Yunnan Trip

I first visited China in 1977, just as it was opening up to Westerners and, after Tibet, spent the rest of my time in Yunnan. Being invited to the region again, therefore was a wonderful opportunity to see how things have changed. And changed they have, even more than I could have imagined. Both Dali and Lijiang were sleepy little towns, with no tourists, but now both are now bustling hubs welcoming domestic tourism. Jinghong seemed more like a village than the huge city of 600,000 that it has become.

Of course the biggest change is the amount of building that has gone on which includes blocks of apartments and the extensive road network. When I was there in 1997 both Dali and Lijiang old towns were where people lived and worked, now they’ re full of tourist shops and many hotels have been built in the surrounding region. Back then people dressed in blue Mao Suits or green uniforms, if they were in the army, and there were few cars, just bicycles and horse carts. Local ethnic groups, in their bright costumes, came into town to shop and were very shy, running away from the camera.

So the changes have been huge but also positive. Food in those days was fairly limited but now there’s a huge range. I enjoyed trying the street food, particularly exotic items like crickets, beetles and caterpillars, but also the food in the restaurants was uniformly excellent. And I was also happy that we were not served western cuisine but enjoyed the best local delicacies and everyone was expected to use chopsticks.

Our visit was nicely leisurely, allowing me to explore on my own as well as with the other journalists. Often press trips try to cram in too much, but I felt we really got to experience each place. Another positive was making friends with the China Daily staff who were happy to discuss every aspect of the country and the culture. In particular our guide, Tammy, was outstanding – she went out of her way to satisfy my curiosity, one time knocking on the doors in the back streets of one village, to introduce me to the locals and their lifestyle.

So, although I have visited other regions in China since 1977, it was particularly interesting to return to Yunnan in 2025. People were friendly and polite, hotels were high quality and organisation good. The region is beautiful, still quite rural, and well worth exploring. My personal highlight of the trip was exploring a cave network in Xishuangbanna – with the only light coming from my helmet, I had to crawl on my hands and knees through tiny passageways on slimy mud. This was a true Yunnan adventure.