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Honghe and Weshan are neighboring Prefectures in South Central and South Eastern Yunnan province. Neither is known as major tourist sites. If you choose to visit this area 3-4 days of sightseeing would be more than adequate to cover all the best sites. Where Honghe has an industrial base consisting of tin and cigarette production, Wenshan is one of the poorest regions in China. Mountainous regions occupy nearly ninety-five percent of Wenshan’s territory. Transportation links are somewhat limited, there is no airport in Honghe, Wenshan’s Puzhehei airport (WNH) has direct but not daily flights from Kunming and Nanning.
Honghe
Named after the Honghe River, which flows throughout the area, Honghe Prefecture is located in the south of Yunnan bordering Vietnam. The population of just over 4.2 million has 9 ethnic minorities including the Hani, Yi, Miao, Dai, Zhuang, Yao, Hui, Lahu and Buyi. It is the main area in which Hani, Yi and Hui reside. The Honghe region is most famous for it's tobacco production and scenic rice terraces along the Yuanjiang River (‘Red River').
The main counties in this prefecture are Mengzi, Jianshui, Shiping, Mile, Luxi, Pingbian, Hekou, Jinping, Yuanyang, Honghe and Luchun. The prefecture has a varied and rugged terrain with high mountains, river valleys and vast forests in the North. Tropical and subtropical climates dominate.
The most popular tourist stops are in Jianshui County, Luxi County and Hekou which borders Viet Nam. Within these areas we recommend:
• Luxi Alu Old Cave
• The Swallow Cave
• Dawei Mountain Forest Park and The Bear Park
• The border-crossing town of Hekou
• Yuanyang rice terraces
• Shuanglong Bridge
• Confucian Temple
Unless you have a special interest or business related reason for being in Honghe and that means cigarettes (Mile City) or tin (Gejiu City) two days is all you would probably want to devote to exploring the region.
Wenshan
Wenshan sits just to the east of Honghe, bordering Vietnam to the south and the Chinese provinces of Guangxi to the east and Guizhou to the north. The administrative capital is Wenshan, a town once known as Kaihua. The population of 3.3 million is made up of 11 ethnic minorities including the Han, Zhuang, Miao and Yi. Wenshan's major cities are Funing, near the border to Guizhou, Guangnan, an old trading town, Qiubei, Malipo, Maguan, Xichou and Yanshan.
The most popular tourist stops are Babao Sanla Waterfall and the Puzhehei scenic area in northwest Qiubei County. Other recommended sites include:
• Bamei Village in Guangnan County
• Laojunshan Scenic Spot
• Yuxian Lake
• Xihua Park
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