Yunnan Ethnic Villages is situated six kilometres south of Kunming, the Yunnan Ethnic Villages is a 2,000-mu affair bordering on the south by the Dianchi Lake and on the west by the famous Western Mountains Scenic Area. The famous historical and cultural city of Kunming is in the north of the villages. Each of the 26 ethnic peoples of Yunnan will have a village built on the premises, and there will also be a square symbolizing unity among various ethnic groups, a theatre for the performance of ethnic songs and dances, a folklore museum, and a museum of ethnic waxworks.

When completed, the Yunnan Ethnic Villages will become an epitome of Yunnan as a multi-ethnic province, and an immense garden in south Chinese horticultural and landscaping traditions.

On the north-eastern side of the lake, the Ethnic Villages is a string of model minority villages with the aim of finally representing all 25 of Yunnan's minorities. There are also various song-and-dance performances throughout the day.

If you're at all averse to tourist-board fabrications of ethnic cultures, give the place a miss and spend two extra days in Xishuangbanna or Dehong, where you can see the real thing.

China tours inclusive of visiting Provincial Folklore Garden, Kunming