ChinaRegions & prefectures

Yunnan

Twenty-five recognised minorities, terraced rice fields and the birthplace of tea.

Capital: Kunming
Status: Province
Region: Southwest China
Must-see: The old town of Lijiang
Local specialty: Pu’er tea, crossing-the-bridge noodles, wild mushrooms

Backing onto Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam, Yunnan holds more ethnic and biological diversity than any other province: half of China’s plant and bird species live here, from tropical Xishuangbanna to northwestern glaciers. The tea plant originates here, and pu’er has been compressed and aged since the Tang. The Yuanyang rice terraces, shaped by the Hani over thirteen hundred years, climb three thousand steps.

What to see there

Places, dishes and traditions tied to this territory.

Chinese TeaThe six families of Chinese tea: green, white, yellow, oolong, red (black), and pu-erh (dark).Lijiang Old TownLandmark · Yunnan, China Stone ForestNatural site · Yunnan, China

In the magazine

Articles that cover this topic.