5 Days in Wenshan

Rail in via Puzhehei station, running since December 2016, about an hour and a half from Kunming; punt among the lake clusters, then climb Qinglong hill over a landscape locals count at 300-odd peaks, 80-odd caves and 50-odd lakes.

1. wenshan puzhehei lakes
2. wenshan qinglong hill

The Miao hamlet behind the hill where the hit drama set its fox-realm scenes in the 2016 filming, a 20-minute walk from the lookout, and the torch-and-moon caves at the waterline nearby.

1. wenshan caihuaqing village
2. wenshan puzhehei caves

Down the line to Guangnan and in by boat — about 1 kilometre of dark water cave between you and the rice-paddy village that styles itself the Peach Blossom Spring.

1. wenshan bamei village

In the county seat, the Qing-era yamen of the Nong clan, counted among the largest surviving Zhuang tusi compounds, in a town whose Han-court records raised a Gouding ruler to kingship in the first century BC.

1. wenshan guangnan tusi compound

Back west to Wenshan city, the prefecture capital that grows the bulk of China's notoginseng root, a walk through the trading halls and a riverside send-off along the Panlong.

1. wenshan sanqi market
2. wenshan panlong river