGZANLIN<br />
Being the largest Tibetan Buddhist monastery in<br />
Yunnan, is also known as Guihua Monastery and is<br />
one of the famous monasteries in the Kang region.<br />
It is located near Shangri -La County, at the foot of<br />
Foping Mountain, in an altitude 3,300m. It snows even<br />
in August, and has a rainy season that runs from June<br />
through September.<br />
Construction of the monastery began in 1679 and was<br />
completed two years later. The monastery seems like a<br />
group of ancient castles and is composed of two lamaseries,<br />
Zhacang and Jikang. It belongs to the Yellow Hat<br />
sect of Tibetan Buddhism of the Gelukpa order of the<br />
Dalai Lama. The Fifth Dalai Lama’s Buddhist visionary<br />
zeal established the monastery in Zhongdian, in 1679.<br />
Its architecture is a fusion of the Tibetan and Han<br />
Chinese. At its peak, the monastery contained accommodation<br />
for 2,000 monks; it currently accommodates<br />
in its rebuilt structures 700 monks in 200 associated<br />
houses.<br />
The gilded copper roof endows the monastery with<br />
strong Tibetan features and the 108 (an auspicious<br />
number in Buddhism) columns downstairs. The main<br />
halls in the monastery are magnificent, and on both<br />
the left and right sides are wonderful frescos, depicting<br />
Buddhist tales and legends. The inside-halls are exquisite<br />
with cloisters running through. The cloisters are all<br />
decorated with beautiful sculptures and frescos.<br />
The hall houses a plethora of scriptures written on palm<br />
leaves, a gilded statue of Shakyamuni Buddha 8m tall<br />
at the main altar along with paintings depicting the<br />
life of Buddha. The altar is permanently decorated by<br />
yak butter lamps. It has two major lamasery buildings<br />
–Zhacang and Jikang– apart from several smaller lamaseries.<br />
Numerous living rooms have also been built for<br />
the monks.<br />
The monastery is full of treasures. There are a lot of<br />
golden figures of Buddha josses, golden lamps, Tibetan<br />
lections, silver censers and so on. All of these are<br />
wonderful collections accumulated from each dynasty.<br />
They are precious productions made by people of<br />
Tibet and Han nationality. Songzanlin Monastery has<br />
another alias – “the little “Potala Palace”, because the<br />
whole monastery is in the traditional style with mysterious<br />
atmosphere. Annually, the Gedong Festival is<br />
celebrated here by the Tibetans. Pious believers, with<br />
their knees and foreheads knocking the ground at<br />
every step, come here to pray.<br />
The road from the old town of the city, leads to the scripture<br />
chamber, which was earlier a Red Army Memorial<br />
hall to commemorate the Red Army’s long march in the<br />
1930s. At that time, the monastery had provided full<br />
support to the Communist general He Long who passed<br />
through this area during his campaign. However, the<br />
monastery was partially destroyed in 1959. It was<br />
extensively damaged in the Cultural Revolution and<br />
was subsequently rebuilt in 1983.<br />
GYALTHANG HORSE FESTIVAL<br />
In the isolated and mysterious village of Shangri-la, the<br />
Tibetan region of the Yunnan Province, a horse racing<br />
festival takes place each year on the 5th day of the 5th<br />
lunar month, at the foot of Wufeng Mountain. Horse<br />
racing in Shangri-la dates back to 770 B.C. This folk<br />
festival is one of the most important in the area, acting<br />
as a grand springtime rally for local Tibetans.<br />
Ethnic Tibetans from the most remote areas of Yunnan<br />
gather for a special annual event to participate in horse<br />
races and a show of traditional acrobatics on horseback.<br />
This spectacle recalls a way of life that has existed<br />
for centuries in this area and on the Tibetan plateau.<br />
Expert horsemen from the Kingdom of Kham in Eastern<br />
Tibet compete for prizes and glory, while locals in heavy<br />
turquoise and colorful hand-woven brocade create a<br />
scene of timeless splendor.<br />
All the family members of Shangri-la will set up tents on<br />
the mountain for a picnic during the festival, when the<br />
colorful flags set off one another, adding much luster<br />
to the festival.
SHANGRI-LA, TIBETAN HORSE FESTIVAL
GANDEN SUMTSELING MONASTERY, SONGZANLIN
DONGCHUAN RED LAND<br />
Praised as “God’s palette”, these red lands, extending for nearly 50 kilometers, are the most striking and<br />
distinctive in the world.<br />
Dongchuan Red Land is about 250 kilometers northeast of Kunming, with an altitude of 1,800–2,600 meters.<br />
It is located in Huashitou Country, Xinxiang Town, Dongchuan District, Kunming, Yunnan Province. Experts<br />
regard it as the second marvelous red land in the world following the one in Rio Brazil. Although discovered<br />
in the mid 1990’s, the exact location is kept secret among few Chinese photographers who scooped awardwinning<br />
photos here. People who have been the first time to visit this land will be deeply impressive by<br />
the gorgeous scenes. Lands in deep red, purple and bright red cover thousands of mountains. When wind<br />
blows, the plants in fields wave tenderly. It is a colorful picture drew by the nature. Viewing it from away, it<br />
looks like an oil painting.
<strong>YUNNAN</strong>, <strong>CHINA</strong>