Dongchuan, in the northeast of Kunming, is believed to hold the world's most imposing red earth, even more magnificent than that in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is the most massive red land with typical features of Yunnan plateau. With gorgeous and colorful hues, the red land is praised as a palette on earth, and is more and more favored by backpackers, hikers and photographers. The land with picturesque scenery is paradise for photography fans.

What a pity’ this place is not well renowned. Lexiaguo is one of the splendid beauties on earth, mountains here are like canvas colored by god himself. Luoxiaguo is situated in the southwest of Kunming, a capital city of the Yunnan province, of China. Unfortunately the inhabitants of the Lexiaguo are also unaware of its beauty. This place is covered with red soil that is best used to cultivate potatoes, oil flower vegetables, oats, corn, etc. The entire location is enclosed with patches of cultivated crops and these patches make it look colorful and gorgeous. In fact these cultivated crops color the mountains in 5 to 6 different colors.

Below is the information forwarded to me recently. It’s about a very beautiful place in China. It’s called Lexiaguo. Does Lexiaguo exist? The pictures look stunning. Since I used to travel to China a lot and  have never heard of this place, I did some research myself. Original text from the forwarded email:

Lexiaguo – southwest of Kunming in Yunnan, China

It is located in the south-western part of Kunming , 2600 ft. above sea level, a remote area. Because of its lack of infrastructure and inadequate transportation and lodging, most travel agencies would not think of going there. But for those who have seen the pictures of the Red land, no one can resist being attracted to its beautiful scenery. This extra-ordinary reddish brown soil is a result of oxidized iron (and various other oxidized metallic minerals). In these mountains and hills every inch of land is cultivated to the maximum causing unwanted damage to the place through erosion that’s why returning to forestry is being advocated. Because each family owns different sizes and shapes of land and each plant its own preference of crops, this beautiful tableau is produced. During harvest time, the soil is turned over and exposes this unusually red color. In September, white-coloured oil flowers are in bloom on the whole mountain. It is a pity they cover up the beautiful red color. The best time for sightseeing tour is middle of November. Different seasons, different time, different sunlight produce different colors.

I later found out that the wider known name of this place is called Dongchuan Red Land (东川红土地) in Kunming, Yunnan. Lexiaguo mentioned in the forwarded email is a small village in the Dongchuan Red Land and the correct pinyin spelling should be Luo Xia Gou or La Xia Gou (落霞沟), literally means a ditch of fallen red colours since it’s situated between two mountains on both sides. Luoxiagou is more widely used. If you type La or Luo on the keyboard with Chinese language setting, you get the option of the same Chinese character. Try typing in Dongchuan Red Land in Google images, you will see many more breath-taking photos. I also found a map with the name of the small villages around that area. I have tried to collage different maps from Google to give everyone an idea of Kunming of Yunnan in relation to Dongchuan and Xintianxiang, where the Dongchuan Red Land fields are located. The map on the left shows location of different villages. You can click to enlarge.

Luoxiagou Scenic Spot:

It is located in the scenic spot of the red earth.

The best time for sightseeing is in the morning or after three o'clock in the afternoon.

Travel Line:

1. Take a bus at Kunming Northern Passengers’ Station. The reference ticket price is 34 Yuan per person.

2. Drive along Kunming-Qujing Expressway---Kunming-Songming Expressway—Songming Expressway—Songdai Expressway---Longtang Exit—Dongchuan District

This travel line takes about 3 hours and Dongchuan District is 159 km from Kunming.

Best Time to Visit: September - December.

Things to do at the Lexiaguo

Lexiaguo has magnificent landscapes and hence sightseeing must be the priority of tourist visiting this place. You must see the different sizes, shapes and colors of land filled with cultivated colorful crops. The countryside farm scenes here are unbelievably gorgeous. The best time of sightseeing here is the mid of November.

You can enjoy relaxing your body and soul here, just spend time at the sights and see the clouds pass by. When you spend your time at the sites don’t forget to see the sunset, an amazing opportunity to see the colors on the mountain dazzled up by the setting sun.

Must see places at Lexiaguo

The town in Lexiaguo

The Dongchuan Red Land at the Yunnan valley, the colors of this valley are really very attractive and stunning.

How to get to Lexiagou

The infrastructure of Lexiaguo is not yet developed and hence the state transportation is not that good here. However the best way to get to Lexiaguo is by road.

顾名思义，“落霞沟”是彩霞落脚的地方。天空之大，彩霞之多，变化之快，形状之异是任何画家无法绘制的，那美不胜收的景色也难以用文字描述。若到“落霞沟”，展现在你面前的形状及色彩就向一只振翔北飞的凤凰。
 

“落霞沟”常常随风向、云层、阳光、植物、视觉的变化而变化，一年四季，365天，没有重复的画面。到了“落霞沟”，从上往下看，缕缕炊烟腾空而起，田野、村庄共同构成一幅美丽的图画，在那长期被雨水冲刷的沟壑衬托下，立体感越来越强，有一种挡不住的视觉冲击力，并在风向、云层、阳光、植物及视觉的作用下，一幅幅古色古香、典雅而沉重的画卷展现在眼前。在往远处看，深切的河谷里流淌着滔滔河水，河滩上的庄稼被风吹起各种颜色的波浪，从山脚到山顶，农夫耕作出许多让人眼馋的美景，引来天上的白云观赏，白云遮挡住了太阳的视线，太阳请来了风神，希望吹散白云，被袭击的云团顿时变化无穷，形成各种各样、厚度不均、大小不一的云块，当云块的影像投射到地面时，形成最富幻想的层层叠叠的叠影图片。