China is a land of exceptional beauty. Its long, tumultuous history has filled countless scholarly books. But it is the people of China that make it special, particularly in the southwestern province of Yunnan.

Yunnan is the sixth largest province in China and is roughly the same size as California. It is home to over 40 million people, a third of whom belong to one of the 55 official ethnic minorities of China — minorities such as the Hani, Yi and Naxi. This represents a far larger percentage of the population than is found throughout the rest of the country and certainly makes for a colorful and exotic journey.

I spent several weeks in Yunnan, stopping off in Hong Kong for a day on the way there, making my way home by way of Dazu in the Sichuan Province, and finishing up with an enjoyable three day cruise down the Yangtze River.

[This tour was arranged and escorted by Dennis Cox of Photo Explorer Tours.]