China

Going off-the-beaten-track half way round the World with people you don’t know, food you’ve never tried before and what appear to be extreme weather conditions. What can possibly go wrong?

A few tips on how to get the best out of your small group tour to Southeast Asia

Best time to visit Yunnan In the light of several queries concerning our new Vietnam and Yunnan small group tours, we’ll extend our, admittedly limited, best time to visit Yuanyang post to a more general, best time to visit Yunnan post. First remark is – it’s complicated. China’s Yunnan Province alone is slightly larger than Germany – covering a similar…

Vietnam and Yunnan ethnic minorities Introduction China’s Yunnan Province alone is home to some 25 officially recognised ethnic minorities, while Vietnam lists an astonishing 54 separate groups. These are the respective government figures (1) and somewhat arbitrary as most of these listed Vietnam and Yunnan minorities comprise numerous subgroups and clans – sometimes with just minor variations in language and…

The country’s unusual topography and geography means that the question, when’s the best time to visit Vietnam, results in a far more complex answer than one would at first imagine.

Yunnan small group tour hotels Accommodation options in Yunnan have changed a lot since we last visited the province back before COVID. Finding good options for our Yunnan small group tour hotels used to be, frankly, something of a challenge as the overwhelming majority of visitors to China’s somewhat remote, southwesterly province were local tourists from large Chinese cities such…

Yunnan food   In which we describe typical Yunnan food, some of the local dishes you’ll likely encounter on our Yunnan tours and a few tips on where to eat, what to order and, of course, how to eat it. Firstly, you can forget everything you already know about Chinese cuisine. In most European countries for Chinese read Cantonese with…

Gluten intolerant or gluten allergic are terms we encounter increasingly frequently, so here’s a rundown of what to expect on a Southeast Asia tour

Yunnan tour details A roundup of some of the Yunnan tour details pertaining to our new China itineraries. The tour actually kicks off in Vietnam’s capital Hanoi before taking you overland by road and rail, via Bac Ha and Sapa, through southern China’s Yunnan Province to finish in Shangri La in eastern Tibet so the tour title will be Hanoi…

The spectacular 1,000 year old, UNESCO-listed Hani Rice Terraces of Yuanyang District, Yunnan, China

For Southeast Asia’s citizens, and indeed the lucky visitors, why celebrate New Year when you can celebrate 2 or 3 new years instead?

Flower Hmong of Bac Ha Although certain purists may turn their noses up, some of the Flower Hmong gear to be seen on show these days at local markets such as Vietnam’s Bac Ha Sunday Market is quite remarkable. (The colourful Flower Hmong of Bac Ha are a subgroup of the Hmong ethnic group – in Vietnam often spelt H’Mong…