At the southern feet of the high an precipitous Ailao an Liushao Mountains, there extends a vast stretch of beautiful richly endowed and mystical land. This is the Honghe (Red River) Autonomous Prefecture of Hani and Yi Nationalities, much alike a piece of green precious stone inlaid at the southernmost end of China...
The best time to Go: March-April & September-November How to go: Kunming-Hekou Railway ; Kunming is about 4 hours´ drive to Honghe and 3.5 hours to Jianshui County.; For self-reliant tourists, renting a vehicle is a better choice Local Highlights: New Year Festival of Hani and the Torch Festival of Yi Special local products: Purple clay wares of Jianshui County, tin handicrafts of Gejiu City, rice cakes of Mengzi County, Hani embroidery of Yuanyang County
Honghe Hani & Yi Autonomous Prefecture covers an area of 32931 square kilometers and administrates two cities, namely Gejiu and Kaiyuan,11 counties amely Mengzi, Jianshui, Shiping, Mile, Luxi, Pingbian, Hekou, Jinping, Yuanyang, Honghe and Luchun.
Besides Han nationalities there are 9 other ethnic minorities, for example, Hani, YI, Miao, Dai, Zhuang, Yao, Hui, Lahu and Buyi, that dwell in the prefecture. It is the main area in which Hani and Yi as well as Hui minorities live.