How to get to the Redlands?
Since the Redlands have not (yet, I am sure) made it into some guidebooks, I thought I would share how I got there. It may not be the only way, and maybe there are more efficient ways; see for example this post, which gives more options. This is how I got there: Where to take the bus to Dongchuan Redlands? Kunming North Coach Station (58 RMB to Dongchuan). Where to stay in Dongchuan? I arrived in Dongchuan at 930pm and had to stay overnight. Apparently, not all hotels in Dongchuan accept foreigners. I ended up in this hotel: 云鑫楼旅社 (pinyin: yǔn xīn lóu lǚ shè). I paid 50 RMB for a decent basic room with ensuite bathroom (asian toilet); the hotel is about 600m from the bus station. How to get to the Red Lands from Dongchuan? I searched “Dongchuan Busterminal” on my maps.me app - navigation from the hotel is very simple, basically following one main road. At the bus station, I asked for the bus to Fahze (this town can also be found on maps.me, which gives both the English and the Chinese name). I was then referred to the other counter. The lady at the counter had a paper with some English sentences: “Do you want to go to the Red Lands?” I nodded yes, she indicated the bus would leave at 9am. 19 RMB. I hopped off the bus in Huashitou. There are at least 3 hotels there. I stayed in 红土人家酒店 (pinyin: hóng tǔ rén jiā jiǔ diàn). Nice room and bathroom for 80 RMB (2nd night I negotiated for 60 RMB), but problems with the shower (it was so scorching hot that I could not use it, for 2 nights in a row). There were plenty of hotels being built when I visited, and there were some finished ones walking distance from mine. Do you have to visit the Red Lands with a driver? If you want to see all the sites (10) in one day, probably yes. But you can see nice views by just walking also. In particular, the (splendid) site called “Beautiful Garden” is only 30 min walking from Huashitou. If you ask in your hotel about the viewpoints, they should be able to provide you with a map that indicates them. Viewpoint 1 is the most spectacular that I have seen and is quite far from Huashitou (about 30 min by car). The Red Lands are being developed for car tourism rather than pedestrian tourism: if you want to walk to the sites, you will need to walk on the side of the road (no sidewalk). Also, some of the dogs are rather vicious (I didn’t get bitten though; just some growling and barking). I took a half day with a driver, to 5 sites, for 100 RMB (10 sites was 200 RMB). I personally prefer walking so I have time to take pictures and venture a bit further if I want to. For more pics and a short description of my journey, see my post: “An experience not quite like the others - Dongchuan Redlands (Yunnan, China)”.
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