Secret treasures of Yunnan

Yunnan, which means "land below the clouds," lies just north of the Lao and Burmese borders, and is China's most varied province, with terrain featuring snowcapped mountain peaks as well as steaming tropical jungles. Yunnan is also home to more than one third of all China's indigenous minorities, not to mention the site of more than half of all the country's entire plant and animal species. Heading north from Yuanyang, I went to visit the well known Yunnanese cities of Dali and Lijiang, famed for their quaint cobbled streets, romantic canals, and Bai and Naxi minority groups.