The narrowest city in the world? 🏙️🌄 In China’s Yunnan Province, the ancient city of Yanjin stretches like a ribbon between steep cliffs — just two rows of buildings hugging a wild mountain river. Some spots are only 30 meters wide! You have to see the drone views to believe it. Photos and full story in this article 👇
The Nanxihe River in China’s Yunnan Province flows through one of the most unique places in the world — the narrowest city on the map. The ancient city of Yanjin, which is more than 40,000 years old, is tucked between steep, forest-covered cliffs with the river running right through it. We took a closer look at this one-of-a-kind Chinese city hidden in the mountains.
The layout of the city is unlike anything else — it’s made up of just two rows of tall, narrow buildings that stretch along the gorge. Many of the buildings are built on stilts to stay safe from the mountain river below. Only a few bridges connect the two sides of the city, and there’s just one road that leads in and out of Yanjin.
The futuristic look of Yanjin often surprises people and raises all kinds of questions. Visitors wonder how people live there day to day, where they bury their loved ones, and why people would stay in such a hard-to-reach place — especially when there’s no fast-paced economy or big job opportunities.
But the locals aren’t in a rush to leave. The people of Yanjin are descendants of the first settlers who lived on these mountain slopes hundreds of years ago. Life here moves slowly and peacefully, and they’ve gotten used to this way of living. When the city began to grow, people started building upward instead of outward.
There isn’t much flat land for building, so the only way to expand was to go vertical. What’s also fascinating is that the narrow “street” formed by the rows of buildings follows the shape of the river almost perfectly.
In some places, the riverbanks are so close together that there’s just 30 meters of space between them. In other areas, the river widens and stretches out to around 300 meters. Thanks to drone footage shared by bloggers, Yanjin has gone viral online and has become one of the must-see spots in China for adventurous tourists.
