Yunnan Travel Guide

Yunnan (Chinese: 云南; Pinyin: Yúnnán), situated in the southwest of China’s mountainous area, with rich natural resources and the largest diversity of plant life in China. Over 600 rivers and lakes here, provide many kinds of fishes and an annual water supply of 222 billion cubic meters. Yunnan borders Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and Guizhou Province in the east, Sichuan Province in the north, and Tibet Autonomous Region in the northwest, with many ethnic groups including Zhuang, Yi, Hani, Bai, Dai and Miao.

Climate in Yunnan
Usually, Yunnan has a mild climate with nice weather. Average temperatures range from 8°C to 27°C. Average annual rainfall ranges from 600 mm to 2,300 mm, and most rain falls between June and August. The plateau region has moderate temperatures. The western canyon region is hot and humid at the valley bottoms, but with freezing winds on the tops of mountains.

Tourism in Yunnan
For the beautiful landscapes, climate and ethnic minorities, Yunnan is one of China's major tourist destinations. More and more foreigners are traveling in this fairyland, and now Yunnan province promote a lot on environmentally friendly ecotourism.

Highlights in Yunnan
1)Dali, the historic center of the Nanzhao and Dali kingdoms.
2)Lijiang, a Naxi minority city. It has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1997.
3)Shangri-La County (formerly Zhongdian), an ethnic Tibetan township and county set high in Yunnan's north-western mountains.
4)Xishuangbanna, a national scenic resort, famous for its natural and cultural attractions.
5)Jinghong, the center and prefectural capital of the Xishuangbanna Dai minority autonomous prefecture.
6)Shilin (Stone Forest), a series of karst outcrops east of Kunming.

Transport
Railways
There is the Chengdu–Kunming line, allows Yunnan to be connected with other cities first. Later a line connecting Kunming to Guiyang followed. Two further lines have been added recently: a southern line connecting to Nanning and a north-eastern line connecting to Sichuan via Yibin. And now, there is the line from Kunming to Dali, with the stretch to Lijiang nearing completion. Road and railroad traffic has been recently improved, and Kunming is now a transportation center; an important railroad runs from Kunming to Hanoi, Vietnam etc. Traveller can go to Guilin Train Station to take a train to Kunming directly.
Airports
The province has twenty domestic air routes from Kunming to Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou,Tibet, Chengdu, Haikou, Chongqing, Xi'an, Hangzhou, Nanning, Shenzhen, Guiyang, Guilin, and Hong Kong; ten provincial air routes from Kunming to Jinghong, Tengchong, Lijiang, Dali, Zhongdian (Shangri-la), Baoshan and Simao; The Wujiaba Airport in Kunming is a national first-class airport and the other airports are second-class terminals. You can choose many planes there. Usually, tourists in Yangshuo have to take a taxi to Guilin, and take a plane to Yunnan from Guilin Airport. This is the fastest and safest way to get there.

Recommended Tour Itinerary about Yunan:
Popular Tours Itinerary: Beijing (China's Capital)→Xian (Home of the Terracotta Warriors)→ Guilin (Li River & Yangshuo)→Yangshuo (Backpackers paradise)→Longsheng ( Rice Terrace Fields)→Sanjiang (Minority and Wind & Rain Bridge)→Zhaoxing (Minority)→Huang yao (Minority)→Kaili & Guiyang →Yunnan→Tibet.→Hong Kong