Yunnan May 26th to June 12th 2012
Yunnan lies in the south-west of China and borders Vietnam, Laos, Burma and Tibet. We visited the north-western part of Yunnan province which is Tibetan and was once part of the ancient Tibetian province of Kham. This dramatic area has three rivers - the Yangtse, the Mekong and the Salween - emerge from the heart of Tibet and cut their way through 6000m mountains on their way to the sea.
This Naturetrek trip to Yunnan was titled 'A Plant-hunters Paradise'. It was in the early 20th century that the intrepid plant hunters Ernest Wilson, George Forrest and Frank Kingdon-Ward found many of our classic garden plants which adorn our gardens and parks to-day. Here are some of the general views of our trip. I have included only a brief account of our itinerary and I would suggest that you use the following link to obtain more details.
A more detailed record of the wildlife seen may be viewed by following this link - Wildlife of Yunnan
You may need to REFRESH this file after a first load as it is rather long.
May 27th
We arrived in Kunming after flying from London Heathrow via Hong Kong. We had time for a brief visit to a park located near our hotel.
May 28th
An early transfer to the airport and we were soon on our way to Lijang. After a quick luggage drop at our hotel we took taxis to Yahu. We walked around the hillside behind this village as a start to our botanical exploration of this part of China.
Yuhu
May 29th
To-day we drove to Wan Hai and visited the Lijiang Botanical Garden.
May 30th
We started our drive north to-day by driving to Daju. This village is situated in a much warmer area above the Yangtse gorge.
May 31st
After breakfast we walked down to the river to wait for the ferry across the Yangtse River. We crossed the Yangtse river and met our vehicles and drivers for the remainder of our trip. Soon we were on our way northwards to the city of Zhongdian. We made several stops en route to search for plants and arrived at our hostelry late in the evening.
June 1st
To-day we set out for the first of our day trips from Zhongdian to Tien Chi. We started the day walking up a valley before arriving at the holy lake.
June 2nd
To-day we set out for the second of our day trips from Zhongdian this time to Tien Bao Shan. We started by walking up a valley where I found Meconopsis forrestii, a blue Meconopsis.
For June 3rd onwards click
HERE
For Part One click
HERE