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Outside Summer Traveler 2005

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China's Yunnan
The East's Wild West (cont.)


	Left: the village schoolhouse; Right: the view from the streets(Joshua Paul)

Finest China
Landscape lovers, take note: everything's big in Yunnan

Paradise isn't one-size-fits-all. Some folks find inspiration hanging 150 feet up a rock wall or feeling their calf muscles hemorrhage as they mountain-bike switchbacks at 12,000 feet. Others prefer less grueling options, like floating the Mekong River. Yunnan's got all that and more.
BIKE Yunnan has some of the best-preserved Tibetan culture anywhere. You're still more likely to meet yaks than cars on the dirt-and-asphalt road that winds 250 miles north from Shangri-La City to the frontier town of Litang. The road, which opened to foreign travelers in 1999, passes several of China's most impressive Tibetan monasteries. Uphill sections—some reaching

More than a million tourists, mostly from other parts of Asia, visited Shangri-La City last year, An astronomical jump from 2,000 tourists in 1992.

altitudes of 12,000 feet—can be killers. If you burn out, daily buses connect the two cities. Xiong Brothers bike shop (011-86-871-530-1755, bear_bikes@hotmail.com), in Kunming, can organize tours. Guides and equipment rental start at $50 a day.
RAFT In Yunnan's deep south, tucked along the borders of Laos and Burma and at the northern limit of Southeast Asia's rainforest, Xishuangbanna offers a perfect complement to the north: It's tropical-hot, almost always sunny, and totally relaxed. Dwindling numbers of leopards, Asian elephants, and—it's rumored—tigers live in the area. Though you're not likely to catch sight of any, you'll see plenty of birds. The Banna (as it's nicknamed) is home to some 400 species, including magnificent kingfishers and striated herons. A great way to see Xishuangbanna is by rafting the Mekong River. From Jinghong, the entry point, take a one-day float past thick jungle, stopping in a remote village along the way.



	Map by Evan Hecox

Wen Yan Lai, (011-86-691-216-1957, laiwenyan@hotmail.com), a longtime resident and fluent English speaker who goes by the name of Sara, can organize trips for $60 a day, but tours are rough around the edges. Between July and August, it rains ferociously almost every day.
ROCK-CLIMB Near Kunming, limestone mountains rise sharply from Dian Lake, with its 132 square miles of turquoise water. According to Bob Moseley, a conservation scientist with the Nature Conservancy and an avid climber, the potential for new routes is almost limitless along the two-and-a-half-mile cliff above the lake basin. Fifty-odd established climbs range from short sport routes to technical multipitch lines on 1,000-foot vertical walls. Kunming is called the Spring City because of year-round warm temperatures, but the best time to visit is between April and October. Moseley put together the premier guide on Yunnan climbing (www.climbingkunming.com). Climbers should bring their own gear, but information and some equipment are available at Kunming's Climber Outdoor store (011-86-871-313-2783, 21climber@vip.sina.com).
R&R For China-based expats, few places are more popular for a time-out than Lijiang, a storybook town of cobblestone lanes, quaint restaurants, and twisting canals beneath the 18,000-foot peak of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. The city of 330,000 got more than three million visitors last year. Fortunately, escaping the crowds is easy. Nature Conservancy–trained guides (011-86-139-8882-6672, www.northwestyunnan.com) lead day- and weeklong treks in the nearby mountains.

ACCESS RESOURCES
United Airlines (800-538-2929, www.united.com) flies to Beijing from San Francisco starting at about $580 round-trip. From Beijing, there are flights to Kunming every day ($219 one-way; China International Travel Service, 626-568-8993, www.citsusa.com). In Kunming, catch a 50-minute flight to Shangri-La ($110 one-way). Khampa Caravan (011-86-887-828-8648, www.khampacaravan.com), the Shangri-La City–based outfitter I used for this trek, can arrange intra-China travel and runs trips all over Yunnan. Tours cost about $120–$130 a day and include everything except airfare, alcohol, and incidentals.

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