The main road into Yunnan runs due west of Anshun to the Yi-dominated border town of PANXIAN , southern limit of the Liupanshui district. A less direct alternative leads down through the Xingyi region at Guizhou's southwestern extremities. The scene of sporadic fighting between the Guomindang and locally organized guerrillas before the PLA took control of the south in 1951, the regional centre is about 250km from Anshun at XINGYI , a small but aspiring city surrounded by a magnificent range of sharp limestone peaks. The Panjiang Binguan on Panjiang Xi Lu (¥30-75) is a reasonable place to stay, and Xingyi makes a good spot to break the 24-hour bus journey to Kunming and go hiking in the hills, investigate nearby Bouyei and Miao villages, or get a minibus heading a couple of kilometres northeast to Maling Canyon , a tortuous, fifteen-kilometre river gorge complete with forests, deep cliffs and hazardous waterfalls.