Yunnan (云南省) · 14 places · 12 cities
14 places in Yunnan, grouped by city. The last column is the gate: 7 of them are open at all hours, and the others close, often earlier than the light does.
Most common here: Mountain and forest (4), Wetland and lake (3), Geopark (3). See all provinces, or the background on parks.
2 places
Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture (迪庆藏族自治州)
| Place | Kind | Opens |
|---|---|---|
| Shangri-La – Meili Snow Mountain (香格里拉-梅里雪山)Kawagebo, 6,740 m and recorded as the highest point in Yunnan, has never been climbed; after seventeen deaths in 1991 climbing was prohibited. It is the first of the eight great sacred mountains in Tibetan reckoning. | Mountain and forest | Open at all hours |
| Tiger Leaping Gorge (虎跳峡)The Jinsha river squeezed between Yulong at 5,596 m and Haba at 5,396 m, with 3,900 m between water and peak and a narrows of about 30 m. | Geopark | 7:00 to 18:00 |
2 places
Lijiang (丽江)
| Place | Kind | Opens |
|---|---|---|
| Old Town of Lijiang (丽江古城)UNESCO CULTURALA Naxi town laid out in the late 13th century, and among the least altered minority old towns left in China. Water runs down every lane, and Jade Dragon Snow Mountain closes the view north. | Historic garden or scenic site | Open at all hours |
| Yulong Snow Mountain & Blue Moon Valley (玉龙雪山+蓝月谷)The lowest-latitude glacier in the northern hemisphere, on a peak of 5,596 m, with a cable car to 4,506 m and a walkway to 4,680. Blue Moon Valley below turns turquoise in clear weather. | Mountain and forest | 7:00 to 18:00 |
1 place
Baoshan (保山市)
| Place | Kind | Opens |
|---|---|---|
| Tengchong (腾冲（火山热海+和顺古镇）)The only place on the Chinese mainland where volcanoes and geothermal fields sit together: 99 cones and 88 hot springs. The Dagunguo pool runs at 96.3 degrees, and Heshun town lies below. | Specialist park | 8:00 to 18:00 |
1 place
Dali (大理)
| Place | Kind | Opens |
|---|---|---|
| Erhai Lake (大理洱海)Listed as Yunnan’s second largest freshwater lake, 256 square kilometres and 42 km north to south. A day is the minimum for the loop by bike or car, with Xizhou and Shuanglang on the way. | Wetland and lake | Open at all hours |
1 place
Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture (大理白族自治州)
| Place | Kind | Opens |
|---|---|---|
| Cangshan (苍山)UNESCO GEOPARKNineteen peaks and eighteen streams above Dali, rising to 4,122 m, with snow on the tops into early summer. Forty species of rhododendron flower between April and June. | Mountain and forest | 8:30 to 16:00 |
1 place
Diqing (迪庆)
| Place | Kind | Opens |
|---|---|---|
| Pudacuo National Park (普达措国家公园)UNESCO NATURALMainland China’s first national park, in the core of the Three Parallel Rivers World Heritage area. Lakes, forest and meadow between 3,500 and 4,159 m, on boardwalks most of the way. | Mountain and forest | 8:30 to 16:00 |
1 place
Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture (红河哈尼族彝族自治州)
| Place | Kind | Opens |
|---|---|---|
| Yuanyang Rice Terraces (元阳梯田)UNESCO CULTURALA hundred and eighty thousand mu of terraces cut by Hani farmers over 1,300 years, between 1,400 and 2,000 m. From November to April the flooded steps hold the sky. Inscribed in 2013. | Geopark | Open at all hours |
1 place
Kunming (昆明)
| Place | Kind | Opens |
|---|---|---|
| Stone Forest (石林)UNESCO NATURALWorld Heritage karst: limestone laid down 270 million years ago and weathered into standing blades and pillars. Several sections, of which the large and small stone forests are the walked ones. | Geopark | 7:30 to 19:30 |
1 place
Kunming (昆明市)
| Place | Kind | Opens |
|---|---|---|
| Dianchi Lake & Cuihu Park (昆明滇池-翠湖公园)Recorded as Yunnan’s largest lake, 330 square kilometres at 1,886 m, with a small park in the city centre where tens of thousands of black-headed gulls winter from Siberia between November and March. | City park | Open at all hours |
1 place
Lijiang (丽江市)
| Place | Kind | Opens |
|---|---|---|
| Lugu Lake (泸沽湖)Fifty square kilometres at 2,690 m, divided between Sichuan and Yunnan, and home to the Mosuo, who keep descent and property in the female line and practise walking marriage. | Wetland and lake | Open at all hours |
1 place
Xishuangbanna (西双版纳)
| Place | Kind | Opens |
|---|---|---|
| Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden (西双版纳热带植物园)Eleven hundred hectares holding more than 13,000 living species in 38 themed sections, run by the Academy of Sciences. Buttress roots, stranglers and a single tree grown into a grove are all on show. | Specialist park | 7:30 to 18:00 |
1 place
Yuxi (玉溪市)
| Place | Kind | Opens |
|---|---|---|
| Fuxian Lake (抚仙湖)Recorded as China’s largest deep freshwater lake, holding 20.6 billion cubic metres, about two thirds of all the water in Yunnan’s nine plateau lakes. Visibility runs seven to eight metres. | Wetland and lake | Open at all hours |
Which Ones Need a Whole Day
A city park is an hour before dinner. A geopark can be a full day with a shuttle and a cable car, and the gate closes earlier than the park does. Tell our local team where you will be and they will say which of these fit the day you have.