Kunming - City of Flowers

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We flew into Kunming yesterday (11th July) and the flight with the local airline was very pleasant indeed. Had a bit of turbulance but a really smooth landing - Glynn is cool as a cucumber when it comes to flying and you would think that I would be too given all the travelling I've done in the past but it seems the older I get, the more nervous I'm getting about flying - not so good for a round the world trip!!

The minute we got through the arrivals gate we sensed that Kunming was very different to Chnegdu. The first clues were that people didn't push and shove so much (they have tunnel vision in China and will just push you out of the way if you happen to be in their path), there were no taxi touts and the place seemed fresh and clean - Halleluja! We jumped in a taxi and marvelled at the clean and pleasant streets and we went. The nicest thing I noticed is how many flowers there are in Kunming - they are just everywhere. Normally this wouldn't get me excited but although China is a very green country, there don't seem to be many flowers around in the cities or in the countryside. The city appeared welcoming and we instantly felt comfortable.

We are staying in the Camelia Youth Hostel although in reality we are in a twin room at the hotel next door. Unlike Chengdu though, this hotel has all the facilities. The youth hostel bit only has the dorm rooms and feels a bit on the empty side. Our room is simply wonderful - easily the most luxurious yet on our travels. It seems the further south you go in China, the better the accommodation! We also discovered our room was slightly cheaper than expected and we get a fabulous breakfast buffet included - excellent!

We spent the first day exploring the city courtesy of a much better map than we had in Chengdu. Every step of the way we saw a much more laid back city that seemed far less crowded than anywhere else we've been so far. In Kunming the pavements have been finished so you rarely have to watch out for potholes although the cars do like to drive on the pavements sometimes which is a bit unnerving! Another thing that is different here is the traffic because the cars actually stop when the red light is showing. The zebra crossings are still pretty pointless as none of the traffic pays any attention to pedestrians but in Kunming you seem to have a better chance of getting across the road unscathed than you do elsewhere.

On our travels we found a Wal-Mart superstore of all things. We went inside to see how it compares to ASDA back home (sad, eh?) and found ourselves in the most chaotic supermarket ever. Imagine Christmas food shopping mixed with the January sales and you have a rough idea of how packed and crazy is was. It's a new thing in China to have big supermarkets and I don't think the novelty has worn off yet. As we wandered around, a Chinese girl started talking to us. Unfortunately our first reaction was to be wary as to her motives (remember Beijing?) but it turned out she was an English teacher and loves talking to foreigners. Her name is Spring (translation of her Chinese name which we have no hope of pronouncing) and she is just lovely - a real chatterbox and definitely a bit more off the wall than anyone else we've encountered in China. We became instant friends. When she mentioned meeting up again the next evening, we jumped at the chance. We ate together and talked for a couple of hours, all the time feeling chuffed to have finally found an honest Chinese person and someone on our wavelength to boot :-))

The evening was spent trying to find the best deals to get us to Vietnam next week and also to get a tour to Shilin where there is some kind of stone forest that is a major attraction here. So far, Kunming is brilliant and has restored our faith in China as a whole.

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