Under the strictest definition, the Yungui Plateau stretches from the Red River Fault in Yunnan in the southwest to the Wuling Mountains in Hunan in the northeast.

[2] Under the broader definition of the Yungui Plateau, the provinces would include not only Yunnan and Guizhou but also Gulin County and the southernmost extremes of Sichuan, eastern Chongqing, southwestern Hubei, western Hunan, and northwestern Guangxi.

The Yungui Plateau is home to many extreme engineering feats where railways and expressways have been built to traverse the challenging terrain.

The Yungui Plateau is a large mountainous region with rugged terrain including steep karst peaks and deep gorges.

The Wumeng Mountains and Wulian Feng form a barrier through north-central Yungui along the Jinsha (Upper Yangtze) River.

[1][6] The high mountain peaks of Eastern Tibet are the source of many of Asia's great rivers, which flow southerly towards the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau.