The City of Eternal Spring

I’ve returned back to Beijing from my wonderful, relaxing three-day weekend in Kunming. For a full set of photos from the trip, go here. As promised, a summary:

 

Haigeng Park at Dianchi Lake in Kunming

I can definitely see where Kunming gets its nickname, the City of Eternal Spring. The entire time I was there the weather was perfect — mid-70s, sunny, blue skies, with maybe a little bit of rain in the middle of the day. Since Beijing doesn’t actually have a spring, I guess it was nice that I went here to experience it and remember what spring feels like.

 

The first day I ambled around the city a bit, checking out some of the food stalls and the plazas, complete with outdoor, on-demand masseuses, more chuan’r (串) and kids fishing in a public fountain. I headed out to see the park at Dianchi Lake, which was as nice as photos I’d seen promised (though we did get rained on at the park in a quite heavy, but quick, downpour).

 

The city gate at Jinbi Square, the area where I stayed, made it easy to spot!

On Day 2, I decided to take advantage of an offer the hostel negotiated with one of the spas in the city, which featured the entire day at the spa, full of swimming pools, hot tubs, hot springs, lush, green gardens and more for the mere price of $17! I am still astounded at the deal I managed to snag at this spa and already want to return. I spent the entire day lying in the sun by the pool (I even got a bit of a tan!) and then treated myself to a body scrub and massage afterward (which was a bit awkward because they perform them on you totally naked, and the body scrub was a bit painful because my skin was still red from being in the sun. Ah, well, when in China!)

My view for most of the day from the spa

For dinner that night, I tried the famed traditional Yunnanese dish called “Crossing the Bridge Rice Noodles.” I’m not sure where the name comes from, but the dish consists of a number of different ingredients — meat, vegetables, spices and noodles — served separately alongside a giant bowl of boiling hot broth. You add all the dishes together in the bowl of broth and voilá: 过桥米线.

 

石林, Stone Forest, is located about an hour north of Kunming and is exactly what its name implies: A giant "forest" area of land with stones instead of trees

On my third and final full day, I took a bus about an hour outside of the city to visit Stone Forest (石林), which is exactly what it sounds like it would be. It’s a national park and a UNESCO site, so admission was rather pricey by Chinese standards at 175 RMB ($26). The weather was perfect on the day I visited though, so I strolled through the park and, well, um, looked at rocks. Though it was an interesting thing to see, I thought the place was a bit overpriced. The park did, however, have some traditional Li homes on its grounds, where I found lots of chickens running amok and even caught one mid-crow! (The Li are a minority race in China, as opposed to the dominant Han, who make up about 90% of the population. Most Americans might not be able to immediately spot the physical differences, but their cultures are quite distinct.)

 

Me, at 石林

After returning to Kunming proper, I headed to a tea shop to buy some pu’er tea for myself and Brian and ended up spending a good 30 or 45 minutes sitting, sipping tea and chatting with the owner (yes, in Chinese!). These little experiences are what really make China, so I just hope that I can continue to improve my language skills in order to more effectively be able to communicate! Afterward, I headed to a little hole-in-the-wall Sichuan restaurant nearby, where I simply ordered “noodles” and “something with chicken,” since I couldn’t make out the intricate dishes on the menu. I was not let down. The food was some of the best I’ve had in China (Sichuan is known for its incredibly spicy dishes), even if it did come served with the chicken’s head.

 

Sichuanese food: Spicy chicken and noodles

The only problem I have to report was a mosquito attack. My final night, I was completely bombarded by mosquitoes from head to toe. I woke up at 4 or 5 a.m. and couldn’t get back to sleep because I could hear them buzzing outside my ears, and upon returning to Beijing, I’ve found myself covered with more than 100 mosquito bites all over (last count: 107). So take note: Next time I go traveling in Southeast Asia, I should be sure to bring along a mosquito net.

Overall, another trip well spent, and I highly recommend Kunming. I hope I can make it back down to Yunnan sometime because there are several other cities in the province I’ve heard good things about. I could certainly never tire of eternal spring.

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