Dongchuan

Dongchuan District (东川区, Dōngchuān Qū) is a regional district in the Kunming Prefecture in China.

• 🌍 Maoye copper smelting site (茂麓厂冶铜遗址). Ancient copper smelting area. (updated May 2018)

Regular buses to Dongchuan town, and to other towns within Dongchuan district, leave from Kunming's north bus station.

Red earth at Hongtudi

• 🌍 Dongchuan Red Land (东川红土地 Dōngchuān Hóngtǔdì) (Two direct buses per day to Fazhe (法者) via Hongtudi leave Kunming North bus station at 07:50 and 08:30, take 4h, and cost ¥43. These buses should stop at Longtoujie metro about 15 minutes later. There are more buses available to Dongchuan town and to Majie (马街), from where you can take a bus or shuttle van the rest of the way.). This area has terraced fields of red earth, with different crops in different fields, leading to a patchwork of colour that is particularly attractive in spring and fall when there are flowers. Although several viewpoints are within walking distance of the central town, the rest of the scenic area is quite spread out, it's a bit remote, and there's not much to do other than look at dirt, so it's popular mainly with photographers. The locals have started building guest houses to accommodate tourists, in place of farming, which means some of the fields are now left fallow (a much less attractive gray in spring). As of 2018, the area is still not heavily developed for tourism and does not charge admission or inflated prices. 8-10 viewpoints have names, small pull-offs for parking, and in some cases toilets. free. (updated May 2018)

The towns near viewpoints in Hongtudi tend to have a good selection of small, family-run guest houses, with rooms from ¥50-200/night. These are generally new and in good condition, but don't expect luxury.