Hi! :)

I am looking for advice from Yunnan experts as well as some information about small roads in southern and southeastern yunnan.

I made a google map where three possible routes are considered: bit.ly/GIoEvO

As it can be seen on the map, the roads in question are:
- G213 (from Jinghong till Mengxing Nanyangcun next to Lvshilin forest park)
- S218 (from Menxing Nanyangcun to Jiangcheng)
- S218 (from Jiangcheng to Mojiang)
- S214 (from Jiangcheng to Jianshui)

We are considering hitch-hiking (for free) on smaller roads. On April 15th we will depart from Jinghong and will try to reach Kunming on April 19th. Thus we have 4 full days (plus one day to reach Kunming) to spend on these smaller roads.

Questions I would like to ask are:
- Is there traffic on these roads? Aren't they almost deserted? Do we have a chance to hitch-hike someone there?

- Which is the most scenic / worth the visit route of the three?

- Will four days be enough to take one of these routes (combined with stopping once in a while, having a break here and there, staying somewhere for a night, seeing rice terraces maybe, etc.)?

- Are there buses to get us out for money in case hitch-hiking does not work out at some point?

All experiences and hints are welcome.

Thank you,
Zuru

As you can see from their designation, none of the roads are actually really 'small', but at least provincial level roads, so yes, these roads have traffic on them, including regular public busses. I am not so super confident about your chances of getting free rides as generally drivers expect the equivalent of the bus-fare and few will take passengers as the fines are too high.

Anyway:

G213 is the main highway from Kunming to Laos and on the stretch from Jinghong to Menglun a fast and wide road with lots of traffic on it. At Menglun you need to get off the G213 and get onto the old road to Mengxing (Google's maps are not correct here). There are very regular minibusses between Menglun and Mengxing.

S218 to Jiangcheng is a recently upgraded road, well paved but still quite slow as it goes across the mountains. On a bus that stretch is maybe four hours. A number of busses between Jiangcheng/Lüchun and Jinghong/Mengla ply that route. Closer to Jiangcheng it hits the very fast Jiangcheng-Simao road.
There are some morning busses from Jinghong to Jiangcheng and at least one that will take you all the way to Lüchun, which will take close to 10 hours.

S218 from Jiangcheng to Mojiang runs along the river, it is many years since I have travelled on this road, few settlements along this road but at least four busses per day between the towns. It used to be a narrow dirt road, but that is certainly not the case anymore.

S214 Jiangcheng to Lüchun to Jianshui. Jiangcheng to Lüchun is a pretty slow paved road with little traffic apart from busses (at least seven per day). From Lüchun to Yuanyang/Nansha busses are relatively frequent as this is the road from Lüchun to Kunming. Lüchun to Yuanyang (old town) takes about four to five hours, but there was some road construction last year for a new highway. The road from Nansha (modern Yuanyang town by the Red River) to Jianshui is under construction as far as I know, but usually takes three hours.

In terms of scenery, Menglun has the nice Xishuangbanna Tropical Forest Park. Off the road between Mengxing and Jiangcheng is Yiwu, an old tea town (but most building are modern). Jiangcheng and Lüchun are both pretty boring countytowns, Lüchun marginally better than Jiangcheng. You then pass Habo and Laomeng, before you climb into the rice terrace areas, passing one key scenic spot Tiger Mouth Laohuzui directly. (They have built a big fence there so you cannot see the terraces anymore unless you pay) before you get to Yuanyang.

Thank you very much, this is very helpful! :)

Perhaps, you could suggest a good road map for Yunnan? I will try to buy it in Beijing already. (English is not necessary)

You can find good small road atlasses for the Chinese provinces in all bookshops, the thing to ask for is 云南省地图册. They cost somewhere between 10 and 25 Y. Look for the publishing date (lots of new roads all the time), some have distances printed along roads.