JINGMAI MOUNTAIN,
YUNNAN, CHINA
BE TRANSPORTED BY TEAOne of the oldest cultural landscapes in China is set to
become one of the country’s newest UNESCO World
Heritage Sites in 2022. The Ancient Tea Plantations of
Jingmai Mountain in Pu’er, which collectively form
the world’s largest ancient artificially cultivated tea
plantation, features more than one million tea trees,
the oldest of which is 1,400 years old.
Located in the southwestern corner of China’s Yunnan
Province, the region was a starting point of the Ancient
Tea Horse Road. This 11th-century network of routes was
named for its primary purpose: trading Chinese tea for
Tibetan horses (60kg of tea equalled one horse).
Today, new highways have replaced the route, but
the region’s tea plantations remain, as do the four local
ethnic minority groups — the Blang, Dai, Hani and Wa
people. The remote location and limited tea-tourism
offerings make a guided trip the best way to experience
this enduring cultural landscape.
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC TRAVELER (CHINA)PROCIDA, ITALY
CONNECT WITH ITALY’S CAPITAL OF CULTURE
Chosen pre-pandemic, the theme of Procida’s winning
bid as the Italian Capital of Culture 2022 — La cultura non
isola (Culture doesn’t isolate) — now seems particularly
on point. The island city, located 40 minutes southwest
of Naples via high-speed ferry, plans to use its year in
the spotlight to illustrate the importance of culture,
particularly in times of uncertainty.
“Today, ‘Culture doesn’t isolate’ is an even stronger
call to action because, for us, the island is a metaphor
for modern people,” says Procida 2022 director Agostino
Riitano. “We’re all like islands, creating our own
archipelagos where culture has to be the mortar that
holds them together. This is even more the case following
the effects of the pandemic.”
Procida 2022 plans to spread cultural programming
— such as contemporary art exhibitions, festivals and
performances — over 300 days to encourage responsible
travel throughout the year, and to avoid a mass influx of
summer visitors.
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC TRAVEL (US)
A sculpture by Austrian artist Franz West
called Spalt on the banks of Oslofjord in
the Norwegian capital
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Ainu man
in his shop in Akan Mashu National Park,
Hokkaido, Japan; the island of Procida,
off the coast of Naples in southern Italy
BEST OF THE WORLDJan/Feb 2022 89