Kunming, China—In this bustling city, the capital of the Yunnan province in southern China, locals stare curiously at the handful of Caucasian visitors who walk their streets. Though a growing number of them travel through Kunming, American faces are still a novelty for the Yunnan people.

Compared to the more cosmopolitan northern Chinese cities like Beijing and Shanghai, tourism in the Yunnan province—where rice paddies and ethnic villages strike a closer resemblance to Southeast Asia than to communist China— is not as well developed. Beijing, for example, received approximately 2.5 million visitors last year, while Kunming saw 500,000, according to the Yaying Li, spokesperson for the China National Tourism Agency.

But signs of tourism are becoming more apparent, with hotels and tourist shops popping up in remote villages and towns.

“Americans especially are interested in visiting ethnic villages and in the colorful history and ethnic folklore of this region,” said Zhang Xian An, the director of Travel and Tourism Bureau of the Yunnan Province during a recent interview.

Last year’s International Horticultural Exposition placed the Yunnan Province more prominently on tourist maps. More than one million visitors traveled to the exhibit last year, prompting the opening of three new hotels in Kunming.

Within the city limits of Kunming, a town that has clearly gone through its communist growing pains, the section of town most revealing about local life is the bird and flower market. This is the only part of town where ancient buildings have not been torn down to make way for boxy white high-rises. Only pedestrians and bicyclists use the streets, shaded by leafy evergreens. Two-level, wood-shingled buildings constructed in the 1700s are used both as storefronts and as homes.

Sometimes birds and flowers are sold at the market, but most people gather in front of storefronts to watch passers-by or drink chai at a tea house.

Arguably the most brilliant jewel of the Yunnan Province is the town of Lijiang. Designated an UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site in 1997, the Ancient Town of Lijiang exemplifies an ancient Chinese city. No cars are allowed on the cobblestone footpaths and narrow alleys and the17th- and 18th-century structures have been beautifully preserved.

But Lijiang is hardly undiscovered. Tea houses, temples, theaters and art galleries line the walkways, but are outnumbered by the many thousands of tourist shops that sell goods like copper, batik fabric, wooden spoons and glass marbles. Shopkeepers here are comfortable speaking with Americans and are crafty negotiators.

Tourism has exploded in Lijiang in the past decade. In 1992, only two hotels existed in the city; now, there are 57 hotels, among which 30 are star-graded. The city receives about 120,000 visitors annually, about 10 percent of them Americans.

Looking back on the speed of development in tourism in Lijiang, Zhang Xian An, the tourism director, believes the growth could have come at a slower pace.

“In the beginning, there was very quick development because people were so excited,” he said. “They added more and more hotels, restaurants and tourist shops. I think this has had some influence on the local culture. In the beginning, one does not have a sense of protection or an understanding that this could be a problem.”

Nearby villages have been protected from mass tourism to some extent. Visitors can freely walk around, and in some cases are invited inside people’s homes to admire their well-kept gardens and courtyards. But some villagers have learned to capitalize on tourists’ curiosity: They’ve erected kiosks selling plastic Buddhas and artful costumes in front of their local temples. It’s no surprise, though. Such is the quandary any destination must face in its attempt to acquaint itself with the traveling public.