Hi me and my mate are heading out of the city on our bikes this holiday weekend, we were wondering if there are any tips for wild camping or campsites around the area?

Thanks a lot in advance for any help with this.

Well wild in the sense that no wildlife exists anywhere and no matter where you go there will be armies of loud Chinese people trampling by at any moment.

There's certainly places around to camp that are remote and won't have any people.

Where they are, I don't know :(, but they exist.

The good thing about camping in China is usually don't need to pay park fees, and if you hike at least 1km, there won't be anyone else out there as most Chinese are allergic to camping and wildlife it seems.

Sorry I couldn't suggest a specific place, but if you keep looking (or feel brave enough to just go towards the mountains and wing it) you can find a place.

Anyone have any recommendations after 3 years? A couple of hours by bus or train or by bike would be good?

I know of a couple of campsites in Dali, one of which has canoe facilities.

@john-doe, do you have any contact info for these sites, please?

If they have canoe facilities then they are probably not wild camping grounds.

There are not that many camping sites in Yunnan. The only ones I know are:

Stone Forest camping site at Changhu Lake
N 24-42-53 E 103-24-26
Hot spring camping site near Mile
N24- 29-11 E 103-29-47
Hot spring camping at Pudu River hot spring resort
N 25-46-36 E 102-39-22

The fees are not that high and the last two have of course a hot spring. All facilities are extremely limited.

There is a lot of wild camping going on by mountaineers but they are by definition quite off the beaten track.

There are several hiking groups in Kunming and they usually manage to find places where they can stay.

If by wild camping you mean camping for a few days in the same place, you will probably be visited by local police and moved on.
If you mean stealth camping. Where you pitch tent at nightfall, and move on in the morning, that is usually ok.

The problem with camping wild around Kunming is that in all the forested area there are strict fire prevention measures.

This mainly during the dry season but at some places year round. This means checkpoints into these areas which will confiscate lighters and matches. Problem might be that even if you behave yourself absolutely responsible you might get caught in a fire started by others or lightning.

In the Dali area there strict regulations with respect to waterways.

In general this is a zone of 20 metres on both sides of the water or 300 metres around drinking water lakes and reservoirs.

Of course stay well away from military area.

The following article responds to a common question, is it legal to camp in China? Answer: yes and no.

www.travelchinacheaper.com/4-tips-for-camping-in-china