The Tropic of Cancer runs through this province in China’s southwest, home to 44 million people living in an expanse of approximately 400,000 km² – bordering Vietnam, Laos, and Myanmar. This region is a hiker’s paradise thanks to its numerous mountains, the variety of its landscapes, and its ethnic diversity.
85% of the province is mountainous, with peaks ranging from 77 metres of altitude in the southern county of Hekou to the majestic 6740 metres of Kawa Karpo in the Tibetan county of Deqen.

Six major rivers and their confluents cross the province: the Yangtze (this section of the river is called Jinsha Jiang), the Pearl River, the Mekong (this section is called the Lancang Jiang), the Red River or Yuan Jiang, the Salween (also called the Nujiang, and separated from the Yangtze by the Ningjing mountains), and the confluents of the Irrawaddy, such as the Dulongjiang river. Amiwa organises excursions in the areas around these rivers

The province is rich in mineral resources and richer still in biodiversity; there are innumerable species of plants and animals around the snowy Tibetan mountains in the tropical areas of XiShuangBanNa, and many are endemic to the region. Roughly 2,500 of the plant species at altitudes at and above 15,000 metres are native to the region. The province is home to nearly half of China’s birds and mammals and to 18,000 different plant species (there are 30,000 total in China). The monsoons that strike the province two months out of the year create a special ecosystem and make it possible for alpine flora to grow up to around 4,000 metres of altitude.

You can find more information about the province's subregions and the human impact on them in the section Yunnan from above. Information about some interesting places and villages is available in the section Chosen places. Last, some peaks and mountain ranges are shortly presented in the Mountains section.