Traffic, Stone Forrests and not feeling well in Kunming.

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We had only planned to spend a short time in Kunming - mainly to visit the Stone Forrest nearby - before moving on but unfortunately I began to feel unwell and we had to stay longer. It is the capital city of Yunnan province and has a population of over seven million people. Enormous by Australian standards but average by Chinese figures. Kunming has developed rapidly in recent years under China's modernisation plan and that was very obvious to us as we had previously visited the city in mid 2005. To try and counteract traffic issues in large Chinese cities all the bus terminals are now situated on the edges of them eg traffic coming in from the west goes to the Western Terminals and so on. The bus from Jianshui took 3 hours and cost 73 yuan each. Bus to train station 1.5 yuan.
However upon arrival it means you then have to find a way to head into the city proper and of course as a foreigner this can prove an added problem. This time though luck shone on us and we were quickly on a local bus (we actually found the correct one first time) and headed into the train station (central city point). Forty minutes later we were dropped off at a deserted bus station but were sensible enough to follow the crowd who led us to the massive forecourt of the train station a block away. The traffic was horrendous, but thankfully due to traffic police everywhere, in reasonable control. We caught a taxi (0nly 20 yuan, very reasonable) to our guesthouse (The Lost Garden - 140 yuan, lovely, wifi, hot water, underfloor heating and the best beds/pillows). Print copy of map if you stay here as it is hard to find. It was in a great position as it was only five minutes walk to the waterside of Green Lake.Cuihu Park, surrounding the lake, was a fabulous place to spend time. The sun was shining and the paths surrounding the lake was thronged with people enjoying the atmosphere. During the few days we were in Kunming we watched the area around the lake transformed with colour as it was readied for the upcoming New Year celebrations. The park comprises of a small lake whose central islands are all interconnected with stone arched bridges and causeways, all of which were strung above with silk lanterns, umbrellas, spinning discs etc and lined with big stone pots of flowering plants in every colour of the rainbow. The camellia is the symbol of the city so there were plenty of budding camellia bushes on display. Literally dozens of gardeners were working there, constructing large plastic frames which were then filled with thousands of potted plants. I'm not exaggerating when I say we saw truckloads with layer upon layer of these tiny pots of plants arrive over the three days we were there. By the time we left it was a riot of colour and I presume similar projects were being set up in other cities around the country. Quite impressive!We spent a fun afternoon with the crowds - I love watching the Chinese people at play. Can you imagine a group of Aussie men in business suits paddling around the lake in pink and blue plastic swan paddle boats? Or large groups of women (some men too) just putting their bags down and joining in group exercise dance sessions under the trees in the park. Or group choir singing, all to the accompaniment of very loud music. The main activity though was feeding the seagulls (Kunming is nowhere near the coast). Every November thousands of the birds fly in from somewhere and they become tourist attractions. Dozens of stalls were selling bread to feed them - ultimately not doing their well being much good. We watched a open air theatre performance, all military songs, red banners and marching soldiers before coming across a group of men kite flying. The kites were tiny and incredibly high into the sky. They were controlled by large heavy wheels strapped to your body. Whilst I was watching a man took his support off clipped it onto my body - then went off and had a cup of tea! The weight and pull upwards from the kite was really strong and you had to balance yourself to support it properly. Thankfully he came back when his kite came very close to another - I could never have controlled it. To escape the crowds we headed into -a five star hotel nearby for coffee. It was the best service I've ever received, the coffee was good and the toilets pretty impressive. Though at $10 a cup it should have been... Heading off to our slightly less opulent guesthouse we enjoyed a fabulous pizza and wine before bed. We did detour though via the university area near the lake for a drink at one of the many bars surrounding the uni. The guesthouse was buzzing too as it appears their pizza menu has a bit of a reputation. I woke up feeling far from brilliant the next morning but we headed out into dull, cold weather to walk to a nearby temple, the Yuantong Temple, (entrance fee 6 yuan), the main Buddhist temple in the city. The structure was built in the 9th century and today it was busy with worshippers all buying incense sticks to use in their prayer rituals. Another large and colourful complex, freshly painted in vibrant reds, blues and greens. The pond in front of the main temple was empty and being cleaned of its sludge. We felt sorry for the remaining goldfish coping to survive in tiny remaining puddles. From there we caught a taxi to a previously visited museum, the Yunnan Provincial Museum (free) where we once agin enjoyed looking at their very impressive exhibition hall of ancient bronzes. It wasn't until the mid 1950's that these bronzes began to appear for sale at the local market that archeologists actually realised that the region was full of tombs brimming with intricately detailed bronze pieces. There was also a contemporary art exhibition on display on the ground floor of the museum which we both thoroughly enjoyed. Whilst there we spent some time talking to an Australian couple our ages who have been teaching in China for a couple of years. Interestingly the only foreigners we have met since we've been in China have all been English teachers travelling through the country on their two month winter break. We then spent the next couple of hours walking through the main shopping areas - how the city has changed in the last seven years. Now it is street after street of retail central with all the designer brands and very high prices. We eventually found the Bird and Flower market, now virtually only a tourist tat market, with barely a bird or flower in sight. One thing we have both noticed though is how much cleaner the cities are - rubbish bins everywhere (scrubbed by hand each day) and are actually being used! Plastic bags are not freely given out - paper or chux fabric like bags are issued in all the big shops. Spitting though is still very much a part of the culture, despite the Government trying to ban it in the major centres. And toilets have definitely not improved. Still as disgustingly dirty as we remember. And public toilets for the main part are still no more than partitioned troughs with no privacy doors. All toilet paper is put into overflowing waste bins and sinks very rarely have any water coming from the taps. A good reason to pay for a coffee and get 'sort of' clean toilets or go '5star' and get immaculate. By the end of the day I was feeling decidedly queasy so we went back to our guesthouse were we met a resident Australian enjoying a pizza who offered to share costs with us the next day to visit the Stone Forrest. This site is one of Yunnan's premier attractions and the reason we were actually in the city. However we had been shocked when we discovered just how much money it was going to cost to get there so were happy to share costs, particularly with a man married to a Chinese lady who was able to negotiate non tourist prices with the taxi driver. Unfortunately next day I was really not feeling brilliant but we decided to do the trip anyway. A taxi took us across the city (again) to meet with the expat man and his friend visiting plus their driver. Jerry found he had a lot in common with the two men (they had military backgrounds) so they chattered happily together whilst I huddled quietly in the corner hoping I would feel heaps better soon. It took an hour and half to reach the enormous ticket complex of the site where our driver dropped us off, arranging to return at 3.30pm. The next hour was a total farce! After purchasing the tickets at the cost of 175 yuan for me plus 140 for Jerry (he got an over 60's discount of 35 yuan) we headed off to find the entrance. Nearly three quarters of a hour later we had still not found it or been given any sensible instructions from anybody. Eventually we gave in and purchased tickets (25 yuan each, including what we though was a cable car ride as well) on the little electric cars into the site. It was actually 2 kilometres to the entrance, totally different to what either of our guide books were telling us, but at least the little cars got us there! The Forrest consists of exposed beds of limestone spires weathered and split into odd looking clusters. The park at the main entrance was beautifully landscaped and I had been there barely five minutes before I was vomiting violently into the garden beds. Anyway for the next couple of hours I wandered amongst the stone towers hoping my stomach would remain in place (it did thankfully) before giving in and finding a park bench to lie on. Not for long though as I was very rudely awoken by some incredibly loud music blasting out of speakers hidden in the bushes behind my bench. Looking back on it now it was funny but at the time.... Jerry enjoyed his time there though I'm not sure if it had been worth spending the money together there as really I didn't feel that it was that impressive. However that may just have been because I probably shouldn't have been there that day anyway. We ended up taking another one of the dozens of electric cars around the perimeter of the site which did give us a good overview of just how large it was. We never did find the cable car but we found out at the end of the day that the cable car was the Chinese name for electric car! Though the sign did say ' do the circuit by car battery... We've seen some very funny Chinglish signs since we arrived. In Jianshui at our hotel the sign above the toilet read ' please free feel the toilet'.Another hour and half back to Kunming (cost of taxi hire 200 yuan, petrol 100 yuan, road tolls 100 yuan - shared with other couple) before an hour battle through the traffic back to our guesthouse where I very quickly succumbed to the hot shower and the soft bed. Jerry spent the evening upstairs in the restaurant. As I had not actually vomited again next morning, though I stiill did not feel well, but we decided to head to Weishan, enroute to Dali.

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Comments

[Liz]

I would love to begin traveling the world! Your trip to Kunming looks like a wonderful place to see real beauty. The stone forrest looks like an amazing place. Thanks for the post!

[Roslyn Amiss]

Loved the colours here - especially as they prepare for new year - great photos. Hope you are feeling better by now. Regards, Ros.

[Dancing Dave]

KUNMING, SHILIN
Well done to survive Shilin Stone Forest while bilious. When I was there Shilin was full of Sani & Yi people as guides...definitely added colour to the place. Were they there when you visited?

[lmh]

Guides.
They certainly were Dave. In their colourful costumes with their matching flags..... Linese