In this paper, the validation of eight sunshine-based models for estimating global solar radiation on horizontal surfaces is conducted with the measured data of solar radiation and climatic parameters at seven meteorological stations in Yunnan Province, China. It is found that the Bahel model and the Gopinathan model are unsuitable for estimating the global radiation in Yunnan Province, and the best model in this region is the Page model. The performances of the Rietveld model, the monthly specific Rietveld model, the Dogniaux-Lemoine model, the monthly specific Dogniaux-Lemoine model and the Glover-McCulloch model are better than that of the Bahel model and the Gopinathan model but worse than that of the Page model.