Favorite places to watch sunset /sunrise in China?

[thelearninglearner]

I'm thinking of going away for a few days. Maybe 5. Looking for some really nice place to watch the sunset and sunrise. I'm in the southwest of China. But I don't mind a flight or bullet-train just to get a nice break for a while

[abcdefg]

Sunrise is very pretty in Luoping 罗平, a couple hours east of Kunming by train or bus. It is in the heart of the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, rugged karst hills, fields of yellow rapeseed flowers. Especially beautiful in the morning as the sun comes up, land features first hidden by mist, then burning off as the sun climbs higher. One can also walk to high spots overlooking tiny rural villages. 

 

Other attractive sights exist in and around Luoping as well. A placid river 多依河，a waterfall 九龙瀑布。The area is home to a colorful branch of the Yi minority peoples 彝族。Special foods, dance, songs. Budget lodging avialable without reservation. 

 

Now is a little past prime time, the flowers are on the wane. (Peak is early to mid March.) Still worthwhile. (Photos from Baidu.)

 

[abcdefg]

On 4/15/2021 at 4:19 AM, thelearninglearner said:

I'm thinking of going away for a few days. Maybe 5.

 

Five days in Luoping would be slightly too much. If your trip is between now and mid-May, perhaps consider a couple nights in Dongchuan Red Lands 东川红土地 a couple hours NE of Kunming. 

 

Sunsets there are particularly stunning. One overlooks fields planted with colorful crops in their early stages of development. Several popular promontory "lookout" spots from which to survey the glorious scenery. 

 

  

 

 

The area doesn't have much tourist infrasctructure. You stay in a family-run rooming house cottage and have family-style meals with the hosts and other guests. Good language practice. Bus to and from Kunming. 

 

(Photos from Baidu.)

 

[thelearninglearner]

@abcdefg wow really, really beautiful. Though with the recent cases in Yunnan, I'm not sure. But I added every place you mentioned onto list of places to go this year. I'll have a few more opportunities later this year

[abcdefg]

These two places, and quite a few others, have seasonal timing considerations. 

 

The Dongchuan Red Lands turn to mud when the spring/summer rains begin. That is usually late May/early June. It becomes extremely difficult to walk around. Conditions improve in the fall of the year, late September/early October. Very beautiful then as well. 

 

The Luoping karst hills and the yellow rapeseed flours bloom from the end of February until the end of March. Still pretty through April, then the area becomes much less interesting until the next year. Local government is trying to promote it as a year-round tourist destination, but in my book it isn't. 

 

The other Yunnan place, quite a bit less accessible, that you might want to put on your wish list, is the Hani Terraced Rice Fields of Honge Prefecture, 哈尼族红河州梯田 commonly referred to as Yuanyang Titian 元阳梯田。They are a six-hour bus ride south from Kunming. Train makes it quicker. On the way to or from, one can (should would be a better word) stop overnight in Jianshui 建水。These fields are most scenic now through late fall. (Green young rice now, mirror-like standing water November, December, January.)

 

Local guides all know which lookout points are best for sunrise and which other ones are best for sunset. These fields draw serious photographers who set up tripods and expensive cameras to capture each nuance of the reflected light. (Photos from Baidu.)

 

  

[abcdefg]

Might add a few links to Jianshui. It's my favorite "Ancient Town" 古城 in Yunnan. Not so sure about its suitablitiy for sunsets, but the Confucius Temple grounds are great for sunrise. Placid and classic. (These snapshots are mine.)

 

     

 

https://www.chinese-forums.com/forums/topic/55755-jianshui-confucius-temple-建水文庙/?tab=comments#comment-429743 

 

https://www.chinese-forums.com/forums/topic/55736-a-look-at-jianshui-云南建水县城-guest-house-and-lunch/?tab=comments#comment-429541

 

https://www.chinese-forums.com/forums/topic/55743-jianshui-zhu-family-garden-建水朱家花园/?tab=comments#comment-429628 

 

[abcdefg]

On 4/16/2021 at 8:35 AM, thelearninglearner said:

Though with the recent cases in Yunnan, I'm not sure.

 

Just wondering, do you have access to something about this that is not public knowledge? What I read in the news was that they recently had 5 or 6 cases brought in, and that they affected the far-west part of the Province, near the Burma border. I'm guessing over near Ruili 瑞丽。 

 

Would not think this would have much impact on travel plans to the Eastern and Southeastern parts of the province. But, of course, I'm not in Yunnan right now myself, and might have missed some additional news on the subject. 

[thelearninglearner]

17 hours ago, abcdefg said:

 

Just wondering, do you have access to something about this that is not public knowledge?

Just paranoid me with my paranoid workplace. I'll keep an eye out on it over the next week though, then decide. It's the place you suggested vs 阳朔 in 桂林

[abcdefg]

18 hours ago, thelearninglearner said:

It's the place you suggested vs 阳朔 in 桂林

 

Not sure about your question. Yuanyang 元阳 is in SE Yunnan Province. Yangshuo 阳朔 is south of Guilin 桂林 in Guangxi Province 广西省。

 

 

[zhouhaochen]

Far away from you, but it has to be on the "Wild Wall". Get on the top of a watch tower in the early morning (we used to wild camp in the area - not sure if thats still possible) and then climb the wall. Its an amazing experience. Can be done just North of Beijing, but other places close to Chengde or other Great Wall sections I am sure are similar.