Purpose: We described the prevalence and associated factors of myopia and high myopia in school children of different ethnicities in a rural community in Yunnan province, China. Methods: A total of 7681 (93.4%) primary and secondary school students aged 5-16 years in Mangshi participated in this study. Cycloplegic refraction was performed using an auto-refractor. Information regarding demographic factors, socioeconomic status and lifestyle-related exposures were collected using a questionnaire. Multivariate logistic regression models were fitted to estimate the risk factors for myopia and high myopia. Results: The overall prevalence of myopia and high myopia was 39.1% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 38.0, 40.2) and 0.6% (95% CI: 0.4, 0.8) in this study. Myopia prevalence increased significantly with increasing age (p for trend <0.001). Girls were more likely to have myopia compared with boys (p < 0.001). In multivariate analysis, the presence of myopia was associated with increasing height (odds ratio [OR] = 1.02; 95% CI: 1.01, 1.03), computer use (OR = 1.17; 95% CI: 1.03, 1.32), having myopic father (OR = 1.56; 95% CI: 1.24, 1.94), having myopic mother (OR = 1.33; 95% CI: 1.08, 1.63), and increasing time on reading (OR = 1.18; 95% CI: 1.09, 1.28) after adjusting for age, sex and ethnicity. Conclusions: Nowadays myopia but not high myopia is prevalent among school children in rural China. Significant ethnic differences in myopia prevalence were not observed. A significant 'cohort effect' of myopia previously observed in urban cities had occurred in rural communities in China.