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2024 Honghe County Travel Guide: Must-see attractions, popular food, hotels, transportation routes (updated in September)
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Yunnan's Sky City, a summer retreat
Yisa Town in Honghe County of Yunnan is the second largest overseas Chinese hometown in Yunnan, once a thriving place for caravan culture and foreign trade. It is also one of the few county towns in Yunnan located on the top of a mountain, with a cool climate in summer, making it an ideal place to escape the heat.
Tourist attractions recommended
Yisa Ancient Town, where ethnic groups such as the Yi, Hani, Dai, and Yao reside. The town retains hundreds of ancient residences that combine Chinese and Western styles.
Nanmen Street
Characteristics: Traditional southern Yunnan courtyard houses from the Ming and Qing dynasties, earth buildings made of red soil and bricks, and caravan mansions.
Caravan Castle
Tour route includes the East Gate Tower, Yao family residential complex, Qian family's labyrinthine courtyard.
The mansion of the wealthy merchant Qian Wanxing, with eight courtyards, 48 rooms, and layers upon layers, is like a Chinese-style labyrinth. Admission is free.
East Gate Viewing Platform
Overlooking the city, the high-altitude Yisa Ancient Town is also known as the 'City in the Sky'.
With a history of seventy to eighty years, it is praised as the Grand View Garden of architecture outside the Yangtze River and a continuation of the caravan culture.
Cuisine: Red rice noodles, ice water, grilled tofu, cold rolled powder, etc. This place is a land of song and dance, a land of palms.
Accommodation: The county town is conveniently accessible with public transportation and parking. Standard rooms start from 50 yuan
Experience the Kangteng Arulaka Tent Camp, where intimacy with nature awaits
Visit the Kangteng Arulaka Tent Camp, where the landscape and cultural resources seem to have traveled through time, maintaining the charm of its pristine wilderness. Each tent is so exquisitely designed, deeply integrated with the natural environment, as if it were a part of nature itself.
The zero-exercise health and cultural integration design let me feel the perfect combination of vacation and culture.
The scenic view from the guest tent is beyond praise, with each room having its own platform space, where one can enjoy the tranquility of the plateau and the cultural enrichment.
Here, I found a closeness to nature and was charmed by the culture. Kangteng Arulaka Tent Camp is a beautiful encounter on the plateau for me, as well as a precious memory in my journey of exploration.
Yunnan Honghe Mabang Ancient City | Yao Chujiben Residence, Qian Er Guan Maze, Mabang Hongyan, Three-inch Golden Lotus
Mabang Ancient City, located on the ridge of Dongmen Street, Yisa Town, Honghe County, Yunnan Province, was built in the 1940s. The ancient architectural complex includes Dongmen Tower, Yao Chujiben Residence, Yao Chujiben Backyard, Qian Er Guan Residence, Qian Er Guan Attached Building, and 3 private residences.
Yao Chujiben Residence was built in 1944, specially designed by the French, it is a three-story building with a combination of Chinese and Western styles. It faces east to west, connected to Dongmen Tower, with tile roofs and brick walls, the exterior is square fortress-like, with defensive shooting holes, the architectural layout is staggered, solid and steady.
Qian Er Guan's brick arch courtyard is built like a maze, with a total of 8 courtyards, 44 rooms, and 188 doors and windows. The structure is like a maze, the main architectural features have the architectural style of the Central Plains at that time, and also the charm of Jiangnan architecture.
From the 1850s to the 1940s, nearly a hundred years of history, the horse teams formed by Yisa people went abroad and did the tea, salt and tobacco business to Southeast Asia, with footprints all over Laos, Vietnam, Thailand and Myanmar.
By the end of the Republic of China, the Yunnan Tobacco Gang rose, and the Yisa people took the opportunity to expand the horse team organization, with strong soldiers and horses, drinking horses in the Mekong River, crossing the Li Xian River, and traveling back and forth between China and Southeast Asian countries all year round. In order to expand and strengthen the business, many people lived abroad and did business locally.
After many years of 'going down the dam' and 'walking the tobacco gang', the businessmen of Yisa made a fortune and invested in building houses. The houses they built included both Chinese and Western style houses and European style brick and wood structures.
In Yisa, people call the wives of those who go abroad for business with horses 'Mabang Hongyan'. Men go abroad for business with the horse team, some of them disappear without a trace, some die in foreign lands, some stay in foreign countries, marry and have children and live abroad.
The Mabang Hongyan used their weak shoulders to support helpless families, with 'three-inch golden lotus' shouldering the burden of the family, respecting their parents-in-law, raising children and managing the household. On May 22, 2018, 104-year-old Grandma Sun passed away. Grandma Sun, whose name was Qu Lanqiao, was a long-lived elderly person in Yisa Town, Honghe, and the last 'Mabang Hongyan'.
📍Detailed address:
Mabang Ancient City: 48 Dongmen Street, Honghe County, Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province
Ticket: Free admission
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