Our goal was to get to a small town, Pianma, on the border of Yunnan and Burma, then travel north towards the Tibetan border town of Dechen (Deqin). Along the way to Pianma and back there are forests with all kinds of neat plants, both lower elevation subtropical things and higher elevation alpine flora. It must be absolutely breathtaking in spring, especially given all the different rhododendron species we saw, but there was plenty of interest to see in August as well. We saw a few new impatiens species, a wonderful tall yellow corydalis full of flowers and seeds, another gesneriad with purple flowers, a pink flowered Luculia that I would have never seen if the landslide didnt bring it down into the road, and other neat things. Speaking of landslides, they were common in the area and some roads were closed off so we had to find an alternative route or just wait a while. For some reason I was not particularly anxious, even though I am certainly not a risk taker in most cases. I think I should have been anxious though, the landslides were frequent enough and many contained rocks of a size that could do real damage if it came down on a passing car. We drove around them in most cases, our driver was familiar with them as he lives in the general area and landslides during the rainy summer season in particular are a fact of life in this area. So are earthquakes but thankfully we did not experience any.
Pianma itself was a small town with not much of note other than a rather cool museum dedicated to the Flying Tigers who played an important role in supplying China with weapons to fight the Japanese invasion during WW2. It included a plane that presumably was rebuilt from one of the several that crashed during the operation, and there were other displays in there as well.
We then looked for a hotel and Pianma didn't look very promising in that regard. But we heard there was a nice hotel in the woods a bit out of town, and a woman came to lead us to the hotel. In our car there was much talk in Chinese which I didnt understand, and when we arrived at the hotel there were two policemen that came up from Pianma to make sure we were checked in where we were supposed to be. I've encountered this before, it seems to be something they do when one is near a border with another country. And these two young guys were very nice, and apparently I was the first American they ever saw. My wife later explained to me that she was very relieved to see them as the chatter in the car on the way to the hotel was about stories of Chinese being kidnapped and taken to Burma for organ harvesting and was the lady really leading us to the hotel or otherwise. I certainly hope that the rumors of organ harvesting in Burma is not the case and from what I could see the border area looks pretty secure from the Chinese side so I doubt people just come in from across the border to snatch Chinese citizens for nefarious purposes. I have read of organized crime in Burma that targets Chinese people with scam calls, but that's about all I have ever heard of. So in the end we ended up at my favorite hotel on the trip, for a very reasonable price, and we were in no danger at all, and best of all when we left to resume our journey we had all of our organs with us.
One of the things really l liked about this hotel was that it was the only place in China where I got to see a vast number of moths. There was a beautiful pool with rocks and lotus and bright lights that attracted moths from the nearby woods and I got to see some gorgeous subtropical and semi temperate species. Apparently in the morning one of the cleaning staff just sweeps up any moths that dont fly away and dumps them in the trash, but to me they were one of the really cool things to see at this particular hotel. The rooms were fine and the place was once some rich persons oversized home but then was turned into a hotel. Because there were not a lot of guests, we didn't have to deal with smoke in our rooms which is a common issue in hotels in China. Non smoking in China often means they air out the room and spray some deodorant but real nonsmoking hotels in China where the nonsmoking rule is enforced are still fairly rare. I'm sure they will be more common in the future, it took a long time to make it happen here in the USA after all.
Breakfast in the hotel we stayed in with the cool wood carvings.
There were some interesting plants around a pool that was less interesting at this particular hotel. This was a species of Cornus flowering at an odd time of year.
This gorgeous magnolia species with a huge flower is probably native to the area. Would love to have seen it fully open.
Naturally they had a species of Hedychium, looks like some I have grown from seed at home and protect with a winter wood chip mulch.
The pool and plantings
Another cool wooden carving, this one presumably of the Buddha.
I saw a lot of this plant at subtropical elevations, at first I thought it might be an Epimedium species but it could also be a seedling Aruncus as well.
Everywhere we went there seemed to be Buddliea species
And of course Arisaema as well. The genus is poorly represented in the US with maybe two species, but is very diverse in this part of China.
If you like ferns, and who doesnt, you will find plenty of diversity in China.
This breathtaking impatiens grew near the road, it appeared to be an annual species that propagates from seed.
I love a mystery, and here is another one. Probably a species of Buddliea but there is a lot to learn about the diverse flora of Yunnan, especially for a first time visitor like myself.
A nice shrub, perhaps a species of Stewartia?
Cool to find a label on a tree
A better view of the tree, must be impressive when in bloom
We stopped along the road to view this lovely Abelia species with huge white flowers
Nearby grew a fairly low growing Thalictrum with bright yellow flowers. Very cool, no petals but the stamens were brightly colored and the foliage lovely. Some were in seed as well.
A yellow flowered Sedum. Sedums are pretty common among rocks in China.
This beauty shocked me, it looks like a Ceropegia species that one might find in South Africa, definitely not something I expected to see in China. It was a vine with very nice flowers.
A closer view of the extraordinary flowers
Hypericum spp are everywhere in this area but this one was unusual in that it was a small creeping plant, not a decent sized shrub as most are
A slogan carved into the vegetation, I have no idea what it says
Corn and other food crops are everywhere in China, often in most unexpected places. They can be on the side of the road between it and a river, on top of a steep slope where one wonders who goes up and down to plant and harvest it, and often even in cities people grow pots of herbs and vegetables on rooftops and other suitable spots.
The views, especially of the several river valleys that go through this area, are the stuff of dreams
And then there is the stuff of nightmares, frequent rock slides. One good thing I noticed is that of the many landslides I saw, none caused actual road damage, but it would be wise to not be there when they actually happen.
There was a bit of a tree/landslide issue here so we had to find another way to go
Rookie landslide, in comparison to others, just sand. But if that whole slope came down it could be pretty awful.
Another tree or two on the road, rather interesting but I could not figure out the species nor genus
And then there was this magnificent thing, a pink Luculia species which I would not have seen had it not been brought down by a small landslide. It was full of flowers and also nearly ripe seedpods. A real treasure to come across.
This was a pretty bad landslide but we got past it
Impatiens arguta, a favorite species of mine that I grow in my gardens as a hardy perennial with some winter mulch for protection. Oddly of my plants which consist of three clones, two purple and one white, only the white one sets seed. So I suspect the other clones are hybrids of some sort. These were clearly species arguta and some did have seed pods. They were also smaller than the plants in my gardens but that could also be an environmental influence, plants often grow bigger in a garden where they are weeded and fertilized.
A lovely gesneriad, something along the lines of the former Chirita genus. Some had spotted leaves.
Nicely spotted leaves
Spotted leaves and flower
This gesneriad tended to form colonies by seeding onto the mossy rocks nearby
A beautiful fern, maybe a species of Adiantum?
More neat views
More hedychiums in flower
A thornless rubus species, similar to R henryi but the fruits are different
More of the thorneless Rubus
A large leaved rhododendron. There were many species in this area
More rhododendrons
Took a walk deeper into the woods, luckily no snakes but it was lightly raining. No leeches either but we did find one near the end of our trip.
A wonderful Rubus species, this did have a few thorns but the fruits were delicious!
An interesting bush with brilliant blue berries with tiny seeds. I assume it is in the Ericaceae.
An Aruncus in flower
A species of Spirea with nice pink flower clusters
Found more of the Polygala shrub, this may be P. arillata.
An interesting and pretty sedge species with white flowers
Polygonum or Persicaria species
Waterfall
A species of everlasting, maybe Anaphalis
Persicaria sp
Halenia sp and probably coltsfoot leaves
Halenia sp.
Orchid, maybe Malaxis sp
Arisaema sp, maybe lobatum, in fruit
Rocks provide perfect places for seedling rhododendrons and other treasures
Fern on a rock
Mosses and a tiny leaved rhodendron (?) on the rocks
Goodyera sp
More ferns on rocks
Yet more cool ferns
A mossy rock becomes a nursery bed for all kinds of cool plants
Persicaria sp
Buddliea sp
Goodyera, Fragaria and company on the rocks
Goodyera in flower
Apiaceae of some sort
Polygonatum sp
Impatiens sp
Buddliea in seed
More impatiens, as you can guess I am greatly enamored with this genus
A magnificent corydalis, tall with bright yellow flowers and seeds
Closer view of the corydalis
Power lines snake their way through the mountains even in these remote areas. I give China an A+ when it comes to infrastructure, roads and power reach deep into places that were hardy accessible in past decades
The clouds always add to the beauty of the views
Satyrium, probably S nepalense, was not uncommon in this area. Small but very showy.
A whole group of S nepalense not far from the road
A picturesque conifer that had epiphytic rhododendrons and other things growing among its branches near the trunk
More of that pretty blue berried ericad bush
Finally something I recognize as I grew it some years ago. Leycesteria formosa.
L. formosa has edible fruits filled with tiny seeds but I didnt try to eat them. The bracts are a nice touch which add to its attractiveness.
Some buddlieas can become small trees
A more typical shrub type hypericum species with very nice large flowers
A lycopod trailing down off of a rock. Cool to think these plants have been around since long before the dinosaurs
What is it? If I had to guess, its probably some kind of gesneriad.
A male moth at the hotel we stopped at, related to our native polyphemus moth
A male Actias dubernardi. Exquisite relative of our luna moth.
Some of the beetles here were massive
A stunning saturnid moth, there were several of these to be seen that night
The wing patterns were mesmerizing
No idea what species but it was a pretty color combination
The hotel lobby
Another moth, maybe a geometrid sort?
Another winged beauty
The large saturnid moth, probably a species of Saturnia.
This is probably an underwing moth, Catacola sp. We have plenty of them in the USA but none of our species have blue colors on their back wings
A male saturnid, probably a Loepa species
No idea what this medium sized moth is but the colors were great.
Like I said the beetles were huge
Another saturnid moth in the grass
A little green moth
Like the gold fringes on this one
I did like this water garden
An ornamental non native, Podranea ricasoliana, native to southern Africa.
Breakfast before hitting the road again. I really like the noodle soups in Yunnan.
We went back to Pianma to see the museum. The title doesnt make sense, as the British were allied with China during WW2 so I think its a mistranslation
A reconstructed Flying Tiger airplane
Some artifacts found at a crash site presumably
I assume these are crash sites of some of the Flying Tigers but dont know for sure
This probably depicts the routes the Flying Tigers took to supply China with weapons it needed to fight the invading Japanese armies.
Back on the road, heading north again,and finding a nicely textured rhododendron seedling on the rocks.
Not too far from a police checkpoint we got out to look at the flowers, this is a pretty geranium species with flowers bending in the rain
Of course I love all things in the Geraniaceae
A Potentilla species. This area had a flora that was a bit more alpine than where we were before
This Anaphalis species was quite showy, it reminds me of some distant relatives that grow in the western Cape fynbos in South Africa
As above but with a species of Erigeron daisy I think
Nice views as always
More Persicaria species, they vary in attractiveness but this one was on the better side.
You know your getting higher up in altitude when you find this little Saxifraga species.
A Cotoneaster species
They were diffcult to photograph but this is a colony of Saxifraga stolonifera.
As we go down in elevation we see another stunning Hedychium in full bloom
Another hard to photograph species, this is Adenophora, maybe A capillaris.
We had to pull over at a nice rest stop due to avalanches, so I took a photo of a very pretty but fast moving butterfly
A close relative of our Monarch butterfly, one of the many Milkweed butterflies of Asia
Back on the road by one of several rivers that emerge in Tibet and provide China and southeast Asia with water. They were all flowing fast due to good summer rains, and they were carrying a lot of sediment down from the highlands
I think this waterfall was some sort of artificial creation to get rid of excess water from the local area
This small town we went into must be subtropical if Thunbergia grows here
We have planters of petunias in the summer not far from our house that the city puts up every year. But I rather prefer when you can have cymbidium orchids as permanent street plantings, even if they have to be placed on trees.
Each seed pod of this cymbidium will produce hundreds of thousands if not millions of seeds when mature
When in China, get used to the chickens that appear in all sorts of places. Chicken tastes better there too, its usually very fresh and its not plumped up with salt water like our supermarket chicken is. It may be a bit chewier but it tastes better.
Buddlieas in various forms are everywhere
This was a local attraction with the hole in the rock on the ridge. Note the corn tassels, like I said, they grow food everywhere in China.
And finally a parting view as we travel along a river towards our next destination
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