http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Yunnan/Kunming/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Asia , China , Yunnan , Kunming en-us Tue, 08 Dec 09 09:52:04 +0000 Tue, 08 Dec 09 09:52:04 +0000 Seagulls from Siberia flew to Kunming. It's a sign that to the city of an eternal spring came winter.Every year the seagulls are an attraction for the local people. Everyone gathers around the Green Lake park and takes photos. Seagulls don't only attract the local people but also people selling special bread. Special because the same kind of bread is used to make hot dogs in the summer time http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Yunnan/Kunming/blog-458157.html So after months of hard work Hou Xia the owner of the AiKe bar 2923323458 in which I teach English together with her boyfriend and the managers opened a new bar MoreFun 3976426041 magic cube. Of course on the occasion of it was organized an opening party which lasted four days. Every day many guests around 80 100 people friends family and even my friends from the university http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Yunnan/Kunming/blog-458105.html The Chinese people are famous for coming up with newer and newer products that spread around the world. Imagination has no limits though. One day while walking some street I noticed a guy selling... small chickens. In a few colors. As I got to know aftarwards they are dyed permanently and genetically modified so they don't grow up. And people are buying them as... pets.They eat dogs and cats http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Yunnan/Kunming/blog-457924.html We had our first night at the New Era Hotel in Kunming last night and it was ok.The room is nice but there isnt the greatest sound proofing and we could hear all water usage from a nearby room bathroom not great when trying to sleep. Yet again our room is really hot and it's hard to sleep and breath in the hot air. All out hotels have been like this its crazy We also have 2 pillows each one n http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Yunnan/Kunming/blog-454395.html We have arrived in Kunming today...This morning we had breaky at the hotel as usual had a wander around the hotel and found the pool. It is huge and to me looks finished just missing water. There were also 2 spa's a big one and smaller one I guess they will be different temperatures. It's a pity we won't get to use them ever as we don't think we will be going back to Lijiang in the future. It w http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Yunnan/Kunming/blog-454122.html This week I started to worry that I hadn't blogged recently and I didn't really have any material I felt like writing about. But I told myself not to be too concerned because new things always pop up here. I was sure something would come along soon and I was right. Be careful what you wish for...I have a history of losing my wallet. It happens a couple times a year and disaster usually ensues http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Yunnan/Kunming/blog-453355.html Autumn came. My favorite season. And together with autumn came first chilly nights and first cold. Days though are full of falling leaves still warm sun and sunny autumn nostagia.Sweater crochetneedled beretlike cap hot green tea and steam from rice pots rising into the air. Autumn reflections.Together with the autumn nostalgia came the decision of cancelling the return ticket. I decided to s http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Yunnan/Kunming/blog-453027.html This blog entry is LONG overdue...but better late than never. For the October Holiday I travelled to Yunnan province in the South West of China. The first stop was Kunming. The flight took about 3 hours and when we flew over the city it looked very different than Shanghai. Still a big city but instead of 18 million people it has a population closer to that in Toronto. There were fewer tall buil http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Yunnan/Kunming/blog-452888.html Llevo en Kunming varios das. No s an por qu porque ciertamente a parte de la publicidad que hay de Yunnan en general predicando bondades realmente en su capital Kunming hay muy poco que ver. Se trata de una ciudad especialmente fea y contaminada donde no me parece que destaquen tanto esos jardines de los que hablan. Con un urbanismo que ha arrasado con lo poco que tena y con pocas cosas qu http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Yunnan/Kunming/blog-452806.html Saturday morning saw us up at 6am and off the the airport for an early flight to Kunming. Our backup bus met us at the airport and took us on the 1 12 hour trip to the Stone Forest south of the airport. This is a forest of 100 acres or more of stones sticking out of the ground and weather worn over th last 2 million years. Many look like animals and people examples being the queen with her crown http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Yunnan/Kunming/blog-451771.html Chinese people really like Halloween. And although they have their own Chinese version of this holiday they still like to celebrate the American one. And like many Europeans they just treat this day as another excuse to party and have fun.Chinczycy bardzo lubia Halloween. I choc maja swoja chinska wersje tego swieta wciaz obchodza amerykanskie Halloween. I jak wielu Europejczykow tra http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Yunnan/Kunming/blog-450367.html Everyone has heard of China's legendary focus on education as a measure of success. Educational stereotypes in China abound. In my own experience the most common ones regard Jews Americans and lefthanded people.Ah you use your left hand. You must be very smartYou are JEWISH Oh the Jews are so smart. You must be very very smart. I like JewsOh you are American Americans are so smart. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Yunnan/Kunming/blog-449945.html Seit heute morgen bin ich in Dali mal wieder mit dem Nachtzug. Diesmal dauerte es aber nur angenehme 8 Stunden d.h. man ging abends in Kunming ins Bett und stand morgens in Dali wieder auf. Da ich aber in Kunming so eine schlechte Internetverbindung habe reiche ich jetzt erst mal ein paar Fotos nach. Mehr zu Dali gibt es beim nchsten Mal. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Yunnan/Kunming/blog-449872.html Nachdem die Sache mit dem Konsulat erledigt war hatte ich gengend Zeit zu dem Treffpunkt zu fahrenan dem ich mich mit Ludvig einem Couchsurfer aus Schweden verabredet hatte. Schon am Abend zuvor hatte ich mich mit einer Couchsurferin und einigen ihrer Freunde getroffen. In einer Bar in der Nhe meines Hostels hatte ein OpenMicAbend stattgefunden. Als ich zu der Bar gegangen war hatte ich http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Yunnan/Kunming/blog-449790.html Dear friends TALKING of the day until evening comes. Am with my rhythm a bit by the wind. Cordial greetings Your Beate Wedekind Your Beateltbgtlta href httpwww.championsonlineresources.comgtChampions Online Resourcesltagtltbgt http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Yunnan/Kunming/blog-448869.html Living in China always presents opportunities to explore and new discoveries that surprise me. Why just the other day I discovered that chicken feet at Walmart cost more than twice as much as chicken breasts which are the least valued part of the chicken and sell for less than a dollar per package. And whether it's as mundane as hanging out with the bike repairman at the Rotary of Death or as ex http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Yunnan/Kunming/blog-447483.html Good morning everyone and once again thank you so much for your comments on yesterdays blog especially Georgia and Alex. to answer your question Alex it took us a whole days driving to get from lijiang to Shangrila up in the mountains so that's a long time When we flew back it only took I hour. Glad you liked the masks and hat Georgie i have a brochure for you and Jess that shows all the natio http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Yunnan/Kunming/blog-447124.html What a fantastic few days we have had . We arrived back in Kunming the capital city of Yunnan province one of china's smaller cities with a population of about 6 million this morning after a spectacular few days in Lijiang and Zhongdian which is the Tibetan capital of Chinese Tibet. We drove for a day from lijiang around 200 kl climbing 1000 metres to just over 3000 metres. We stopped on th http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Yunnan/Kunming/blog-446860.html On our first day in Kunming we went to the Stone Forest which is quite the attraction for Chinese as well as foreign tourists. Though most of the morning was offandon rainy and dreary it didn take away from the charm of the forest though we did have to be careful not to slip in some places. It also took a little talent to walk through the sea of umbrellas with ones own umbrella still intact http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Yunnan/Kunming/blog-446092.html I think I messed up the day numbers in the past two posts... oh well. Day 30 we were in the stone forest.We took a city bus from Dali ancient town to Dali City xinguan i think and then another bus from Dali city to kunming. The first bus was only 20 minutes or so but it was packed so we had to stand with our bags on the whole time. The second bus was 4 hours comfy but kind of expensive 9 http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Yunnan/Kunming/blog-446030.html