Red Land, Dongchuan, Yunnan, China

This set of photos was circulated on cyberspace and had me mesmerized. Whoever the photographer is, he/she definitely captured many defining moments on film! I just had to upload the photos onto my blog for keepsake.

The following is the text accompanying the photos, summarized for brevity:

"Red Land is located in Dongchuan district, north of Kunming. It is around 2600 ft. above sea level and a remote area with poor public transport service. The extra-ordinary reddish brown soil is a result of oxidized iron and various other oxidized metallic minerals. Dongchuan Red Land represents Yunnan mountain valley's most attractive colors. Crops on Red Land include potatoes, oats, corn, oil flower vegetables, etc. Because each family owns different sizes and shapes of land and each family plants their own preference of crops, this beautiful tableau is produced. During harvest time, the soil is turned over thus exposing this unusual red color.
Different seasons, different times and different intensities of sunlight produce different colors.

In September, white-colored oil flowers are in bloom on the whole mountain. It is a pity they cover up the beautiful red color. The best time for sightseeing tour is middle of November. The most dazzling color is just before the sun sets. Later, in order to promote tourism, Red Land was named Lexiaguo, meaning --- the place where beautiful colors set."

Since the commentary states that November is the best time to visit, I will be going there this November and come back, hopefully, with images laced with autumnal hue for comparison.


Care to join me ? The trip to Red Land from Kunming and back will be of 3 days (Nov 14-16, 2010) Drop me a note at david@elsoltravel.com for the details.