Yunnan (云南) · 26 places · 13 cities
26 places in Yunnan, grouped by city. Under each one are two figures from the survey: how much daily life still goes on there, out of 100, and how far it has been turned over to visitors, out of 6.
Most common here: Old town (16), Walled city (9), Old quarter of a city (1). See all provinces, or the background on old towns.
5 places
Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture (大理白族自治州)
| Place | Kind | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| Shaxi Ancient Town (沙溪古镇)The only surviving ancient market square on the Tea-Horse Road, where Bai villagers still gather every Friday for a real market, old horse-caravanserais stand intact, and time moves at the pace of a grazing cow, described as China’s best-preserved living market town.Lived-in 88/100 · Commercialised 2/6 · known abroad · some effort to reach | Old town | Lived-in, quiet |
| Weishan Ancient City (巍山古城)The birthplace of the Nanzhao Kingdom where 90% of residents are original inhabitants, old tea houses, incense makers, and Yi torch festivals fill the streets, a Ming and Qing grid city still lived in, without the crowds of Dali or Lijiang.Lived-in 88/100 · Commercialised 2/6 · rarely visited from abroad · easy to reach | Walled city | Lived-in, quiet |
| Nuodeng Ancient Village (诺邓古村)A 1,300-year-old Bai salt village where the village name has never changed (recorded in 863 AD), a 17.2-meter-deep ancient salt well still produces brine, mules are still the only transport up the hundred-step staircases, and the famous Nuodeng ham (made famous by”A Bite of China”) is still cured with local salt.Lived-in 78/100 · Commercialised 1/6 · rarely visited from abroad · hard to reach | Old town | Lived-in, quiet |
| Jianchuan Ancient City (剑川古城)A Bai town and the centre of Jianchuan woodcarving, one of the four regional schools in China. The workshops can be visited. Carved sour plums and rushan cheese are the local table.Lived-in 76/100 · Commercialised 1/6 · rarely visited from abroad · some effort to reach | Walled city | Lived-in, quiet |
| Dali Old Town (大理古城)The ancient capital of the Dali Kingdom where Bai culture, Cangshan mountain backdrop, and a thriving expat/artist community create A slow-paced old city, commercialized on the main streets but still full of real life in the back lanes and morning markets.Lived-in 70/100 · Commercialised 5/6 · well known abroad · very easy to reach | Walled city | Lived-in, busy |
4 places
Dali (大理)
| Place | Kind | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| Xizhou Ancient Town (喜洲古镇)Described as the best-preserved Bai ethnic merchant town on Erhai Lake, “three rooms with a screen wall” courtyards, tie-dye workshops, rice-paddy fields, and an American (Brian Linden) who has lived here for 20 years proving this is a living Bai community, not a museum.Lived-in 82/100 · Commercialised 3/6 · known abroad · easy to reach | Old town | Lived-in, quiet |
| Yunnanyi Ancient Town (祥云云南驿古镇)The province takes its name from this place: a county called Yunnan was set here under Han Wudi, with its seat at this post station. The caravan road ran through it.Lived-in 72/100 · Commercialised 1/6 · rarely visited from abroad · some effort to reach | Old town | Lived-in, quiet |
| Binchuan Zhoucheng Ancient Town (宾川州城古镇)A Ming prefectural town with its layout intact, including all five gates of the Nanxun wall, which is rare anywhere in China.Lived-in 72/100 · Commercialised 1/6 · rarely visited from abroad · some effort to reach | Old town | Lived-in, quiet |
| Shuanglang Ancient Town (双廊古镇)The lakefront core is now heavily commercial, but Bai families still live in the back lanes of Yuji island and Dajianpang. Sour-and-spicy fish from the lake.Lived-in 68/100 · Commercialised 4/6 · known abroad · easy to reach | Old town | Lived-in, busy |
3 places
Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture (红河哈尼族彝族自治州)
| Place | Kind | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| Jianshui Lin’an Ancient City (建水古城)A 1,200-year-old city in southern Yunnan where ancient wells still supply daily water, purple pottery (one of China’s four famous clays) is still made by hand in 2,772 workshops, and an old narrow-gauge railway still runs, among the least visited living old cities in Yunnan.Lived-in 84/100 · Commercialised 3/6 · little known abroad · easy to reach | Walled city | Lived-in, quiet |
| Shiping Ancient City (石屏古城)A”literature famous city” in southern Yunnan where the only imperial scholar of economics in Yunnan was born, ancient wells still supply water for making the region’s famous tofu (naturally curdled by acidic well water, no gypsum needed), and old women sell grilled tofu from their doorways while children run home from school.Lived-in 78/100 · Commercialised 2/6 · rarely visited from abroad · some effort to reach | Walled city | Lived-in, quiet |
| Chengzi Ancient Village (泸西城子古村)More than a thousand flat-roofed earth houses built into the hillside, each roof serving as the threshing floor for the house above. Yi families of the White Yi branch still live in them.Lived-in 76/100 · Commercialised 1/6 · rarely visited from abroad · hard to reach | Old town | Lived-in, quiet |
3 places
Lijiang (丽江)
| Place | Kind | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| Baisha Ancient Town (白沙古镇)Recorded as the oldest of Lijiang’s three ancient towns, a Naxi village where Ming Dynasty Baisha Murals (a national treasure) still stand in a working temple, Naxi grandmothers sell vegetables on the street, and Jade Dragon Snow Mountain towers directly above, Naxi life near Lijiang, before it becomes the next Dayan.Lived-in 80/100 · Commercialised 2/6 · little known abroad · easy to reach | Old town | Lived-in, quiet |
| Shuhe Ancient Town (束河古镇)UNESCOThe quieter of Lijiang’s old towns, a Naxi village on the World Heritage list where streams run through every lane and the old tea-horse square still stands. A base for Jade Dragon Snow Mountain.Lived-in 76/100 · Commercialised 3/6 · known abroad · easy to reach | Old town | Lived-in, quiet |
| Lijiang Dayan Old Town (丽江大研古城)UNESCOA UNESCO-listed old town, despite heavy commercialization on the main streets, early morning at Zhongyi Market and the back lanes still reveal real Naxi life, and the water-canals-through-every-house urban layout is unmatched.Lived-in 72/100 · Commercialised 5/6 · well known abroad · very easy to reach | Walled city | Lived-in, busy |
2 places
Baoshan (保山)
| Place | Kind | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| Heshun Ancient Town (和顺古镇)A town built with money sent home from abroad: more villagers live overseas than in it. The library founded in 1928 is still described as the largest rural library in China, and the houses mix Han courtyards, Western balconies and Burmese carving.Lived-in 76/100 · Commercialised 3/6 · little known abroad · some effort to reach | Old town | Lived-in, quiet |
| Qiluo Ancient Town (腾冲绮罗古镇)An emigrant town: money sent home from Southeast Asia built much of it. Tengchong is the jade trading centre, and the local dish is dajiujia, fried rice cake.Lived-in 74/100 · Commercialised 1/6 · rarely visited from abroad · some effort to reach | Old town | Lived-in, quiet |
2 places
Kunming (昆明)
| Place | Kind | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| Kunming Wenming-Jingxing Old Neighborhood (昆明文明街-景星街老社区)A real neighbourhood in central Kunming. The bird and flower market on Jingxing Street is recorded as the oldest in the city, and birdcage makers, silversmiths and watch repairers still work along it.Lived-in 78/100 · Commercialised 3/6 · little known abroad · very easy to reach | Old quarter of a city | Lived-in, quiet |
| Guandu Ancient Town (昆明官渡古镇)A lived-in old town rather than a restored one. Guandu flatbread is what people queue for, and the black-copper-inlaid-silver craft made here is on the provincial heritage list.Lived-in 74/100 · Commercialised 3/6 · little known abroad · very easy to reach | Old town | Lived-in, quiet |
1 place
Chuxiong (楚雄)
| Place | Kind | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| Yao’an Guanglu Ancient Town (姚安光禄古镇)Built around the Gao family compound, with Bai culture still present. The Longhua temple fair is the date in the local year.Lived-in 72/100 · Commercialised 1/6 · rarely visited from abroad · some effort to reach | Old town | Lived-in, quiet |
1 place
Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture (楚雄彝族自治州)
| Place | Kind | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| Heijing Ancient Town (黑井古镇)A salt town in the Yunnan mountains with 2,000 years of production behind it, red sandstone streets and Ming-Qing merchant houses. The workshops still boil brine over wood, and no chain shops have arrived.Lived-in 76/100 · Commercialised 2/6 · rarely visited from abroad · some effort to reach | Old town | Lived-in, quiet |
1 place
Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture (迪庆藏族自治州)
| Place | Kind | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| Dukezong (Shangri-La) Old Town (独克宗古城)A 1,300-year-old Tibetan”City of Moonlight” on the Tea-Horse Road at 3,300m altitude, rebuilt brick by brick after a 2014 fire destroyed two-thirds of the town, now with Tangka painting studios, Tibetan incense makers, and a Moonlight Square where Tibetans and tourists dance Guozhuang together every night.Lived-in 72/100 · Commercialised 3/6 · known abroad · some effort to reach | Walled city | Lived-in, quiet |
1 place
Lincang (临沧)
| Place | Kind | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| Wengding Wa Village (翁丁佤寨)Fire destroyed 104 thatched houses of the old village in February 2021. It was rebuilt on the same ground in 2022 and 2023 with the original orientations and traditional timber and thatch, and some charred posts were left in place. Wa families live in it.Lived-in 68/100 · Commercialised 3/6 · rarely visited from abroad · hard to reach | Old town | Lived-in, quiet |
1 place
Pu’er (普洱)
| Place | Kind | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| Menglian Nayun Ancient Town (孟连娜允古镇)The only intact Dai chieftain town left in China, still lived in. Weaving, silverwork, papermaking and pottery all continue. Water-splashing new year in April.Lived-in 76/100 · Commercialised 1/6 · rarely visited from abroad · hard to reach | Old town | Lived-in, quiet |
1 place
Qujing (曲靖)
| Place | Kind | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| Huize Ancient City (会泽古城)A copper town in northeastern Yunnan where over a hundred merchant guild halls from across the country still stand, along with the Qing mint that supplied copper for the empire’s coinage. Courtyard houses are still occupied.Lived-in 76/100 · Commercialised 2/6 · rarely visited from abroad · some effort to reach | Walled city | Lived-in, quiet |
1 place
Wenshan (文山)
| Place | Kind | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| Guangnan Liancheng Old City (广南莲城)Zhuang, Yi and Han families together on the ground of the old Jutuo kingdom. Eight-treasure rice and Zhuang flower rice.Lived-in 72/100 · Commercialised 1/6 · rarely visited from abroad · hard to reach | Walled city | Lived-in, quiet |
Which of These Is Still a Town
The two scores narrow the list, and the last step is local: which lanes are worth the walk, which day of the week the place is itself, and where to stay inside the walls. Tell our local team the provinces you will be in and they will say which of these hold up.