Kuala lumpur: Yunnan Province, located in Southwest China, shares borders with three ASEAN countries - Myanmar, Vietnam, and Laos. Its landscapes are remarkably diverse, with more than 90 percent of its territory comprising mountainous and plateau terrain. Dramatic karst formations, high plateaus, and cascading waterfalls make Yunnan one of China's most visually captivating regions. Strategically positioned along historical trade routes of the Southern Silk Road, Yunnan once served as a vital gateway connecting China to South and West Asia.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, the province is home to 25 of China's 55 minority ethnic groups, including the Hani and Lisu communities, making it a vibrant tapestry of cultural traditions, languages, and customs. Participants of the China International Press Communication Centre (CIPCC) Asia Pacific Programme recently had the opportunity to discover Yunnan's rich natural and cultural heritage during a memorable study tour.
The journey began in Yunnan's capital, Kunming. Upon arrival at Changshui Airport, the group traveled for more than four hours by road to Wenshan Zhuang and Miao Autonomous Prefecture. Along the way, they passed through countless mountain tunnels, enjoyed lush scenery, and stopped at a roadside rest area for Yunnan coffee and ice cream. Signages in Vietnamese at their hotel underscored the prefecture's geographical closeness to Vietnam.
In the following days, the group visited Xianrendong Village in the Puzhehei Scenic Area, located in southeastern Yunnan's iconic karst region. The village is home to the Sani people of the Yi ethnic group, who warmly greeted them with a traditional dance performance in their colorful ethnic outfit. In the Yi language, Puzhehei means 'a pond teeming with fish and shrimps', and the area is famed for its idyllic landscape - serene waters framed by rolling green hills. The group explored this scenic beauty aboard an ancient-style Chinese boat.
A pleasant surprise awaited the visitors at the village, where they met fellow Malaysians, including Malaysia's Consul General in Kunming, Muhamad Akmal Abdul Wahab, and his delegation. During the tour, they learned how government-led tourism development, supported by the village's strategic location and rich resources, helped lift the local community out of poverty. Today, the village offers homestays and has been recognized as 'Yunnan's Premier Ethnic Cultural and Ecological Village'.
The group also visited the Wenshan Sanqi Industrial Park, where they learned about sanqi or Panax notoginseng, a highly prized medicinal herb cultivated in the region. Valued in traditional Chinese medicine for improving blood circulation, sanqi is grown at elevations of around 1,900 meters, and every part of the plant - from root to flower - has medicinal properties. That evening, they attended the 11th Wenshan Sanqi Festival at Wenshan Panlong Stadium. The event featured traditional performances and cultural showcases celebrating the heritage of Wenshan and Yunnan, with Consul General Muhamad Akmal among the distinguished guests.
From Wenshan, the group continued to Malipo County, in the prefecture's southeastern region, where an incredible 99.9 percent of the land consists of mountainous terrain. They were informed that their hotel stood on the only flat piece of land in the entire area. Malipo borders Vietnam's Ha Giang Province, and at several viewpoints, they could clearly see the Vietnamese flag across the river, while the Chinese riverbank was secured with stretches of barbed wire. Several local shops also displayed Vietnamese signages, reflecting the deep cross-border interactions, and their visit included a stop at the boundary stone marking the official China-Vietnam border.
In Malipo, the group explored the county's intangible cultural heritage, including the distinctive batik craftsmanship of the Bailuo people of the Yi ethnic group. Their batik, similar in both name and tradition to the batik of Malaysia and Indonesia, is created using beeswax mixed with ash from burnt hemp. Artisans hand-draw intricate patterns using bamboo skewers before applying natural dyes extracted from local plants, giving the fabric its unique character.
The final destination was Jinping County in Honghe Prefecture. There, they hiked through lush forests to witness the stunning Ladeng Waterfall, a site celebrated for its biodiversity and pristine natural beauty. It was a breathtaking end to a journey that brought to life the enduring cultural and ecological treasures along Yunnan's ancient Southern Silk Road.