Article from Yunnan Daily

In everyone's heart, there is a Yunnan dream, and every corner of Yunnan has a many splendored life.

This land boasts the world's most complex and unique terrain, giving rise to a myriad of climate types. Nourished by this fertile soil, it also imparts rich cultural significance to all living things.

Come to Yunnan and experience "Yunnan, a many splendored life.” Feel the breathtaking natural scenery and the rich ethnic customs. The weather here feels like perpetual spring, with flowers blooming throughout the four seasons. Stepping into Yunnan is like stepping into eternal spring.

So, where does the sentence “Yunnan, a many splendored life” come from?

• Ultimate Scenery

The scenery of Yunnan is ultimate, full of strength. The convergence of mountains and rivers has preserved the epochs of time, laying the foundation for the prosperity of life.

Arriving in Yunnan, one cannot help but marvel at the magical wonders of nature. Some describe Yunnan's geography as a "space-time folding." From high above, the land twists and folds, with terrain rapidly descending from northwest to southeast. Mountains rise and fall, deep gorges intertwine, creating a frozen display of surging waves.

Approximately 65 million years ago, the Indian Ocean plate collided with the bottom edge of the Eurasian plate. The earth was compressed and collided, causing the uplift of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau to its east. The squeezed land on its west side rose and fractured, "folding" into various mountain ranges. These mountains gradually spread from northwest to southeast, transforming Yunnan's terrain into a gigantic staircase gradually descending from north to south.

Yunnan's mountain ranges are towering and magnificent, captivating people since ancient times. Three-hundred-and-eighty-five years ago, Xu Xiake arrived in Yunnan, a seasoned traveller who had traversed thousands of mountains and rivers. He was immediately drawn to the splendid landscapes and geographical features of Yunnan.

Xu Xiake's journey in Yunnan lasted for one year and nine months, making it the province where he stayed the longest, apart from his hometown in Jiangsu. His footsteps covered 46 counties in 10 cities, including Qujing, Kunming, Yuxi, Dali, and Lijiang.

In his extensive travelogue of over 600,000 words, "Dian You Ri Ji" (Diary of Yunnan Travel) comprised 250,000 words, accounting for 40 percent of the entire book. It is no exaggeration to say that Xu Xiake himself is the most famous "tourism ambassador" for Yunnan.

Now, when we stand high and witness the ultimate beauty of Yunnan's mountains, will we also be overwhelmed like Xu Xiake, feeling as though we have traversed thousands of years in an instant?

Yunnan's varied landforms include not only high mountains and gorges but also intact high mountain basins, as well as karst landforms alternating between plains and hills. Flowing within are the sculptors of landforms — over 600 rivers, belonging to six major river systems arranged from west to east: Dulong River, Nu River, Lancang River, Jinsha River, Yuan River, and Nanpan River.

Among them, the Jinsha River originates from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, traverses snowy mountains and steep canyons, entering Yunnan. The narrow and constrained valleys make the originally calm and peaceful river become violently turbulent. In the area of Tiger Leaping Gorge, the river fiercely crashes against a giant rock approximately 13 metres high. The snow waves roll, and the surging waves create a thunderous sound that sweeps through the mountains, stirring the soul.

Similarly originating from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the Lancang River and Nu River flow southward in parallel with the Jinsha River for over 170 kilometres. Together, they create a unique spectacle on Earth: the confluence of the Three Parallel Rivers.

Among the six major river systems, Yunnan's lakes are scattered like a chessboard. Dianchi Lake, Erhai Lake, Fuxian Lake, Chenghai, Lugu Lake, Qilu Lake, Yilong Lake, Xingyun Lake, Yangzong Lake. These nine lakes are like brilliant pieces of jade embedded on the plateau. They exhibit a variety of charming styles, from the rippling charm of Dianchi Lake to the deep and restrained simplicity of Qilu Lake.

In addition to the renowned scenic spots, Yunnan has countless "treasure" landscapes quietly waiting for discovery. For example, located in Dali Jianchuan, known as the "windy place," Jian Lake may not be widely known, but in Jin Yong's "The Eight Diagrams of Heaven," it was mentioned that Duan Yu fell off a cliff and walked into the "Jian Lake Palace." "Looking up, the moon is full and round, and the clear light on the lake is like a layer of silver plating." In reality, when Jin Yong wrote this novel, he had not visited Jian Lake. It wasn't until April 1998 when he visited Jianchuan that he marvelled at how closely Jian Lake resembled his imagination.

Nowadays, when tourists "chase the wind" and encounter Jian Lake, they may not witness the splendid scenery of the moon over Haimen, but they will still be captivated by the light of Jian Lake. This is Yunnan, where every corner is a "postcard."