Honghe Travel Guide Travel Guide

Honghe Prefecture Travel Guide(红河哈尼族彝族自治州)

These days primarily famous for it's tobacco production, Honghe also sports scenic rice terraces along its major river, the Yuanjiang (more commonly known to westerners as the 'Red River'), which flows in to the Vietnamese capital Hanoi and then the South China Sea. Proper name: Honghe Hani and Yi Ethnic Minorities Autonomous Prefecture. The 1956-57 discovery of Kaiyuan Pithecus at Little Dragon Pool (小龙潭 / Xiaolongtan) in north-eastern Kaiyuan county put Honghe on the world archeological map. Some fossilised teeth discovered were from Ramapithecus, an ancestor to modern man.

Mile City (弥勒市)
Mile is famous for its cigarette factory, one of the largest in China, which produces the Red Pagoda (红塔) brand. Mile has recently built a massive golden Buddha a little out of town, atop a hill. This fella's pretty incredible, if you can climb the numerous steps to reach him!

 

The tin capital of Yunnan, Gejiu sits nearly-atop a mountain that has been mined for over 2000 years. The slight depression in which it sits has a large lake, which is supposed to have been caused by an old tin-mine collapse. The severe cliff to the east of the city is quite picturesque, though aside from the scenery most travellers find the city boring. Bus stops are to the north of town, as are cheaper hotels. There is a fairly good bicycle shop in town, which can be located by crossing the road at the southermost point of the lake, walking in to the 'parkland', and turning right. There is a new road running from Gejiu down to the Honghe river valley, which was nearing completion in April 2002. It is a great cycle trip, descending all the way to the red river!  The so-called "capital of tin" is Gejiu, capital of the Honghe Hani and Yi Ethnic Minorities Autonomous Prefecture in Yunnan. The largest tin mine in China was opened here. Its annual output accounts for 60 per cent of China's total tin requirements. Extraction of tin in the province dates back to ancient times. Archeologists have discovered a number of ancient tombs containing relics of tin articles. These relics show us that Gejiu tin processors employed the smelting technique in as long ago as the Han Dynasty.

 

The local smeltery developed into an industry during the Ming and Qing dynasties. By 1883, a state-run company had been established to manage the production and marketing of tin products. In 1909, the Gejiu Tin Company imported some extremely expensive, and more advanced production equipment from France, including washing and sorting machines, smelting equipment, laboratory test equipment, cable transporting systems and power production equipment. In 1938 tin production in Gejiu reached its peak. In that year the total labor force numbered over 100,000 and the annual output of refined tin products reached 900 tons. As a result, China's tin output at that time was fourth in the world's tin producing countries. 

Swallow Cave
Halfway to Jianshui, this massive karst cave sports an underground river, and you can actually get boat trips through the darkness for a few kilometers if you like. The cave is named after the population of swallows that nest in its impressive portal. Nests are collected by barehanded local climbers on a special day, who also leave colourful signs at the top of the cave. Some climbers fall fatally.

 

Jianshui City (建水市)
Previously called 'Lin-an', this area used to be a very important trading city, and offers many old buildings to explore. First off there's the old city gate in the middle of town, then there's some old family mansions (one inside of town, one out), an ancient bridge west of town, a Confucian temple and attached school, fragments of the old city wall, etc. At one point, the northern road to Tonghai offers some spectacularly eroded hillsides. Halfway to Gejiu there's a famous cave complex, where swallows are collected once a year by barehanded locals. One attraction in Jianshui that I visited and would appreciate reports on is the 'Zhilin temple'.

 

Confucian Temple
A massive old temple, quite unlike anything else in Yunnan. There's a very large pond, which takes up most of the space, and an 'inner sanctum' built up area where you can wander through a carefully tended garden and see some old objects displayed. As the second largest Confucian temple in China, it's definitely worth the 20元 entry fee.

 

Zhu Family Garden
Right in the middle of Jianshui, is late Qing dynasty estate was owned by the Zhu family. The Zhus were merchants that moved to Jianshui from eastern China. They owned mines and stores, traded goods and reading between the lines were successful criminals. The family strengthened their position by passing imperial examinations, however this did them no good come the cultural revolution! Though the history inside the building is largely in Chinese, there are some English displays. The interiors are fascinating and traditional, though apparently a lot of the complex has been restored and is not original. My friend Chen Xue, a miniature calligrapher/painter of quite some repute, was working here when I visited. He produces fascinating artifacts, and they're on sale inside the building.

Double-Dragon Bridge (双龙桥)
To the west of town an amazingly large Qing dynasty bridge stands proudly in the middle of the fields. I suppose the river moved, as there wasn't much call for a bridge of this one's size when I passed by in 2002. Such ancient bridges are rare anywhere in China, and this is the largest in Yunnan. It has seventeen sections, three pagodas, and is 180 metres long!

 

Zhang Family Estate
About 8km west of town, past the double-span bridge, the Zhang family's estate is a fascinating collection of traditional Chinese architecture dwellings and temples. Contemporaries of the Zhu, they were so wealthy that stores filtered to the capital, Kunming, of the Zhang family paying craftsmen the same weight in silver as they carved in wood for the Zhang estate's interiors. The wooden carvings in this area need to be seen to be believed. They're immensely think, multiple-layered and feature a tangle of creatures, figures and plants. There's great stone carvings too. Don't be a fool like me and get caught without your camera. After a tour, you can stay for a meal and some rice-wine in the courtyard of one of the traditional architecture houses.

 

Yuanyang (远阳)
Famous for its rice terraces, this area is one of the Hani minority regions of Yunnan.  Here is a crop from a shot taken July 2004 by an English bloke called Roland.
      

Honghe City (红河市)
The confusingly named town of Honghe sits at the top of a hill on the Yuanjiang (Red) river, in a naturally defensible location. Try cycling up the hill (like I did!) and experience it for yourself. During my visit I saw little of interest, though some old architecture and winding cobbled backstreets reminded me a little of Macau's Portugeuse charm. The dirt road to Yuanyang is prone to landslides, though is most scenic for cycling! The road to Shiping (石平) is mostly paved, and those parts that weren't when I passed through (April, 2002) were being worked on. (There is little traffic in this sometimes-dramatic river valley, and the climbing out to Shiping is - bar the last leg - of a fairly constant grade). The road to Yuanjiang (元江), which branches of the road to Shiping (石平), is small and easy to miss.

Shiping (石屏)

Famous nowdays for the smelly tofu brought by Mongol invaders at the dawn of the Yuan dynasty, Shiping has long been an important settlement. The deadly flat plain on which Shiping sits is pierced by two features - a massive lake, long used for fishing, and a significant hill to the east of town. Atop of the hill stands a tall pagoda, from which you have an uninterrupted view of the surrounding lands.      Shiping city from a hill to the east, April 2002.

Luxi County (泸西)
Famous for the Alu Ancient Caves (阿泸古洞), a few kilometres northwest of town, Luxi is north-easternmost county in Honghe.

 

Mengzi County (蒙自)
Mengzi was a major Sino-European trading port, and after the signing of a French trade agreement in 1887 even sported a French consulate.