the bus loads of people that you would normally expect there (and you can see on the view point platforms that they facilitate busloads) were not there, hence we had a very quiet and extremely great holiday in true nature in Yuanyang rice terraces. quite difficult to get to at the moment(december 2020) , but manageable. we took train from Kunming to Jianshui - 10:30 bus to Xinjie and another minibus to our hotel. arrived in the early afternoon.

This review is more specifically about guided tours/hikes with Jacky. We did an amazing personalized hike through the rice terrace fields with Jacky. He speaks fluent English and will personalize your visit according to what you want. We wanted a good long hike with great photography and he definitely delivered. Spending the day on a guided tour with Jacky was very interesting. On the one hand, he has traveled all over the world and knows a lot about international culture, and on the other hand, you can definitely feel the love he has for his culture and his land. As we walked through the local towns and rice fields, we learned about local customs, religious beliefs, food, languages, clothing customs, and much more. Jacky seemed to know a lot of the locals and it was charming to walk through the villages as he greeted and chatted with them. At some point, we got stuck in rain, and he helped us find shelter at a kind elderly man's summer cabin in the middle of the rice fields. We ended up spending a good hour out of the rain with this 90 year old man, his dog and his chickens, and we kept warm by the fire as he smoked his big bamboo pipe (quite common in the region). It was a very charming and authentic experience. We also learned about local plants (he would get us to sniff different herbs and explained how the locals used them in food and medicine). Keep in mind that the villages in Yuanyang differ a lot culturally from the rest of Yunnan and China, and having lived in China for 2 years, it was really nice to learn about the cultural diversity present in Yuanyang. We had one full day to spend in Pugaolao and we left feeling like we had seen and lived it all after our guided tour with Jacky. Jacky was recommended to us by our hotel (we did not stay at his guesthouse). I HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend him as a guide, even if you stay somewhere else in Pugaolao or in another neighboring town. His guided tour was worth every penny and more! Here's his info: WeChat ID: jacky981221 Phone number: 13529732170 ** I'm unable to add pictures to this post because the pictures on my phone are too big and I'm not sure how to make them smaller, but the views were breathtaking during the entire guided tour**