Jianshui

Jianshui was a centre of Confucian learning in southern Yunnan from the Yuan onward, and its temple complex, begun in 1285, covers over seven hectares around a lake, second in size only to the one at Qufu. The town keeps a Ming gate tower resembling a smaller Tiananmen, the Zhu family garden mansion, and dozens of old wells, several with multiple mouths under one cover, whose water is held to make the local tofu what it is: small squares fermented and grilled over charcoal, counted out with corn kernels as you eat. A narrow-gauge tourist train runs to the Twin Dragon Bridge and Tuanshan village.

What you actually see

• The Confucian temple - the vast complex around its lake.
• The old wells - multi-mouthed wells used daily across the town.
• The grilled tofu - fermented squares cooked over charcoal at street stalls.
• The narrow-gauge train - the line to Twin Dragon Bridge and Tuanshan.

When to go

October to May for dry mild weather; southern Yunnan is warm year-round. The tofu stalls run from afternoon into the night. Holidays crowd the temple and the train.

Honest expectations

Individual sites each charge entry and add up. The tourist train is expensive and slow. Some restoration is recent. Summer is hot and wet.

Nearby

Yuanyang terraces lie south; Kunming is north.