Yunnan is China's most diverse province. Not only is it geographically varied, with glaciers in the north and jungles in the south, but it is also home to over a third of the country's ethnic minorities.
Rich in flora and fauna, the place is in some ways the least affected by the central government's pervasive social policies and remains, as the author stresses in this excellent guide, "one of the most relaxed, stress- and bureaucracy-free places in China."
There is much to see: the capital Kunming; the fine old town of Dali on the shores of Erhai Lake; Lijiang, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site; the Stone Forest; the Tiger Leaping Gorge, one of the world's deepest; subtropical Ganlanba, homeland of the Dai people, and a lot more.
All of this is beautifully described (Stephen Mansfield is a stylist, something few guidebook writers are) and his descriptions of the gorge, the approaches to Tibet, the tribal forests on the Laotian border, make one want at once to see the places. Another reason for wanting to sign on is that this is a guide who has his priorities right.
Each section begins with nature notes, explaining what to look for in this "gloriously underpopulated" province. There are trees, flowers, birds and animals that you can no longer see anyplace else. Since Mansfield is a photographer, he tells how to take pictures, beginning with the advice that you should know what you want. "People who know that they are going to Bhutan to photograph monasteries, Yunnan for the flora, or Havana for the vintage 1950s cars, usually get what they want."
He also gives advice on how to properly meet the tribal people who make the province so varied and so interesting. "China's minority people have long lived in the shadow of their giant neighbors, the Han Chinese, and generally perceive that the Han and many other people of technologically advanced nations feel superior to them. If you make the effort to learn about and respect their local cultures and customs, then you overcome this feeling and open the way for real interaction and friendship."
Mansfield knows this subject well. He is the author of "Lao Hill Tribes," recently reviewed here, and specializes in ethnography. He celebrates diversity and deplores monolithic social pretensions and the enforced orthodox. When he finds traces of it, even in Yunnan, he is quick to say so. "Although Yunnan feels considerably less like it than other places, China is essentially a police state."
He is just as forthright (another rare quality among guidebook writers) about inconveniences. If you take buses, you might want to bring along a pair of earplugs since most are fitted with stereo speakers and cassettes; the sleeper bus from Hong Kong is for "the true travel masochist," and on most sleeper buses you should, "if you are a nonsmoker or have any thought of your lungs, bring a cotton surgical mask of the type worn by Bangkok traffic duty cops."
While one values Mansfield for his outspokenness, one cherishes him for his enthusiasms: his loving descriptions of the trees and flowers, his insight into the minority peoples, his way with food: the three-year-cured ham, the fried goat cheese, the fish baked with lemon grass, the deep-fried bee larvae.
One is also grateful for the enormous amount of more mundane information. Our guide seems to have thought of every need and set out to fill it. There are addresses (in two languages), telephone and fax numbers, e-mail designations; descriptions of places to stay and to eat (and places not to); travel agencies are listed and the times of buses, trains and planes. Nothing seems forgotten.
And, in addition, there is the warning not to wait too long to go. Many traditional towns and cities are now concrete blocks; a highway under construction will permit trucks to drive through Yunnan from Singapore all the way to Beijing; there is the government sponsored "Shangri-La Found" campaign, complete with a new airport in Dequin County on the Tibetan border.
With this admirable guide, we can go right now, while we still have time.
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