Dongchuan Red Land, Kunming, Yunnan, China

Dongchuan Red Land 東川紅土地, located 40km southeast side of Kunming city, were referred by photographers and tourists as "colour palette spilled by God". We managed to stay at this highland for 3 days 2 nights and yet we wish we could've extend our stay because this place is so serene and the sceneries were impressive. (but mainly because we couldn't get any good shots due to the weather T_T)

cold morning with heavy mist 

Unlucky us, it started raining the day we arrive, hence it was gloomy throughout our whole stay. Cold weather between 10-15 degree celsius, heat techs and jackets are a must. Gloomy weather kinda dulls the colour contrast of red soils and plantation, with no sun or clouds as background, we are kinda disappointed that we're unable to witness the beautiful oil-painting like sceneries like Van Gogh's painting.

But who says earthy tones can't be as beautiful as well?

look at the colours of red soil and plantations, with white colour houses
really looks like paintings ain't it?

September is rapeseed flower season! Super dreamy!
My very first time seeing sea of flowers. 

white rapeseed flowers are a bit rare to come by, most of the rapeseed flowers are yellow in colour

close up of dewy rapeseed flowers

rapeseed are rich in oil, they're cultivated as third largest source as vegetable oils worldwide.

Dongchuan Red Land is well known for its beautiful scenery, and different season you may encounter different type of beauty, I guess this is what drives tourists and photographers obsessed with this place. You may ask: which is the best viewpoint for Dongchuan Red Land? Here's a brief map of it:

(click to enlarge or save it for future usage)

Best place to stay: Chun Qiu Da Jiu Dian 春秋大酒店

Located just 10 mins walk from Luo Xia Gou 落霞溝 (one of the best viewpoint in my opinion), this 3 floors hotel is probably one of the best you can get around Dongchuan. Equivalent to a 2/3stars hotel, this hotel provides hot water, private bathroom with toiletries, comfortable bed, TV and wifi.  Most importantly, located beside one of the best viewpoint, you can visit Luo Xia Gou anytime, especially when the weather is as fickle as a child's emotion, you don't want to miss it when the sun decides to show up for a short period.

Viewpoints:

• Luo Xia Gou 落霞溝
• Da Ma Kan 打馬坎
• Yue Pu Ao 樂譜凹
• Qi Cai Po 七彩坡
• Qian Nian Lao Long Shu 千年老龍樹

Luo Xia Gou 落霞溝:

This is the first viewpoint we went without knowing it's the best viewpoint. 

We arrived the hotel at 4 something late afternoon, and was told to be back at hotel by 6:30pm for dinner. As we walk further into the villages, we were so afraid to walk pass the houses because we scared dogs or geese might attack us (goose can be very nasty and attack people!). Hence we spent a lot of time dilly dallying in front of the houses trying to get pass the geese without being attack, luckily a girl who works at the hotel we were staying passes by and we followed her quickly. 

Entrance of Luo Xia Gou, through this small village, let's go!

I wonder if it's poisonous?

These two culprits blocked our way and wasted our precious time!
Why are we so afraid of geese omg!
(My mum was attacked by goose when she was young and she told me it was super painful bitten by them)

on the contrary, these farm ducks are so cute!

Having the road all by myself

beautiful pink and white flowers blooming at roadside

Roadside scenery while we're walking towards Luo Xia Gou

Thank god for this trench coat by Atelier Prive Melson, the weather was cold and this coat is just perfect to keep me warm!

Finally, we reached Luo Xia Gou viewpoint..... parking lol
I can't imagine if it was a sunny day, the scenery is gonna be so stunning I bet!

Close up shot, using 12-100mm M.Zuiko Pro Lens

And guess what, we made a funny mistake by not walking further into the area from carpark that evening where the good stuff are at! There's an actual walkway that leads to a viewing point firmly built at side of the hill for tourists and photographers. Weather got really bad for the next two days, hence on the day we're leaving Dongchuan, we're still unable to take a glance of Luo Xia Gou's full glory view.

Sigh, kinda disappointed that the mist were too heavy since our arrival boohoo

Da Ma Kan 打馬坎

Sunrise of Dongchuan red land is a must see must do things if you ever visit this place, but I wish you better luck than us because for 2 consecutive mornings, we wake up at 5am, found the sky's drizzling and yet we head to the Da Ma Kan viewpoint nonetheless, with hopes the sky will turn clear by sunrise. 

It did not. 

Damn.

Rainy morning of Dongchuan is so gloomy I just had to take silly photos like this. 

I really love this photo. It gives me an isolated, out of this world kinda vibes.

no sun for us boohoo

I'll never know how Dongchuan sunrise will look like T_T

I'm kinda fascinated with windmill actually

Qian Nian Lao Long Shu 千年老龍樹

Thousand year old tree

This thousand year old tree is believe to guard the lands of Dongchuan red land, bringing prosperity to all the villagers of Dongchuan. It got struck by lightning many years back, been dead for 3 years but revived and now, standing tall and proud on this hilltop, overlooking everyone around Dongchuan with much elegance.

I'm coming to visit you old tree after I take some photo here!

passing through rapeseed flower fields to get to the hilltop

I'm wondering what the tree had witnessed, stood there for thousand years

more rapeseed flowers fields when we're heading back to our bus

Qi Cai Po 七彩坡


Qi Cai Po, which literally means Seven Colour Hills, shows us only earthy tones during our visit. The gloomy weather dulls the colour of red soils, trees and flowers, creating another type of vibes to all the photos I took. I've done research on photos of Dongchuan and have yet saw the same vibes of photography that I've took. I guess Dongchuan really does have its many faces towards different people.

Everyday life of a farmer with his cute cows

Yue Pu Ao 樂譜凹

Another famous viewpoint of Dongchuan, this valley is famous for its beautiful scenery with white houses located at its side and colourful valley of fields due to different types of plantation. I guess this is a must visit viewpoint as well because there are many tourists around when we reach this location. Do walk all the way down and get some nice photos without people photobombing you at the back.

Don't know about you but this scenery makes me believe I'm in Northern Europe or something
Maybe it's my editing lololol

So I guess there sums up my 3 days 2 nights stay at Dongchuan Red Land. I love the cold drizzling  morning, the heavy mist atmosphere that cleanse my lungs, the quiet trees, the white coloured waves of rapeseed flower fields, the cute animals we encountered, the smiling faces of hotel attendants who wanted to feed us more every meal, the funny toilet incident, and most of all, thanks to the gloomy rainy days which means I might have chance visiting this place again, hopefully soon!

It ain't easy travel to a new country, to be totally honest, I even felt a bit paranoia these days whenever I think of traveling: coping to new weather, new environment, new food, new people, packing, conceptualising shooting ideas, editing, all these really stresses me out and I often get insomnia days before my flight. Travel to more places really changes me, both physically and mentally.

Sorry for ending a blog post with such gloomy tones, but it is through traveling I realised my responsibility as a person, as a blogger, as an instagrammer, as a social media influencer, that I need to fulfil requirements to deliver quality contents to my readers/followers. I do hope I can achieve something more down this journey and I hope you'll have fun when I share all my ups and downs to you.

Here's a selfie from me and Fei to lighten up the mood of this blog post!
Have a good day!

All photos taken with:

Olympus OMD EM1 Mark ii
M.Zuiko PRO lens 12-100mm F2.8

Pure Beauty Illuminating Urban Shield Skincare Range - Skin's "Shield" Against Air Pollution

Gladly to be born as a city girl, I grew up seeing the rapid growth of my country as well as the city I'm in. In fact, most of the time I think I evolve along with the city I'm in, adapting a fast lifestyle with fun and excitements that fills my life to the fullest.

Say hi to this soon-to-be Kuala Lumpur tallest building: TRX

Of course, there's down side of being a city girl. Unhealthy food, unhealthy lifestyle, and air pollution is damaging my skin day to day that my skin aged more than I do. Air pollution being one of the most toxic substance as it contains free radicals, brings harm to my skin alongside with UV rays. Most of the time my skin looks dull, visible dirt and oily pores that become my most concerned skin issue. Of course, not to mention wrinkles that comes with dehydrated and dull skin condition. 

Although it will be hard to revert my skin condition back before it was damaged but recently I've been introduced to Pure Beauty - a range of skincare products that has revolutionary Korean beauty care technology with antioxidants and antipollution ingredients that creates shield that protects skin from all the harmful polluted environment as well as oxidation elements a city girl could get. 

Pure Beauty Illuminating Urban Shield skincare range

From left to right:
Pure Beauty Illuminating Urban Shield Radiance Cream
Pure Beauty Illuminating Urban Shield Capsule Essence
Pure Beauty Illuminating Urban Shield Skin Protector SPF50+ PA++++

Based on 4Ps skincare philosophies, Pure Beauty Illuminating Urban Shield skincare range has 90% users satisfied with flawless, bright and translucent skin. The 4Ps skincare philosophies are:

• Preparation: Contains willow tree bark extract, pure beauty's skincare products will enhance skin's fundamental healthiness. 
• Preservation: Neurolight that's derived from certified organic Natural Star Lily will decreases dark spots.
• Protection: Ceramide 123 can strengthens skin's barrier, forming a stronger shield that protects skin from harmful elements in polluted environments.
• Prevention: EPS White to help protect skin and stopping skin from forming dark spots.

Formulated with such advanced Korean beauty care technology, here are some testing I've did upon receiving the products of Pure Beauty skincare products:

Pure Beauty Illuminating Urban Shield Capsule Serum (RM69.90):

look at all pearlised capsule essence

Easily absorb and non-greasy feeling, the most important benefit of pearlised capsule essence is that the goodness of essence are fully protected from oxidisation hence when it's crushed at that very moment I pump the essence and apply onto my skin, the extracts of Natural Star Lily are activated and my skin gets the freshest extract ingredients.

Formulated with neurolight, the ingredients of these capsule essence are certified organic Star Lily which decreases dark spots, brings out natural shine of skin and make skin looks more luminous. It will diminish uneven skin tones too and gives skin a smoother and brighter look. This capsule serum is to be apply after cleansed face, day and night for maximum result.

Pure Beauty Illuminating Urban Shield Radiance Cream (RM59.90)

formulated with nerolight and derived organic star lilies, this radiance cream is antioxidant and antipollution too

Look at the skin difference before and after application

I like the texture of this radiance cream, it is super lightweight, soft and smooth. Using the same neurolight ingredients as the capsule essence, this radiance cream keeps skin radiant white and protects environmental aggressors with the thin shield created after application. Apply morning and night after cleansing, toning and serum.

Pure Beauty Illuminating Urban Shield Skin Protector SPF50+ PA++++ (RM49.90)

It is until recently only I discover the calculation of SPF effects (did you guys know that?). The simple math equation for knowing how long your sunscreen products last on your skin is:

number of SPF x 10 minutes = minutes your skin will be protected

So for this sun protector, it will be SPF50+ x 10 minutes = 500minutes which equals to 8 hours and 30 minutes. If you're using lesser SPF than 50 on a sunny day, remember to calculate and know when to reapply your sunscreen. SPF15 blocks about 93% of UVB rays, SPF30 blocks about 97% and SPF50 keeps out about 98% of UVB rays penetration.



With organic Star Lily Neurolight extract, Pure Beauty's Illuminating Urban Shield Sun Protector decreases formation of dark spots and protects skin from harmful UV Rays at the same time. With indication of PA++++, this sun protector has very strong protection against UVA rays that penetrates deep into our skin.

In a lightweight texture, almost milky form, this sun protector moistened my skin and doesn't leave any greasy residue on it. Comparing my fist with the other one that has nothing on it, my skin looks more radiant, moisturised and bright. This sun protector is to be apply after cream/moisturizer, before makeup.




Thanks to Pure Beauty and Watsons Malaysia invitation, I get to attend a skincare beauty workshop organised by both and learned that aside from the Illuminating Urban Shield range, there are Pomegranate Urban Shield, PINK by Pure Beauty It's Pore Perfection and PINK by Pure Beauty Pink Skin range to suits different skin type users.

complete skincare products from the Illuminating Urban Shield range

The skincare and beauty workshop was held at Common Ground, Menara Worldwide, we get to witness the wonders of Pure Beauty's products by seeing how Shazreeyana Shukri demonstrate the application of Illuminating Urban Shield skincare range to daily makeup looks. 

Thank you so much for inviting!

Me and my friends had so much fun trying out the products one by one and exchange opinions on the spot. It was an insightful afternoon spent with quality people and promising products. As mentioned in the beginning of this blog post, Pure Beauty Illuminating Urban Shield products are newly introduced to me and I would like you to share with me your testimonials if you're avid users of Pure Beauty skincare products by commenting under this blog post! Good things are meant to be shared right?

For more information:

Pure Beauty's Official Facebook Page

Pure Beauty's Official Instagram Page 

Pure Beauty skincare products are available exclusively at Watsons Malaysia.