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.
http://www.naturetrek.co.uk/reports_new/CHN03_report_120526_China_Yunnan_A_Plant-hunters_Paradise.pdf
A more detailed record of the wildlife seen may be viewed by following this link - Wildlife of Yunnan
For the first part of the trip please click HERE
June 3rd
To-day we set out for the third of our day trips from Zhongdian this time to the Botanical Garden and Napha Hai.
June 4th
Once again we were off on our journey. This time we were making a start to our loop into southern Sichuan. Our route took us firstly to Geza and then over several passes including a lunch stop at 4200m. Finally we reached the Langu Cheese factory for our over night accommodation.
June 5th
We left Langdu to-day for our journey to Riwa.
June 6th
To-day was perhaps a highlight for the trip as we not only had some lovely weather but were able to walk and enjoy some beautiful mountain scenery whilst we searched for our botanical specimens. It was also good to see and meet the pilgrims visiting the monastery.
June 7th
Our journey to Daocheng was long but the scenery from the passes was exhilarating as we searched for flowers at our numerous stops. After our lunch stop we visited the Za Wu Monastery.
June 8th
Our journey had to be changed due to the non availability of flights from Zhongdian to Lijiang on Day 18. We left Daocheng a day early and made our way to Xiancheng via Sangdu and the Haizi plateau.
June 9th
To-day we crossed back into Yunnan on our way to Wengshui.
June 10th
Before leaving Wengshui this morning we walked up Birong gorge which was located next to our lodge. After lunch we drove back to Zhongdian.
June 11th
Our last day of hunting! This morning we travelled a short way across the Zhongdian plateau to the cable car to take us up to Xe Ka. After a very pleasant exploration on the top it was time to leave Zhongdian for our long drive to Lijiang via the big bend of the Yangtse at Shigu.
