Yunnan Province - Kunming

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Kunming is the last major city in China before the southern border to Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam. It is the capital of Yunnan province. The people here have there own way of life partly because Yunnan is surounded by quite high mountains and thus has been more separat from the rest of Chiana during its history. One thing I definitely noticed was that people are not as active and bustling as elsewhere. Together with the warm and clear weather this made me enjoy my time pretty much. When I strolled the streets I came by many tea shops, selling the famous Yunnan tea.
Another task for me in Kunming was to get a visa for my next country. In the ground floor of a hotel I found the Laos and the Myanmar consulate. It is quite easy to get a visa for Myanmar here, but I still chose Laos. After I had talked to fellow travelers I knew that Myanmar is very complicated for overland travelers. There is lots of things like millitary escorts, having to pay all the time, and leaving the border towards the center of the country is virtually impossible without flying. I was also looking forward to come back to Laos. I had visited the country two years before and still had good memories about it.

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Photos

Yunnan Tea
Kunming is famous for it's tea shops. You are invited to smalltalk while having a taste!

Loose Tea
Most of the tea is sold loosely by weight.

Compressed Tea
Various pictures and patterns are made of compressed tea. Sometimes so nice that breaking it to pour with hot water seems unthinkable