Caiyunzhinan has always been a place I yearn for. From March 8th to March 21st, 2021, we started the first journey of self-driving tour in Yunnan. Before leaving, I made sufficient preparations for this trip. After choosing the destination, finalize the specific itinerary: direct flight to Kunming, and then rent a car, the route is: Airport - Yuanmou - Dongchuan - Yiliang - Luoping - Bamei - Puzhehei - Yuanyang - Jianshui - Fuxian Lake - Kunming - Airport.

Book air tickets, book hotels, book cars, everything is done online. Just wait for departure.

1. Yuanmou

At around 11 noon on March 8, the flight landed at Kunming Changshui Airport smoothly. I called the car rental company, and after a while the car arrived at the terminal, picked us up to the car rental company (just next to the airport), signed the contract, looked at the car, and then started the self-driving. Our first stop is Yuanmou. The advantage of this arrangement is that there is no need to enter Kunming twice.

It is about 190 kilometers from Kunming Changshui Airport to Yuanmou. The whole journey was high-speed, a little over two hours, and arrived at the reserved hotel at around three o'clock in the afternoon. After a short rest, head to Wumao Earth Forest Scenic Area. The scenic spot is more than 20 kilometers away from the county seat. The best way to visit: take a scenic battery car to the top of the mountain, and then walk all the way to the exit of the mountain. Wu Mao soil forest is similar to Bryce National Park in the United States, but it is not as big and the color is not so red. The best time is at dusk and sunset. It's a pity that the sun was a little weaker for us that day. Two hours of tour time is enough.

There are three forests in Yunnan: Stone Forest, Earth Forest and Sand Forest. It feels like a forest is not as good as a forest. We will pass by Sharin, so we don’t care if we don’t look at it.

2. Dongchuan

It is about 200 kilometers from Yuanmou to Dongchuan Red Land. Among them, 170 kilometers of expressways are very good, and the road up the mountain is not good when you get off the expressway. Arrive at Score Au at noon. There are quite a lot of B&Bs in Le Pu Au, and there are also several restaurants. Find a restaurant for lunch. Then start the tour.

The beautiful places are Jinxiu Garden, Qicaipo, and Luoxiagou. The colorful slope has to go down from the parking lot. There is no sign, and it is easy to go astray. The sunrise and sunset in Luoxiagou are very beautiful. The best choice for lodging in the Red Land is Luoxiagou.

There is currently no charge for red land. But now the cableway, parking lot, etc. are all under construction, and it is estimated that it is not far from becoming a paid scenic spot.

3. Yiliang

The underground stone forest in Jiuxiang is just a karst cave, but it is not bad. The Yincui Gorge, which impressed me deeply, is full of greenery and a pool of clear water. Unfortunately, the cruise time is too short.

We live at the gate of the scenic spot. Look at the many tourists in the scenic spots, but at six o'clock, there are almost no people to see, and our hotel has more employees than guests. There was only one car accompanying our car in Nuoda's parking lot. And I found no one at the high-rated restaurant I found on the Internet! Fortunately, a solicitor pulled us to the farmhouse near the scenic spot and had a dinner that exceeded our expectations.

Yiliang Cherry Blossom Valley advertised a lot this year. Unable to withstand the temptation, and mainly on the way, we went for a walk. Sure enough, the roads, parking lot, etc. are well repaired, and it is close to Kunming, so there are a lot of tourists. It's just that the so-called dozens of cherry blossoms have not been seen. Only the native Yunnan cherry blossoms shine. From an ornamental point of view, it is not as good as Japanese early cherry blossoms.

4. Luo Ping

Rapeseed flowers in Luoping are one of the highlights of this trip. Needless to say, Luoping’s Golden Rooster Peak Cong and Screw Field, everyone on the earth knows it. It's really beautiful, and we certainly won't miss it. But what I want to recommend is Majie Rapeseed Flower. As long as you are driving by yourself, you must go! The road goes around in the mountains, and the rapeseed flowers in Songmao Village, Chatu Village, Gegang and other places are not inferior.

Luo Ping arranged for two days. The original plan was to go to the Jiulong Waterfalls, but due to the suspension of business in the scenic spot, he decided to go to Duoyi River and Lubuge Small Three Gorges instead. The road condition from the county seat to Duoyi River is extremely bad, with many curves on the mountain road, many heavy trucks, and the road is full of potholes. Duoyi River Scenic Area is somewhat similar to Xiaoqikong, but not as exciting and rich as Xiaoqikong. There are only three boats a day in the off-season of the Lubuge Small Three Gorges. We didn't know, but luckily we arrived around 1:30pm, just in time for the 2:00pm bus. However, the boat was delayed for twenty minutes. And this two-hour cruise did not bring us any surprises - it was too ordinary. By the way, the road from Lubuge to Luoping County is quite good.

5. Bamei

There is no expressway from Luoping to Bamei. I still have to walk the road from yesterday to the Doi River. I drove the 150-kilometer road for nearly three hours. Apart from many curves and potholes, there was also a section of the road that was very narrow.

After a period of renovation, Bamei reopened in late February this year. We kind of caught up. The parking lot and visitor center are very large, just like a standardized ****A-level scenic spot. There was a chill in my heart: Will this still be a paradise? Sure enough, later experience confirmed my fears. After buying the ticket, I first took a battery car in the scenic spot for more than eight kilometers. The roads are very new and very nice. But it's too long. It doesn't seem long to be sorry for the one hundred and eighty yuan ticket. After taking the battery car, the next step is to enter the village from the waterway in the cave, which is the most anticipated. However, the attitude of the manager on the boat pier is unacceptable: he looks like he doesn’t care, and the result is chaos. The boat ride has turned into a boat grab. That’s a mess! Although the water hole is unique, the mood is terrible.



Most of the accommodation conditions in Bamei are poor, and there are not many bathrooms with dry and wet separation. Coupled with the inconvenience of getting in and out, most tour groups choose to live in counties dozens of kilometers away. The scenic spot is not big, and it takes about 4 to 5 hours to go back to the parking lot after a cycle. There is no need to live in the scenic area. It's just that it's more rushed.

We stayed there for a day. It's pretty good for a walk in the morning. The air is fresh and the environment is beautiful. It's just that the tranquility of Xanadu has been broken, and I can't find the feeling anymore.

Go out of the village and don't go back. There is still a distance from the inn where we stayed to the pier, and the inn's bouncing car only pulls luggage. It takes two boat rides to get to the parking lot. Between the two boats, there is a Jingjia car pretending to be a small train. Still poor management, it took us two full hours to get back to the parking lot.

Bamei has become a "Zhengerba Jing" scenic spot. Its characteristics have quietly disappeared. I actually dislike this kind of travel very much. I gave this method a name called "stylized tourism". Tourists are like products on the assembly line. They have no choice when they arrive at the scenic spot. According to the way provided by the scenic spot,

6. Pu Zhe Hei

Puzhehei is huge. There are many ways to visit. The management of the scenic spot is relatively in place. You can live in the villages around the core scenic spots for accommodation, and there are many choices. Tours can be by boat, by car, and of course on foot. On a sunny day with a spring breeze blowing, it is really pleasant to walk around. For self-driving tours, it is recommended to go to Leshui Cave to have a bird's-eye view of Puzhehei, and then go down to the Sinkhole to watch the sunset. really beautiful. If you have a chance, you can stay there for a few more days and spend time leisurely.

Seven, Yuan Yang

There are Laoyingzui, Bada, Duoyishu, Aichunlan, Azheke and Laoyingzui terraces in Yuanyang, each with its own characteristics. Tickets are required to enter the scenic spot. In fact, this ticket is only used for two viewing platforms: Bada Terraced Fields and Duoyishu Terraced Fields. One watched the sunset and the other watched the sunrise. And you can only enter once. There used to be a Laohuzui terrace, which was closed due to landslides. We arrived at the rice terraces just in time for Bada to watch the sunset. The parking lot was full of cars, the viewing platform was crowded with people, and the racks were full of guns and short cannons. We could only squeeze in and take a look. The more than 3,000-level terraces glowed with golden light under the setting sun. Although it is really spectacular, But it's really unpleasant to be crowded.

Early the next morning, I went to Duoyishu for sunrise, and there was still a sea of ​​people. Fortunately, the viewing platform is divided into several floors, which is big enough and not too crowded.

Azheke and Ai Chunlan got closer. Eagle's Mouth is relatively far away, passing through a messy town, and there is a narrow road.

If you want to watch the sunset, there is a viewing place next to the Bada Terraced Fields on the way to Qingkou Terraced Fields. You can see the same effect as the Bada terrace viewing platform, which is free! Yuanyang terraced fields, only by seeing them can you know what is spectacular. When looking at terraced fields, one should be during the irrigation season, and the other should be at sunrise or sunset.

8. Jianshui

From Yuanyang to Jianshui, there are generally two roads: one is to take a section of Tianhou Expressway, which requires a detour; the other is G245. We took the G245, there is no high-speed in the whole journey. The experience is that it is not as difficult as the locals in Yuanyang say, it is just a few mountains to climb.

For us, Jianshui is just passing by. Saw Shuanglong Bridge and Zhujia Garden. The Ssangyong Bridge is beautiful. Zhu's Garden is not big, and it should be good, but the surrounding skyline is completely destroyed.

9. Fuxian Lake

The three major lakes in Yunnan are Dianchi Lake, Erhai Lake and Fuxian Lake. To put it bluntly, Fuxian Lake is the lake with the largest water storage capacity, the largest plateau deepwater lake, and the second deepest freshwater lake in my country (the deepest freshwater lake in my country is Kanas Lake). With the rise of holiday tourism, countless holiday apartments, hotels, and restaurants have been developed around the lake. We picked a first-line lake view holiday apartment. Sure enough, the invincible lake view. The lake is blue and clear.


Due to over-development, there are many unfinished buildings around the apartment we live in. And we live in a huge holiday apartment, only a few lights at night.

There are many scenic spots around Fuxian Lake, and we went to Luchong Scenic Area. This is a national 4A-level scenic spot. The scenic spot is very large, with the mountains behind and the lake facing, and the old trees are shady. There are Bijia Mountain, ancient banyan trees, and many recreational items. There are everything you need for food, accommodation, and tourist shops. It's just that it's not the peak season yet, and it's not a weekend, so there aren't many tourists.

10. Kunming

On March 18th, return to Kunming. Before entering Kunming, I stopped by Laoyuhe Wetland Park. Mainly to see the tulips. But thank you. Many wetland parks have been built beside Dianchi Lake, about a dozen of them. Impossible to visit them all.

In Kunming, we did not go to the popular Xishan, Jindian Park, and Daguanlou Park. Instead, we chose Haigeng Park and Kunming Botanical Garden. Haigeng Park is a green belt beside Dianchi Lake. It can be regarded as a well-managed scenic spot in Kunming. Clean and tidy. The West Garden of the Botanical Garden was closed, and the East Garden did not see many camellias, which was very disappointing. However, the Heilongtan Park next door surprised us a little. The rhododendrons blooming on the hill did not let us run in vain.

Two weeks of galloping on the land of Yunnan, basking in the sunshine of Yunnan, and visiting the mountains and rivers of Yunnan, the self-driving tour brought us relaxation, happiness and freedom.