by Richard D. Fisher

Developement is progressing very fast in the China/Tibet/Myanmar borderlands. After this summers “elections” in Myanmar and Chinas strong push for development in it’s far western provinces roads, schools, electronic communications, health care and tourism is reaching even the most remote corners for this long hidden land. The local people are very pleased with the “progress” as it brings them so many “befits” that so much of the developed parts of China and indeed the developed world enjoys from their point of view.

Remains of a glacial foot print base now a beautiful mountain marsh meadow in resplendent fall colors. Upper Nu Jaing River headwaters on the old road to Dulong Yunnan China.

Our goal now is to reunite what remains of the migrant Trung tribal group in Myanmar with their tribal fellows in the China border lands. The first step now is to make sure they are genetically in fact linked. We have completed the China side of the sample collection in October 2011. Now that Burma is finely opening up our next goal this winter is to visit Dawi on the Myanmar side of the extreme mountains and canyons lands.

Although much has been made of Dawi and his disappearing tribe of Tyrone pygmies over the years very little science has been done in regards to this issue and virtually none if any humanitarian work has taken place on their behalf. The tribe now faces complete extinction in Burma.

Our first objective is to immediately address his humanitarian and health needs as a human being. Our second objective is to work with him and his Tibetan tribal co-members to respectfully and with informed consent do basic scientific studies such as genetic testing. Additionally, we hope to gather as much of the history of Dawi’s family migrations during the last one hundred years and see if any of the other Qui-pa or Zhu Ru/T’rung remember or can relate oral history for the historical record. Last, yet most importantly, it is our goal to see if Dawi would be invited to return to his ancestral homeland on the personal invitation of individuals living there.Dawi has told visiting anthropologists that he does want to visit his ancestral homeland in Tibet “to find a wife.” Whereas nothing was done to help him reach his personal dream he may perhaps be too old to marry and have children now. It should also be noted that people from Burma visit the Tibet borderlands each and every day for trade commerce and medical care. We believe that if he decides to stay he will need formal paperwork and visas, etc. but we do have people who are qualified to address these issues.

If you would like to support this project please contact us at:
Wilderness Research Expeditions Ltd.POB 86492Tucson AZ 85754520-882-5341 Email:  sunracer2@hotmail.com

Rare deep mystical forest of the most remote part of the eastern tail of the Himalayan mountain range.

The last village at the current end of the road which is driving north to Tibet very nearby and it is said on to Myanmar.

The last village and our first true pygmy. Still days walk north of the current road end. Mr. Sho La standing in the red trousers said he was just over 60 and healthy. He did not appear to have any genetic challenges like dwarfism or mental handicap common with these isolated people.

Mystified yet peaceful curious people meets their first not so tall western visitor maybe ever. Sweet spirited gelflings, hobbits or pygmy s…beautiful people by any name. Lady Do San is one of the several surviving tattooed woman living in this remote “pygmy” Grand Canyon.

All little people standing tall.

Sho La try’s his first tasty canned peach maybe ever? He did know how to eat it so I cut it up with my Swiss Army knife and stabbed the slippery morsel with a chop stick.

Wa–open wide Mr Sho La. Missing a few teeth looks like. But still happy and going strong.

Sho La volunteers some inside of the cheek cells to help identify his lost tribal brother “Dawi” of Burma.

Now Sho La the last healthy Dulong Pygmy is really happy as he shows off his trusty crossbow. He shot both of the chop sticks I brought with me far into the bush. I can tell you he really had fun that morning and he it showed it! And I forgot all my discomfort from the rough frontier life and really enjoyed myself fully with my new found friends! What a day, at long last!

Lot’s af very little people abounding in this wilderness on the Tibet/China/Burma frontier.

Gelfling princess with ethnographic photographer Richard D. Fisher. October 2011

Progress and development rolling in fast. These people aren’t kidding around. They are pushing forward day to day. Every one seems happy as the local people get training and even the skilled jobs running the heavy machinery.

No messing around here. Drilling blasting holes high up on the cliff face.

Concrete blocks of progress…giddy up-mules!

The real deal for better homes and gardens in their view anyway. They sure work hard enough at it.

Now a just kidding photograph.  Old western guy modeling my drivers competition crossbow hand mad in China shirt and pants. The quiver has real boars tusk and wild mountain antelope hide. Hat from Tucson Arizona USA tops off the “high fashion” modern frontier look.

Ancient alpine forest now very rare in the most remote eastern Himalayan  canyons and ridges.

Last view upon leaving the enchanted fairyland of the “Lost Pygmy” Trung tribe. October 2011

Copyright California Academy of Sciences, photographer Dong Lin.

Above 3 photo’s from the “discovery” of the “Lost Pygmy Tribe” 2009

Beauty Queen of the Trung tattooed gelflng tribe.

Search for the “Lost Tribe of Tibetan Pygmies” 2009
Since his exploration of the world’s deepest canyon in Tibet in the 1990’s, Richard Fisher has been researching the existence of an unknown tribe of Mongolide pygmies in the tri-border region of China, Tibet, and Myanmar. Fisher has confirmed in 2009 that a unique tribe of pygmies, the T’rung, lives in the Dulongjiang Canyon of Tibet, hidden from the outside and unknown by the western world until now. Today there are over 5,000 T’rung people living in six designated villages within the canyon.

Formerly, the Taron (T’rung) tribe of Myanmar/Burma was scientifically defined as the only tribe of Mongolide pygmies after its discovery in the 1960’s. By the 1990’s, scientists claimed that the tribe was near extinction, having succumbed to genetic diseases. At the same time, Fisher had encountered families in the Dulongjuiang Canyon area that were extremely short in stature, yet otherwise perfectly formed humans. When he learned about the Taron pygmies in 2004, he decided further research was needed to learn if other similar tribes existed in the area.The T’rung are a peaceful people; they are increasingly educated, provided with basic health care (by who?), and as tribes across the world have done, are increasingly looking to and integrating into the outside world. The images from the Dulongjiang Canyon and T’rung people offer us a glimpse into an untouched and fascinating world most of us have never seen. Documenting the images and customs of this tribe is essential to preserving the history of these people. In recent years, the T’rung have begun to have more substantial contact with the outside world. In addition, the T’rung people are increasingly intermarrying with other ethnic groups. Time is of the essence to record the history and culture of this unique tribe. Not only will this encourage the sharing of human experience, but the micro-population of this isolated canyon also allows us to learn more about the process of human evolution. It is important to document this unique world and its people while we still can.

A. Project Background:
http://openlibrary.org/authors/OL1510899A/Burma_Medical_Research_Society.

1. The Taron Tribe of Myanmar/Burma were scientifically and officially defined in the 1960s as the only tribe of Mongolide pygmies. Special Report Series No. 1: The Tarons in Burma, the results of a scientific expedition by Burma Medical Research Society. Published in 1966, Burma Medical Research Institute (Rangoon), Contributions: Mya-Tu, Dr., Burma Medical Research Institute. One would be described as a common pygmy gene where individuals are less than 4’11” yet perfectly formed human beings. Other populations are equally small but display varying degrees of what can be described as dwarfism or hobbits.
2. In the 1990s it was reported by numerous scientists, most notably Alan Rabinowitz, that the tribe was nearing extinction as there was only one male member left “Dawi” by name, who was young and healthy enough to have a family. The tribe had succumbed to genetic diseases originating from inbreeding which is common in remote and isolate places like these rugged canyonlands of northern Myanmar/Burma (as reported by Raboniwitz). It was also reported during this time period that the Taron originated in Tibet where they had been driven out of by slave traders and conflicts with their Tibetan neighbors in the late 1800s.
3. The Taron are a part of a more numerous and also diminutive group known more widely as the Rawang (by P. Christiaan Klieger 4/09 and Alan Rabinowitz 2001) people. This is very similar to the situation in the Congo where defined pygmies are surrounded by a slightly taller tribe into which they sometimes marry.
4. In the 1990s Richard D. Fisher noticed, as the first American to explore the world’s deepest canyon in Tibet, some individual families who were exceptionally small. Fisher assumed that this was a result of poor diet, inadequate food and also the extreme canyon environment which worldwide favors small agile people.
5. In 2004 Fisher was invited to speak at a Texas Explorers Club meeting where he met a fellow explorer Brenda Shaddox who specialized in Myanmar/Burma who related the story of Dawi and the Taron Pigmies.
6. After 5 years of research Fisher decided it was time to find out that if indeed there were Pygmies in the borderlands of Tibet/China/Myanmar.
7. Fisher’s findings from 2 expeditions in April and May 2009 are:
   A. That yes, today there is a specific and specialized tribe in the tri-border region now known as “Dulong” people from whom the Taron are descended (Dulong= Taron= T’rung depending on your language. Dulong is Chinese and Taron is Burmese transliteration of T’rung). These people have for hundreds of years been recognized as a separate culture and especially small people. Prior to the 1950s they were known as the as the Qui-pa ethnic group in China and Tibet (I have been told that Qui-pa is a derogatory modern Chinese term. Monpa would be more accurate for Tibetans). Formerly they had strife with their neighbors especially over the capture and enslavement of their women by larger and physically more powerful neighbors. This is one of the reasons given for the tradition of face tattooing among the Qui pa women up until the 1960s.
   B. The name of these people depends on the language group that are describing them. I feel that perhaps they are best called T’rung. Today there are over 5,000 T’rung people living in the Dulongjiang Canyon which is 3,804 meters or 12,480 feet deep, more than twice as deep as the Grand Canyon in Arizona, USA.
   C. Within this area there are 6 designated villages, 838 households and 5,600 adults and many healthy and lively children as well.
   D. The canyon environment is diversified with many micro climates from subtropical rain forest to mountain tundra and there are a number of small glaciers remaining in the surrounding highest peaks. The forested region is still 97% intact with old growth trees predominating from the frigid alpine fern forest down to the tropical jungle through which runs a pristine and sparkling sky blue river.
   E. Historically the T’rung people have mostly kept themselves apart from the outside world as well as their nearest neighbors. Today they a peaceful and happy people who are increasingly educated, provided with basic health care, and are now as all native people worldwide, looking to and integrating with the outside world.
   F. Many T’rung also are living the old ways which are fascinating with many unique traditions. (I will elaborate more later) One of the most interesting customs was discontinued in 1966 is face tattooing of women. As of 2003 there were 60 women remaining who have face tattoos averaging 71.9 years old with the oldest being 108 years old. I was able, with permission, to photograph 4-5 of these matrons which to my surprise were very beautiful as well as animated. One tattooed lady I hiked along side of and photographed was carrying a burden basket heavier than 50 lbs. over 6 miles and she reported she was in her 80s.
8. 8. Until the 1960s all T’rung pygmies had a nature based religion including bull sacrifice, praying for no flooding when they see fire in the sky and the god of good hunting. Today many T’rung are Pentecostal Christian yet retaining many of their beliefs on the forces of the natural world.
9. 9. All that were interviewed report that they knew of no twins, that they normally lived to 70-80 years old, and that they are agriculturalists thriving on corn, vegetables, cattle, a few goats and pigs, and many chickens.

Why are T’rung “undiscovered” pygmies?
The western scientist who defined the Taron as pygmies in Burma did not look to this ethnic group’s historical roots in Tibet to see if there were others, because Tibet and parts of western China were “closed areas” until the past decade. Fisher was the first American to enter and publish on many of these vast canyonlands starting in 1987 most particularly the Yarlung Tsanpo where the issue of a lost Tibetan Pygmy tribe first came into question.

C. While Chinese ethnologists have long recognized the Dulong or Qui-pa people as exceptionally physically small and indeed a unique separate culture, they have never, until May 14, 2009, considered the issue that they might actually be pygmies. Why is this discovery important?Opening communications and dialog between the east and west is always an important goal for human understanding and knowledge.

1. The T’rung people are increasingly intermarrying with other ethnic groups. Right now the time is critical to the human understanding of many aspects of shared human cultures, common as well as diverse histories and in this case the all issues relating to Pygmies and the quest for knowledge of human evolution.
2. At the moment a scientific debate is raging about the findings of “hobbit” bones on the island of Flores in Indonesia. These new findings about the T’rung Pygmies may be of importance to this ongoing debate in many ways.
3. Fisher’s proposal is that the canyonlands of Tibet/China/Myanmar are perhaps a hot spot of human evolution toward small nimble people, or on the other hand, a refuge for a human genetic line that will soon be lost in the mainstream of human “progress”. Both may certainly be true at the same time. Also in many ways canyons are like islands producing unique micro-populations of great diversity in plants, animals and perhaps humans as well.
4. Such “findings” are fascinating to humans worldwide and make for interesting and readable news.
5. The photography while being uniquely captivating and illustrative, is for the first time available to the IT (digital) universe.

D. On a personal note:

1. I find it very interesting what these people are actually called or defined as. I found that while “Pygmy” is scientifically accurate, that “hobbit” may apply to the inbreed Taron group in Myanmar/Burma, that the best term that applies to my observations is “gelflings” after the imaginative “Dark Crystal” fantasy by Jim Henson.

Richard D. Fisher

Entering a mystical portal and down into a hidden land Spring 2009

Down to the sky blue river.

The lost pygmies of Tibet and their hidden mystical canyon. Spring 2009

Exotic Canyons, Caves and Cultures of Indochina

Text and photography by Richard D. Fisher with photography by Maria Gates

Sapa Vietnam, Gateway to the Grand Canyon of Vietnam, is approached from the north from border town of Hekow China, a 5-7 hour bus ride south of Kunming Yunnan, Hakou is a tropical place hot and humid in the summer and very pleasant and dry in the winter.  Hekow is a relatively clean border town reflecting the modernization and relative wealth of the “New China”.  From the south Sapa is approached from Hanoi to Lao Cai by train (9+ hours) and then a spectacular 1-2 hour bus or private car ride up the mountain to the comfort of Sapa.

Fansipan Peak (3134 meters-10,308 feet) is called the “Roof of Indochina” dominates the view from Sapa but few see the canyons that are hidden in the mountains and rugged terrain on all sides.  The exact extent of the “Grand Canyon of Vietnam” is still to be determined but preliminary results reveal that the low elevation is about 1000 meters making the canyon about 6,000 feet deep, roughly the size the Grand Canyon of the Colorado in Arizona USA.

On my two visits to the area weather was a big factor for my exploration and photography. In mid-winter and early spring Sapa is very often fogged in completely for weeks at a time and in the summer monsoon rains create incredible thunder storms and again, lots of foggy days. In the summer, however, I found some incredible sunny afternoons. Late spring late fall are perhaps the best times to tour this spectacular region.

Unexplored slot canyons like the one above abound in this region which host the Grand Canyon Vietnam.

Besides being the gateway to the Grand Canyon of Vietnam, Sapa is home to some of the most diverse hill tribes in S.E. Asia. Hmong and Yao groups are seen in the largest numbers but Tay and Giay are selling crafts as well. Until 1910 or so these tribal groups dominated the high mountains and deep canyons. After that the French stated colonization here due to the “healthy climate”  the precipitous lands were slowly dominated in turn by the French followed by the lowland Vietnamese (Kinh) and now by…tourist from all over the world.

This region is now protected as the “Phong Nha-Ke Bang”  National Park as recognized  by UNESCO World Heritage Site (2003).  This is a Limestone (Karst) geological topography abounding in caves and underground rivers (estimated at 300+) but also hundreds of  “slot canyons” many of which are still unexplored. This is an extension of the famous Annamite Range which runs south along the Laos-Vietnam border for hundreds of kilometers. This is one of the two largest Karst/Limestone regions on the planet Earth. Technically the limestone is from the Palaeozoic era some 400 million years ago.

I stayed in several hotels in Sapa prices ranging from 8-30 USD per night, but I recommend the 3 Star Holiday Sapa due to their English speaking staff:

Holiday Sapa
16 Muong Hoa St.
Lao Cai Vietnam
(84) 203-873-874
info@holidaysapa.com
www.holidaysapa.com

Traveling south from Sapa one can visit Dien Bien Phu the township where the native Vietnamese defeated the colonial French colonist in a 6-7 hour private hire car or a 10-12 hour bus ride. This drive is overflowing with conical Karst mountain peaks, small canyons,valleys rivers, agricultural villages connected with very winding narrow but mostly paved roads. From there one can cross into Laos or continue south to the coast and down to the town of Dong Hoi, the gateway to the most spectacular caves yet discovered in Vietnam. This region is now protected as the “Phong Nha-Ke Bang”  National Park as recognized  by UNESCO World Heritage Site (2003).  This is a Limestone (Karst) geological topography abounding in caves and underground rivers (estimated at 300+) but also hundreds of  “slot canyons” many of which are still unexplored. This is an extension of the famous Annamite Range which runs south along the Laos-Vietnam border for hundreds of kilometers. This is one of the two largest Karst/Limestone regions on the planet Earth. Technically the limestone is from the Palaeozoic era some 400 million years ago.

As exotic a system of canyons and caves as found anywhere in the world in the Central Vietnam Highlands.

It was a long and grueling 2 day bus ride from Dien Bien Phu to Dong Hoi gate way ti the cerntral highlands. There I found a wonderful small family style hotel specializing in catering and providing assistance to cave explorers and environmental researchers. The owners there provide by far the best service to anyone wanting to see world class caves, rivers, canyons, and wildlife in this spectacular region.

Sy and Nga Ho Van run the Nam Long Hotel:
Address: 22 Ho Xuan Huong st – Dong Hoi city- Quang Binh Province, Vietnam
Tel: (84-52) 821851 ; Fax: (84-52) 829774
Email: sytrang25@yahoo.com
Website: www.hotels84.com/quangbinh-hotels/namlonghotel.htm
Room rate: from 10-16 USD

Conical Karst peaks dominate foothills landscapes of central Vietnam north to Dien Bien Phu and starting near Sapa.

Phong Nha Cave
A wonder of recent historical importance, this cave played a key role in conflicts since the 1950′s as it provided an air raid shelter for the population north of the DMZ. The Son river actually penetrates into the mountain for over a half a mile and from the mouth where there are 14 chambers  and secondary corridors that branch in all directions which which served variously as a hospital,  living quarters and storage areas large enough for a small city. There are numerous natural features such as the Lion, the Fairy Caves”, the Royal Court and the Buddha seen on the daily tours.

This tour actually starts and ends with a half hour boat trip on the river with about a two hour walking tour upon sailing into the cave.

Thien Duong Cave

Also called “Paradise” cave this is a newly found cave in the National Park. Some of the most beautiful and spectacular stalactites and stalagmites in the Park are found in this cave. The cave has been leased to a private company which has done a good job in developing it by putting in professionally designed road access, board walks and lighting. This cave was opened to the public in early 2011.  This cave is about 70 km or 1 hour+ by private car from Dong Hoi on a paved road that winds through the rice paddies and into the mountains and canyons to reach the cave parking area. In January 2011 the entry fee was about $6 USD.

Son Doong Cave
This mountain river cave gained much international attention in the last year as it has been designated by National Geographic USA and the British Cave Research Association as the largest cave in the world between the years of  2009-2011.

Wildlife of the Vietnam NationalParks in the Annamite Range

The forest is also home to 98 families, 256 genera and 381 species of vertebrates. Sixty-six animal species are listed the Vietnamese in the Red List of Endangered species and are still found here in these protected parks.

In 2005, a new species of gecko (Lygosoma boehmeiwas) was discovered here by a group of Vietnamese biologists together with biologists working for the park, Cologne Zoo in Germany and the Saint Petersburg Wild Zoology Institute in Russia.The Gaur and one species of eel have been discovered in this park.[1] Ten new species never seen before in Vietnam were discovered by scientists in this national park. The Park is home to significant populations of primates in Vietnam, with ten species and sub-species. These include the globally vulnerable Pig-tailed Macaque, Assamese Macaque, Stump-tailed Macaque and White-cheeked Crested Gibbon (Nomascus leucogenys and Nomascus leucogenys siki). The Park is probably home to the largest population of Francois’ Langur in Vietnam, including two different forms of the species. The area is highly significant for its population of Hatinh Langur and Black Langur. It is undoubtedly the largest population of these species in the world, and probably the only population represented in a protected area. Other endangered large mammals include theMainland Serow (Capricornis sumatraensis), Giant Muntjac (Megamuntiacus vuquangensis) and possibly the Saola (Pseudoryx nghetinhensis). TheAsiatic Black Bear (Selenarctos thibetanus) and Sun Bear (Helarctos malayanus) are confirmed. Other smaller mammals include Sunda Pangolins (Manis javanica) and the recently discovered Striped hare, called locally ‘tho van’ (Nesolagus timminsii). Ten bat species listed in the IUCN List of Threatened Species have been recorded in this park.Of the 59 recorded reptile and amphibian species, 18 are listed in Vietnam’s Red Data Book and 6 are listed in the IUNC Red List of Threatened Animals. The 72 fish species include 4 species endemic to the area, including Chela quangbinhensis.

The park is home to over 200 bird species, inclusive of several rare birds such as: Chestnut-necklaced Partridge, Red-collared Woodpecker, Brown Hornbill, Sooty Babbler andShort-tailed Scimitar-babbler. There is good evidence for the Vietnamese Pheasant (Lophura hatinhensis) and Imperial Pheasant (Lophura imperialis) species at Phong Nha – Kẻ Bàng area. An initiative survey conducted by Russian and Vietnamese scientists from Vietnam-Russia Tropical Centre (funded by WWF) recorded 259 butterfly species of 11 families. Almost all major butterfly taxa in Vietnam can be found in the Phong Nha – Ke Bang National Park.

The Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park was recognized by UNESCO in 2003 and again in 2007 as a World Natural Heritage Site.

Son Doong Cave
This mountain river cave gained much international attention in the last year as it has been designated by National Geographic USA and the British Cave Research Association as the largest cave in the world between the years of  2009-2011.

It is so good to see that such good hearted people have survived the dark years and are living so happily in our times to be our host, guides and now friends. This lovely couple welcomes guest from all countries globally with warm and hospitable services and true comradeship as well.

Into Laos….
Feb. 13, 2011

Lao Bao, southwest of Dong Hoi and near Dong Ha in Central Vietnam, is a good border crossing to obtain a 30-day Lao visas (US$30) are available on arrival in Nam Phao. If one is traveling the other way to Vietnam from Laos, Vietnamese visas still need to be arranged in advance; available at the Vietnamese embassy in Vientiane. Due to the border crossing problems encountered there we opted to hire our friends from Sy and Naga Ho Van to drive us to the border crossing. From the Vietnamese side it’s a short walk to the Laos border. Once in Laos, motor bikes,  jumbo (three-wheeled taxis) and sawngthaew (pick-up trucks) are available to Lak Sao the first place with hotels and cafes. We were glad to be well rested for this part of the trip as it was a very difficult 3 day transit to Paksi the gateway to the Bolaven Plateau.

Pakse (also spelled Pakxi) was founded by the French in 1905 as an administrative outpost, Pakse sits at the confluence of the Mekong River and the Se Don (Don River). The town has doubled in size since construction of the new bridge across the Mekong in 2002, facilitating a tourist crossing as well as considerable trade into Thailand. Pakse is the gate way to the canyons of the Bolaven Plateau.

Bolaven Plateau
Is home to some of the most spectacular waterfalls and canyons in Southeast Asia. The geology of the plateau is igneous which contrast sharply with the Karest Limestone to the Annamite ranges to the north.

The area wasn’t farmed intensively until the French started planting coffee, rubber trees and bansidered strategically vital to both the Americans and North Vietnamese, as evidenced by the staggering amount of UXO (unexploded ordnance) still lying around. The slow process of clearing UXO continues, but in areas where it has been cleared, both local farmers and larger organisations are busy cultivating coffee (see Kąaféh Láo ). Other local products include delicious tropical fruits. The largest ethnic group on the plateau is the Laven (Bolaven means ‘home of the Laven’). Several other Mon-Khmer ethnic groups, including the Alak, Katu, Ta-oy (Tahoy) and Suay, also live on the plateau. Katu and Alak villages are distinctive because they arrange their palm-and-thatch houses in a circle.

Among other tribes, the animistic-shamanistic Suay (who call themselves Kui) are said to be the best elephant handlers. Elephants were used extensively for clearing land and moving timber, though working elephants are hard to find these days.

The Alak, Katu and Laven are distinctive for the face tattoos of their women, a custom slowly dying out as Lao influence in the area increases. Several Katu and Alak can be visited along the road between Pakse and Paksong at the western edge of the plateau, and along the laterite road that descends steadily from Muang Tha Taeng (That Heng) on the plateau to Beng, in Salavan Province.

About 40km east of Paksi is in Paksong which host a large day market frequented by many tribal groups. Paksong is the center the coffee growing in Laos and claims to have the “best cup of coffee in the world”. The plateau has many several spectacular waterfalls, including Tat Fan  few kilometres west of Paksong, and Tat Lo on Rte 20 to Salavan.nanas in the early 20th century. Many of the French planters left following independence in the 1950s and the rest followed as US bombardment became unbearable in the late ’60s.

We variously took several bus rides and  a boat ride down the river through the 4,000 islands and stayed on the most exotic “hippy island” where all the young European travelers hung out on the Mekong Beach.

The Khone waterfalls and Pha Pheng is a waterfall located on the Mekong River in southern Laos, near the border with Cambodia. The Khone Falls are the largest in southeast Asia and they are the main reason that the Mekong is not fully navigable into China. The falls are characterised by thousands of islands and countless
waterways, giving the area its name Si Phan Don or ‘The 4,000 islands’. The highest falls reach to 21 metres (69 ft); a succession of falls stretch 9.7 km (6.0 mi) of the river’s length.

Photography by Richard D. Fisher and Maria Gates

Traveling up Cangshan Mountain with the south gondola immediately brings you to the breathtaking Qingbi Stream.

Qingbi (Clear Green) Stream with it’s Green Dragon Pool derives from a mountain spring gushing out from the bottom of a rock, and the water forms a pool in the shape of a big basin
in three tiers.  This stream received it’s Poetic Name of “Overlapping Green Basins” from poems written during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).

Overlapping Green Basins Waterfalls  (Qingbi Stream and Green Dragon Pool)

The Magnificent Cangshan Mountain 13,495 ft (4,122 M) also known as Diancang Mountain, lies like a protector west of Dali City, and meanders north to south.  It’s 19 Peaks create
18 breathtaking and world class canyons each with 18 streams that water fall between the peaks, and flow into Erhai Lake via the Dali Dike.

Erhai Lake sits at an altitude of 6,410 ft, (1,972 m) and resembles a crescent silently lying between  the water sources of Cangshan Mountain (Mt. Diancang) and Dali Dike.  It is dubbed  “Pure jade amidst mountains” since ancient times for it’s purity.

Float through the air and clouds up into the majestic Cangshan Mountain, and enjoy the captivating evergreen trees for as far as the eye can see.  The ride lasts long enough to get lost
in the towering peaks.

“Dark Mountains embrace green waters:  Mountain scenery sets off the lakes: Flowers are in full blossom all year round, and fragrance widely spreads” is an ancient poem written for this wonderful, eye melting sight.

The Great Gorge of Cangshan hosts beautiful streams, waterfalls, pagodas, walking paths and the gondola to enhance the experience of being in one of the finest canyon gorges without having technical skills.

The Great Gorge of Cangshan goes into the vastness of eternity it appears with the eye.  A feast for all of the senses.

Waterfalls cascade down from pool to pool in another one of the 18 canyons of the most impressive Cangshan Mountain.

WIND AND FLOWERS  Reflecting two of the famous four sights of Dali-wind, flowers, snow and moon.

A sensual waterfall that appears out of nowhere from the delightful canyons that seem to not end as they meander north to south.

Two Beautiful sights, a waterfall and a canyon beauty.

On the West side of the Cangshan Mountain sits the largest and most spectacular and grand gorge of all of the 18;  SHIMENGUAN (Stone Gate Pass: Shimen Pass) which is formed by two 1,050 ft (320 M) steep high peaks in the shape of an huge gate, hence its name. The highest peak of Cangshan Mountain, Malong Peak, creates this amazing gorge with the Snow Stream that flows through the gorge creating 119 waterfalls and pools along its path. This historical gorge witnessed the southern expedition of Kublai Khan, the founding emperor of the Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368)

The Shimenguan gorge is home to Bai ethnic Families still living like the times of Kublai Khan.

A local beauty enjoys the magnificent sight of Shimenguan.

The Geothermic Kingdom of Hot Springs is the largest hot springs in Asia, and may be the most beautiful. Set in a valley surrounded by mountains, and so big you could get lost inside; there are pools of all temperatures and sizes, pools shaped like giant hands, pools with caves, pools filled with skin purifying milk, and one that claims to cleanse your heart and soul. An hours drive out of Dali.

Dali, Yunnan, China

Erhai Lake crescents the valley and can be seen from Cangshan Mountain through and between the numerous canyons.  The lake is dotted with thousand year old Bai villages that continue to function as they have for all of the past centuries.

Viewing Erhai Lake and the famous Dali Three Pagodas through Canyons on Cangshan Mountain.  The thousand year old Bai villages around the lake are so friendly, yet most visitors only experience the touristy villages.

Old Dali with Peach Tree Blossoms in December, 2010.  The colors of the Peach Blossoms consume the eye palette and bring one into a state of pleasant nirvana.

The Butterfly Spring Park in Old Dali is rarely seen by tourists.  This hidden secret amoungst the locals makes the park an escape to peace and tranquility.

Old Dali and it’s unforgettable Cangshan Mountain with 18 Canyons and waterfalls is so easily accessable.

Dali Guide to contact for tours:
Yang Qing
Ph#  +86 13577268401
Email:   yang661983@gmail.com

Teng Chong, Yunnan, China

Tengchong, an new center for Green Tourism or Eco-tourism travel.

In western Yunnan, China on the Burma border TengChong county has 23 nationalities, most predominately the Han, Dai, Hui, A’chang, Lisu and Bai. During the “New Stone Age” people lived in this fertile valley and evolved into the early Han Dynasty state called “Dianyue” or “Elephant Riding State”. TengChong was a major stopover, supply, and resting place for the southern Silk Road traders in silk, tea and highly prized jade.

http://www.travelchinaguide.com/silk-road/southern-route.htm

Tengchong has been a frontier protection zone for China through many time periods but played a key role in the “Anti-Japanese War”, or what is more widely known as WWII. During this time period the Tengchong people and main Chinese army joined forces with the American Air force, the so called “Flying Tigers”,  who were flying what is called the “Burma Hump” to expel the Japanese. Therefore, Tengchong people and American have a long and enlightened history together. Today Tengchong is still a destination for the “Flying Tigers” and their descendents who fondly remember, working shoulder to shoulder together, to rescue and save many the crashed American high flyers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_Tigers

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hump

TengChong has always also been a very famous retreat for artist, philosophers and religious thought and practice, principally Buddhism and Taoism. It is a place and people who prize for themselves and their guest moderation, and hospitality.

http://www.megaessays.com/essay_search/Taoism_Buddhism.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taoism

Today, Tengchong is the center of cultural and natural tourism.  Equally, now seven 5 star resorts are finished or nearing completion. It now has a golf resort, a number of very well furnished hot spring retreats and spas and plans for more in the near future. It has a new completely modern airport and the new “freeway style” road is scheduled to be completed by 2012. It is the gateway to the NuJaing River and it is planned to be a gate way into Burma, it is hoped, soon. Downtown Tengchong in 2010, is under complete renovation, which according to current Chinese national development standards, will be finished so very soon, perhaps in one year or so.

A view looking west of the TengChong Valley from Gaoligonshan Mountains.

September-October 2009

The Tengchong valley has a unique geological history that provides for it’s very rich soils. The  “volcano barrier waterfall” pictured below was an intrusion that stopped up the Tengchong river for a time.  A large lake built up behind this “volcanic barrier” and deposited very fertile sediments that almost filled in the lake. Eventually and slowly bit by bit the lake water overtopped the volcanic intrusion allowing the river to flow toward the south again. The lake drained bit by bit leaving behind the rich sediments for agriculture and now only the so called small marshy lake called “north sea” or more properly Baihai Lake Wetlands is all that is left of the original lake that filled the entire valley. This agricultural fertility stimulated the TengChong vallies early settlement and is one of the primary reasons for it’s importance today.

This waterfalls in virtually in downtown Tengchong and now the center of a 5 star commercial development. October 2010

The “Charming Ancient Town of Heshun” is one of the major tourist attractions and is the famous home town of many overseas Chinese. May 2010

The “Lil Dog” of Heshun-Guards the town today. Please do not disturb the tranquility here. 2009

Mystical school girls climbs the stairs of Laifeng Forest Park Hill in downtown Teng Chong.

The Hot Sea Tour and Resort
Is in a deep and mysterious canyons with many pools, geysers, and steam vents and is about 10km to the southeast of town on a paved road. There are many accommodations and healthful baths found in this region.

It’s called Hot Sea, OK?

Yufeng Mountain

Yunfeng Mountain,  a shrine for Taoist is 60km northwest of Teng Chong and has a cable way half way up to the top.

“Tabacco Drying Tower”,  Village life at the foot of Yunfeng Mountain. September 2009

Cherry Blossom Valley Hot Springs – A Natural Canyon Hideaway
This is one of the best trips from TengChong for the nature lover and hiker has rustic accommodations and good food available. This canyon is located in the Gaolingshan Mountain nature reserve  and has “many pink wild cherry blossoms everywhere in the valley…falls gushing from the steeps of the mountainside swiftly drop down like flying dragons…the drips splash in all directions like pearls…” What beautiful local language. The reader can go and judge for themselves if it is all true. Cherry Blossom Valley is about 20km east of TengChong 20km along a cobble stone road.

“Jade-dragon like flying falls” and a “a natural oxygen bar”, and also, what would be a tourist area without a few local “canyon beauties” to spice up the views?

Tengchong Water Bufflo to market in late September 2011

Gaoligonshan Mountains

These mountains are called locally by many names, green labyrinth, green gene storehouse, spontaneous museum,natural arboretum, a shelter for rare plants and animals. It is ranked as a class ‘A’ nature reserve by the World wildlife Fund in 1992.

http://www.globaltrees.org/bigtree_rhododendron.htm

These mountains produce some of the finest and most highly prized teas of China. This is a photograph of a shaded tea producing grove especially made for the cultivation of Japanese tea counisers  of the finest taste requirements. some tea trees here are many hundreds of years old and there is so much demand for their produce that the trees can hardly keep up.  so some of the teas from this volcanic mountains can be perhaps the most expensive in the world, it is said.

Yunnan is a treasure land of China for developing the tea industry. All the tea-producing areas of the province are located at elevations from 1,200 to 2,000 meters. The annual mean temperature ranges from 12°C to 23°C, effective annual heat accumulation is between 4,500°C and 7,000°C, and annual rainfall is 1,000-1,900mm. The monsoon season is concentrated in May through October, during which the rainfall constitutes about 85% of that of the whole year. The  monsoon coincides with the hottest months, and there is a very high value of effective rainfall. In the dry season which starts in November and ends in April, There are sufficient sunny day. There is adequate sunshine, and the tea trees have a long growth period. Under normal conditions, the tea-leaf plucking period may last for 8 to 9 months. The tea-growing areas are generally covered with red, yellow of brick-red soils with the pH value ranging between 4 to 6. Comparing with other major tea producing countries, the climate of Yunnan is more suitable for growing tea trees. Therefore, Yunnan has rich varieties of tea trees and excellent tea species.

This history is so interesting 4 links are provided for the reader to enjoy the extensive history and this cultural resource to humanity:

http://www.tuochatea.com/history_of_yunnan_tea.htm

http://www.tibettravel.info/chamdo/tea-horse-road/history.html

http://www.tuochatea.com/ancient_tea_horse_road.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_tea_route

Rice Harvest in Mangbang 30km east along the main road from TengChong. This is an exceptionally beautiful terraced canyon/valley that never sees any tourist. So the local people do not know quite how to respond to visitors.
Maybe some day it will be fitful for tourist and a tourist attraction like some other major terrace complexes elsewhere in Yunnan, China and southeast Asia. If hospitality is provided to visitors, then tourism will very likely benefit the local economy much.

In contrast to their gigantic sister canyons of western Yunnan, the earths largest and deepest, the canyons of eastern Yunnan would be considered mid-sized by world standard measurements yet very colorful and diverse.

In northeast the soil is made up of Iron Oxide red earth and  the southeast Karst (limestone) geology of a chalky nature dominates the canyons.

Both regions see very few foreign visitors but they are well developed for national tourist with average to excellent tourism services.

I was personally interested in photographing the DongChuan/Red Earth terraces but found it was very difficult to find information.  Most web pages led me to believe it was like visiting a very strange and remote region of another dimension. While being very descriptive of the land itself the trip was actually quite easy.  Just 3 or so hours drive (180km) north of Kunming on a new freeway and later state level paved road I came to “new town” DongChuan which has almost a dozen 2-4 star hotels and many eating and modern shopping establishments as well.

Above and directly west of “new town” a narrow paved road winds its way upwards about 3,000 feet through a small side canyon to the rim of the YiLi River Canyon a tributary of the mighty Yangtze River just down stream of Tiger Leaping Gorge. As I had the misfortune of leaving Kunming at noon on the first day of Chinese “Golden Week” mass travel, I only arrived to the overlook of the terraces just an hour or so before sunset.  None the less the area was so spectacular that I was able to obtain these “representative” photographs of the area in just a half hour or so. After so much investment in my efforts to reach the region I was very pleased with the out come for the photography considering the short time available to explore the area.

Dongchuan is a rural place in the Wumeng Mountainous area. The brilliant red soil, the yellow and white buckwheat flowers and the dramatic skies make the region around Dongchuan a paradise for photographers.

Dongchuan Red Land represents Yunnans mountain and canyon most attractive colors. It is decorated with multi-color crops. Fiery red soil, emerald green barley, golden yellow buckwheat and snow white oil flowers against the floating clouds, ever-changing light and the dramatically blue sky make a marvelous painting, bringing not only the strong visual impact but also an experience in natural rural life ways of a by-gone era.

While I did see 2 or 3 hotels that may have been completed up on the mesa, I did not have the opportunity to investigate the quality or cost of the accommodations and food services. I was very please to see that DongChuan is, so far, not “over developed”as are many areas are in the most remote regions of China. There were a moderate number of travelers in private cars from Chongqing and Kunming and no tour buses that I saw. Considering it was “Golden Week” one of the 3 most heavily traveled weeks in China it was very pleasant to see a few families out enjoying the fresh mountain air and benefits of being in a natural rural environment.

September – November is the best time to visit. The crops in this season get ripe and present gorgeous colors. The Dongchuan Red Land is basically an all-year-round destination. In spring it is the ocean of flower; in summer it is the wave of cornfield, in autumn it is the fairyland on earth.