Yunnan - 16 Cities & Top Attractions

Hundred-plus river-cut karst caves with the 100-meter Lion Hall, underground farmland terraces, and a 30-meter curtain waterfall.

Yunnan's largest freshwater lake (330 km2), paired with the Haigeng Dam gully-watching boardwalk, best Nov-Mar for red-billed gulls.

Kunming's iconic 'Sleeping Beauty' mountain range, the Longmen Grottoes cliff carvings, and the panoramic Dianchi viewpoint.

25 of China's 56 ethnic-minority villages, festival performances, and traditional architecture all in one Dianchi-side park.

Yunnan's second-largest highland lake, the 130-km lakeside road is the classic Dali day loop, best for sunset at Shuanglang.

Nanzhao and Dali Kingdom's old capital, the Bai-style 'three lanes and one wall' courtyard houses, the Five-Stage Tower, and the Foreigner Street.

Bai architectural museum with the Yan Family Compound and Dong Family Compound, surrounded by canola and rice fields.

Erhai's eastern shore viewpoint village, the Nanzhao Style Island ferry, and the Yang Liping-designed Sun Palace art space.

One of the world's deepest gorges, the Jinsha River narrows to 30 meters between Haba Snow Mountain and Yulong, with the classic 2-day hike trail.

Quieter Tea Horse Road village 4 km north of Lijiang Old Town, the Jiuding Longtan spring, and the Qinglong Bridge.

Naxi ancient capital, the Ming-Qing Baisha Murals inside Dalu Liang, the Liziba Han Tomb, and the closest Yulong Snow Mountain viewpoint village.

Highland wetland reserve 10 km west of Lijiang, the Tea Horse Road horseback route, and 100+ migratory bird species Oct-Mar.

Yunnan's largest Tibetan Buddhist Gelug monastery, the 1681 'Little Potala Palace' complex with golden roofs and the main Tsokchen assembly hall.

Tibetan sacred Kawagebo peak at 6,740 m, the Feilai Temple sunrise view of the 'Sunlight on the Golden Mountain' reflection.

Tea Horse Road caravan town, the world's largest prayer wheel on Guishan Hill, and the moonlit old quarter.

Hidden canyon-snow-mountain-river-village ecosystem at the Yarlung Tsangpo source, the Bala Tibetan village and Shangbala pagoda.

Dai royal Theravada Buddhist temple, the 49-meter standing Buddha, and the peacock-release ceremony.

The 36-meter-high canopy walkway through 80-meter-tall tropical rainforest trees in Mengla county.

China's only reliable wild Asian elephant observation site, the elevated viewing corridor and the elephant school.

Dai royal garden from 1,300 years ago, the main Buddhist temple and the Mekong Night bonfire show.

Volcanic dammed lake wetland with the floating-grassland walk, the iris flower fields bloom in May.

UNESCO World Heritage 'Three Parallel Rivers' biodiversity hotspot, the 100-km Baihualing-Baihua Ridge birding trail.

Red pandas, rhinos, and gibbons visible on a guided forest walk, the closest chance to see wild primates in Yunnan.

Tropic of Cancer passes through the county, the Twin-Stars Plaza celebrates Mojiang as China's 'Hometown of Twins'.

China's deepest freshwater lake at 158 m, water clarity 7-8 m, the Luchong beach and the Ming-style underwater archaeology park.

One of Yunnan's four famous mountains, the Song-Yuan Buddhist temple complex and the Tonghai Confucian Temple.

Shimen Gorge, Nan'en Waterfall, and the Tea Horse Road cloud-sea sunrise viewpoint in Xinping county.

Pillar-shaped earth-forest landform used as a film set for 'The Promise' and 'A Chinese Tall Story', the Wumao and Banguo clusters.

Ming-dynasty Jianwen Emperor's exile mountain, the 200,000-tree peony garden, and the Zhengxu Chan Temple.

Yi culture theme town with the Torch Festival bonfire nights, the Yi song-and-dance theater, and the October Yi-style weddings.

Ming-Qing walled town, the Chaoyang Tower, the Seventeen-Arch Bridge, and the Jianshui purple-pottery workshops.

China's second-largest Confucius temple (after Qufu), 700-year-old Yuan-Ming architecture.

Underground karst with the Luyuan Cave, the Jade Pillar Cave, and the subterranean river boat ride.

Karst-lake wetland, the 'Eternal Love' TV drama location, the June-August lotus flowers and the water-fight boat rides.

The real-life Shangri-La cave-passage village, the boat-ride through the limestone tunnel into a hidden Zhuang settlement.

World's largest canola flower sea, the Jinjifeng Cong peak forest in February-March, the nine-bend Niujie snail-field terraces.

One of China's most beautiful waterfall groups, the 56-meter Shenlong waterfall is the tallest, ten falls along a 2-km valley.

Multi-colored sand-pillar landform used as a film set for 'Romance of Three Kingdoms' and 'Journey to the West'.

Eastern Jin calligraphic treasure, the standard transitional piece between clerical and regular script.

An internationally important wetland with 1,300+ wintering black-necked cranes, the Jigong Mountain canyon and the October crane migration.

Qin-dynasty southern route into Yunnan, the Yuanci Cliff Inscription, the Bo people's suspended coffins, and the Stone-Gate Pass gorge.

Asia's first golden Buddha pagoda, on Leiya Rang Mountain in Mangshi, with the silver-pagoda twin on the same ridge.

Burma-border tropical rainforest with the 60-meter Moli Waterfall, the Buddha Footprint rock, and the bamboo-raft jungle walk.

The 71st China-Burma boundary marker, the Yindou swing straddling the border, the shared well, and the Yinjing / Mungsam twin villages.

World's third-deepest canyon, the Three Parallel Rivers UNESCO World Heritage site, with Lisu, Nu, and Dulong ethnic villages along the river.

The 'Land of Gods and Humans', the Nujiang First Bend, the Peach Blossom Island, and the Wuli Village Tibetan Catholic church.

Dulong ethnic-minority homeland, the last surviving face-tattoo women, the Pukawai village and the Gaoligong snow-peak viewpoint.

Asian elephant reserve on the China-Myanmar border, the wild-elephant viewing hide and the Wa minority cultural village.

3,000-year-old Wa ancestor rock art, 10 painting sites along the Menglai River painted with iron-oxide red pigment.

China's last intact primitive Wa village, the thatched wooden houses, the sacred wood drum and the May 'Monihei' blackened-face festival.