Residents of a Jino village sell local products at a market.

While there are tourist traps, hiring a local driver or trekking guide makes it easy to literally get off the beaten path and enjoy an authentic experience.

Everyone I met was warm and generous.

My driver told me: "If you come to my village, I'll treat you like family. You can eat anything in my home－even kill one of my pigs!"

The changes sweeping the area may transform it beyond recognition and soon turn it into an overdeveloped and inauthentic tourism zone.

Many villagers today have TVs and iPhones but no plumbing.

Wealthy people from the north are buying villas as winter homes.

Other outsiders are moving in to open tourism agencies or hotels.

Indeed, the area may soon be unrecognizable. So, now may be a good time to go.