A long flight, a short sleep, and an incredible first day

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I absolutely love travelling. I love the excitement of being in a new place, and I love seeing amazing new things and meeting some incredible people.

But I really don't like flying.

My flight to Kunming went via Shanghai, and although it was only 10 hours, it felt so long. But in contrast, the flight from Shanghai to Kunming felt like nothing, because I slept most of the way. And it was a good thing that I did, too, because by the time we landed at Kunming, got our bags, were greeted at the airport by representatives from the China International Travel Mart, and were driven to our hotel, it was about 2.30am when I got to my room. That's 5.30am Sydney time! We had to get up at 6am this morning, so I only had 3 hours sleep. Not ideal. However we are staying at the amazing Intercontinental Hotel in Kunming, so that kind of makes up for it 😉.

We spent the whole day today at the China International Travel Mart. It was incredible. There were seven huge halls full of exhibitors showing their products for different areas of China. There were a lot of people dressed up in amazing costumes, and there was even someone dressed as a panda - my favourite animal! It was very overwhelming but so fascinating. I've put some photos in this post.

We also learnt some really interesting things about Yunnan Province at a presentation. Yunnan is a province in South-West China which sits above Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam. The area is somewhat off the beaten track for international tourists, but in China it is one of the fastest growing and most popular tourist destinations, attracting approximately 200 million (!!!) domestic tourists in 2012.

After viewing an amazing slideshow of images of the province, and hearing about it, it's not hard to see why. The province is filled with spectacular mountains, beautiful rivers and lakes, and an incredible range of plant and animal life. It is also home to 25 different minority ethnic groups, accounting for 34 percent of the province’s total population, which all have their own rich cultures and fascinating customs. The climate is temperate all year round – “its spring all the time”, the presenter said – and the air is free of the smog that plagues some of the larger cities.

After seeing that slideshow, I can't wait to explore more of the province. My company Selective Tours has organised for me to take a day trip tomorrow to the UNESCO World Heritage listed Stone Forest and the Western Hills scenic area near Kunming, so I'm sure that will be fantastic!

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