一年好景君须记，最是橙黄橘绿时。Yī nián hǎo jǐng jūn xū jì, zuì shì chéng huáng jú lǜ shí – One fine season of the year you must remember: when the oranges are yellow and the tangerines still green.
银杏村 Yínxìng Cūn Ginkgo Village – formally 江东村 Jiāngdōng Cūn Jiangdong Village in 固东镇 Gùdōng Zhèn Gudong Town – sits about 40 km north of Tengchong worth confirming, a farming hamlet of houses walled in 火山石 huǒshān shí volcanic stone, where ginkgo trees grow inside the yards, along the lanes and around the edges of the fields. The count runs into the thousands, many of them a century old or more worth confirming, planted for their nuts, 白果 báiguǒ ginkgo nuts, rather than for looks. For three or four weeks a year the whole thing turns gold: the leaves of mid-November to early December, roughly November 15 to December 10 depending on the weather worth confirming, carpet the lanes and the tile roofs, and the village that locals describe as the forest in the village, the village in the forest, fills with photographers. There is no gate and no ticket – it is a living village, not a park worth confirming – and that is both its charm and the thing visitors get wrong most often. Come on a weekday if you can; peak-season weekends bring the tour buses, and the narrow lanes jam.
Practicalities are simple but seasonal. Reach the village by bus from Tengchong toward 固东 and then a short hop to 江东村, or by direct taxi in an hour to an hour and a half worth confirming fares; during the peak weeks there are seasonal shuttle arrangements worth confirming. Accommodation is village 农家院 nóngjiāyuàn farm-stay guesthouses – simple rooms in family courtyards, prices that multiply in the colour window, so book ahead if you want to sleep in the village worth confirming; most people day-trip from Tengchong. Food is farm cooking: 白果炖鸡 báiguǒ dùn jī chicken stewed with ginkgo nuts, plus the usual Tengchong breakfasts. Morning is the best light and the best mist, when the valley fills with fog and the golden lanes empty of people; the village sits at about 1,700 m, so November mornings are cold and the afternoons mild.
The honest framing is agricultural, not decorative. These are working trees in working yards: ginkgoes drop their fruit – which smells, and is collected and dried for the nuts – and the golden lanes that get photographed are simply the village’s normal lanes. Keep off doorsteps, do not enter houses or courtyards without invitation, and remember that the whole event is short: outside those three or four weeks this is a quiet hamlet under green leaves with little to see, which is why the entire basin’s traffic compresses into one fortnight. Bring warm layers for the cold mornings and waterproof shoes for the damp volcanic-stone lanes; cars cannot pass through the heart of the village in the peak weeks, so plan to walk. And accept the luck of it – one windy night or an early cold snap can strip the colour in days, so watch the village’s colour reports rather than trusting the calendar alone. All checked October 2026.
Practicalities
- Rating: 银杏村 Yínxìng Cūn (江东村 Jiāngdōng Cūn) is a working village in 固东镇 Gùdōng Zhèn, Tengchong, famed for its thousands of ginkgo trees – not a graded scenic area, and the honest draw is the season.
- Tickets: The village itself is free; some courtyards charge a few yuan to enter and photograph (worth confirming the details), and the peak weeks see a parking fee on the village roads.
- Address: 固东镇江东村 Gùdōng Zhèn Jiāngdōng Cūn, about 40 km north of Tengchong city – bus to 固东 then a short taxi, or a direct taxi of about an hour.
- Time needed: Two to three hours in peak season (mid-November to early December); outside the golden weeks an hour is plenty.
Words and Names
银杏村 Yínxìng Cūn Ginkgo Village · formally 江东村 Jiāngdōng Cūn Jiangdong Village in 固东镇 Gùdōng Zhèn Gudong Town, about 40 km north of Tengchong · 火山石 huǒshān shí volcanic stone, the village walls’ material · 白果 báiguǒ ginkgo nuts · 农家院 nóngjiāyuàn farm-stay guesthouses in family courtyards · 白果炖鸡 báiguǒ dùn jī chicken stewed with ginkgo nuts · 腾冲市 Téngchōng Shì Tengchong City
Getting there: the ginkgo lanes of 银杏村 Yínxìng Cūn (江东村 Jiāngdōng Cūn) in 固东镇 Gùdōng Zhèn, about 40 km north of Tengchong city – bus to 固东 then a short taxi, free to enter the village itself (worth confirming courtyard fees), and the golden window is mid-November to early December. All checked October 2026.