Yunnan

Kunming View of Kunming from Lingxu Pavillion on the Western Mountains. Kunming (capital of Yunnan Province, 1,900 meters above sea level, 6.5 mio inhabitants) will be my home for the month of April, while I study Chinese (Mandarin) at Keats School. Zhenwu Palace One of many pavillions / temples on the way to the mighty Dragon Gate. Dragon Gate The Dragon Gate in the western mountains is a major tourist attration due to its spectacular location in the middle of a rock wall. Classroom View of Kunming This is the view of Kunming from my classroom window. It seems that the whole city is being heavily developed as - all over the city and wherever you are or look - there are massive construction sites for new subway lines, shopping malls and office buildings. My Teacher This is me with my teacher, Natalie (or "fan rong" with chinese name). Thankfully, she is very patient and does not mind to repeat a sentence four times if I don't understand it the first three times (which basically is the case with every sentence she say in chinese - luckily, she also speaks English).
Pu'er Tea Pu'Er tea is a Yunnan speciality and can be very expensive. It is sold as bricks of prerssed tea leafs (as shown on this picture). China Foods - Walmart Food Section I had to swallow when I saw this part of the food section at the local Walmaart. They sell many types of living animals here, including turtles - and undoubtedly they are not sold as pets here... Noodle Shop Menu Hungry, but what / how to order... this was at my first visit at a noodle shop and yes, I was overwhelmed and overstrained by this task. With some translation work (thank god there is Pleco, a smartphone App priceless for any Chinese student) and a lot of fingerpointing, I finally got my "Over-the-bridge" noodles, another Yunnan specialty. Dynamic Yunnan Yunnan has aournd 25 minority nationalities with a wealth of traditions and local customs. Some of these are presented in the touristy "Dynamic Yunnan" show - I went there with a few fellow students from my school (not the guys in the traditional costumes! These are from the show :-) My Home for 4 Weeks These 14 m2 have been my home for 4 weeks in Kunming. Simple, functional and not too chinese. Plus - being on 15th floow - with an impressive view of the city.
Room With a View So that is the view from my room towards the city center. Sunday at the Park - Mahjong Mahjong, Chinese men's favourite game, is played in every quite corner of town, and not only on Sundays. While it is not allowed to play for money, the game is all about the money, so the play for game cards which are converted into money at the end of the day. Home Delivery I find this picture characteristic for Kunming in two ways: 1. The towers in the back symbolize the incredible construction activity going on in town. There are huge constructions sites in every other block. We wondered where the money for these new buildings come from and who will actually live / work in the in the end. 2. Gas and water bottles seem to be delivered solely by motorcycles. Coming from Vietnam, one is not so much impresseed by the huge cargo, but rather wonders if it would not be much more convenient to have a little truck for this sort of delivery. But then again, it's just a lot faster to move through the city on motorbike than by car... Jinbi Square At the Market 1 I still have not tried them, but chicken feet are a popular dish, both in Vietnam and Chine. Doesn't it look just delicious!
At the Market 2 Too bad I don't have a kitchen back at my room, otherwise I could not have resisted the get one of these cute little fellows for lunch ;-) No Title Kuming - Switzerland While there is nothing obvious to discovery about the Kunming - Zurich City Partnership in Kunming (in Zurich, we at least have the Chinese Garden, given to the city of Zurich as a present by the city of Kunming), the influence of Swiss high end brands is both, obvious and impresive. The chinese gate at the central plaza in Kunming downtown is backed solely by Swiss watch brands..... High Power City In Chai Jing's documentary "Under the Dome - Investigating China's Smog" (very informative, check it out!) it is said, that 60% of Chinas smog is caused by coal and oil power plants. Looking at Kunming at night, it's easy to identify at least one way to save some energy... Blurred Lights I just like the manual focus feature of my cameray ;-)
Travel Partner Hari was also studying chinese at Keats school in Kunming. As we were both planning to travel north west Yunnan, we decided to pair up and travel together. Dali Old Town Dali was one of the first places in China to open up to international tourism, and soon, the foreign tourists themselfs became a touris attraction for domestic tourists. Today, Dali is a major tourist destination for chinese and the alleys of the beautiful old town are cramped with tourists. It's still a beautiful place, thoug. Chillout Place Dali has the reputation to be a backpacker's hangout place and being THE place to chill-out. Looking at our hostel's dog, not only backpackers like to chill-out here :-) Catholic Church of Dali What? Yes! This is really the catholic church in Dali, eventhough it looks more like a Bai temple. From the inside, it looks a bit more like a proper church, though. Eating Out - Dali Style In Dali, you know what you are going to eat and it surely will be fresh, as most of the restaurants present the ingredients of their dishes out on the street...
Hiking Cang Shan The Cang Shan mountain range rises imposingly behind Dali and offers gorgeous scenery and decent hiking options. Wishes to the Wind A scene to be found in many places - chinese like to place symbols of good luck in special places, such as this tree in the Cang Shan mountain range. China Car Brands While Kunming was full of Audi, Volkswagen and Porsches, out of the Yunnan capital it is mostly chinese car brands that can be seen. I was overwhelmed by the amount of obrands I have never heard of. This is just a selection - there are many more! If you're interested, check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List of_automobile_manufacturers_of China Shaping Market The weekly marked of Shaping Village, at the northern end of Dalis Erhaii Lake, was highly recommended in Lonely Planet, so we expected a huge tourist attraction. We were surprised to find just a simple anda very authentic local village market, not catering for the toursits at all. We were also the only westeners there. Bai Women at Shaping Market Local Bai women selling / buying at Shaping market.
Graffiti - China Style I didn't figure out what the message of this graffity was - but it certainly looked nice on the white wall... Baba "Chinese Pizza" Baba s a local specialty of northwestern Yunnan - they also call it "Chinese Pizza". Welcome to Linden Centre The dragon is the classic protector of houses and temples in China. Here, it protects the entrance to Linden Centre, one of the most luxurious hotels in Yunnan, placed in a beautiful ancient building in Xizhou village. Dali's Three Pagodas Three Pagodas The three pagodas are the symbol of Dali. They are located in a beautiful park and backed by the impressive Chongsheng temple.
No Title A pond in the temple area, boasting with fish and (fake) water lilys. Chongsheng Temple Entrance to the Chongsheng temple compound, situated impressively at the foot of the Cang Shan mountain range. Chinese Characters One month of studying was certainly not enough to learn many chinese characters. Pleco (stunning smartphone application for English - Chinese translation) often helps, in this case, the chinese charater just makes for a beatuiful photo subject. Monk's Procession Monks in the Chongsheng temple, processing to the prayer hall. Mystic Bird I was not able to find out about the symbolism of this bird is, but it certainly looked stunning in front of Dalis mountains.
Lijiang's Old Town Maze Lijiangs old town is a lot larger than Dali's, and is full of little alleys. Google maps is useless and the signs on the wall didn't really help either - in the end, the owner of our hostel had to come and guide us to their place.... The Mighty Nut Walnuts are an important product of this region in Yunnan. They not only make for a beautiful present, but have also an important function in chinese culture. Chinese like to rotate them in the palms of their hand, stimulating blood circulation. Attracting Customers - Yunnan Style In the western countries, this marketing activity - to disembowel a goat at the entrance of a restaurant - certainly would not help to attract customers. Not sure if it worked here, either, as the place was empty at that time... Jade Dragon Snow Mountain Jade Dragon Snow Mountain rises majestically behind the city of Lijiang and makes for a great day trip. Wouldn't it have been raining most of the day, there would also be some good walks - when I went, the blue sky only showed in the late afternoon... Matterhorn Dreamland Surprisingly, in the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain Park there was an arrow pointing to Switherland Matterhorn Dreamland. As it turned out, the Snow Mountain and Matterhorn are sister mountains, which was reason enough for Swiss Tourism to place a Swiss Pavillion there with a 2m high replica of the Matterhorn...
First Yak Sighting A clear sign we are getting to higher altitudes: First yak sighting at the slopes of Jade Snow Mountain. Village Life Peaceful village life in Baisha village, in the back the snowy peaks of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. Tiger Leaping Gorge Trek According to Lonely Planet, the trek through Tiger Leaping Gorge is one of the trekking highlights in all of China, so the expectations where high. And they were not disappointed. It is a stunning area, as you will see on the next few pictures. Tiger Leaping Gorge (1 / many) Forest Altar
Tiger Leaping Gorge (2 / many) Tiger Leaping Gorge (3 / many) Odd Translations Not only on toussit menues, but also in public areas and national parks, there is a wealth of english information which sometimes leaves you puzzled and often just makes you smile. Here are a few examples. Tiger Leaping Gorge (4 / many) Encounter on the Way I almost stepped on this little fellow, but it managed to snake away just in time. I don't think a bite would have been lethal, though...
Tiger Leaping Gorge (5 / many) Gorge Flora I always take a lot of flower pictures and the end up thinking that nobody really wants to look at them. For once I make an exception, as this seems to be a particularly beatiful and unique species. No idea, what it is called, though.... Tiger Leaping Gorge (6 / many) Morning Labour While tourists are reluctantly crawling out of their beds after a strenuous hiking day, the hills of the gorge are already fulll of life, as the local peasants are out in the fields with the first sunrays... Mythical Shangri-La? The local government has been fighting for a long time in order to rename the city of Zhongdian into Shangri-La, according to the mystical village in James Hilton's novel "Lost Horizon". When looking at the city from the surrounding hills, it is hard to find the earthly paradise described in the novel. The name switch - a puerly marketing driven act - is mostly justified by the beauty of the surrounding area and the city's old town (which was mostly destroyed in a devastating fire in 2014).
World's Largest Prayer Wheel As we already know from the name change from Zhongdian to Shangri-La, the city government likes drastic measures for marketing. The worlds largest prayer wheel is just another example - according to our tibetan buddhist tour guide, prayer wheels traditionally exist in three sizes, the largest one havin a height of about a meter. This one has been built solely as a touris attraction. It's still quite impressive, isn't it? Ganden Sumtseling Gompa Just outside of Shangri-La, this is the second largest buddhist monastery in China. Deers and Dharma The two deers and the wheel of Dharma are a symbol towering the entrance of each buddhis temple. Here in Ganden Sumtseling Gompa, backed by the Shika Snow Mountain. Natoinal Park - Chinese Way National parks in China are big business, as there are stiff entrance fees to all of them. For the money you pay, you get an in credible infrastructure, as all the attractions in the park are being made accessible even to lazy chinese tourists, inclulding buses and cable cars that take you effortlessly to the major attractions. Balagezong Snow Mountain Vievs of Balagezong Snow Mountain in the Shangri-La Grand Canyon national park (and yes: we have been driven to this spot by a national park bus).
Feeling Like a Chinese Touris Me, proud with my chinese tour group pass - doing a day tour with a chinese tour group was certainly a memorable experience, eventhough I did not understand much of what was going on. And it was not necessarly memorable in a positive way. First stop in the national park was at a restaurant, where we were supposed to stop for 50 minutes, but ended up waiting for 2 hours until all of our group members had finshed their lunch. So 2 of 4.5 hours in the park were dedicated to eating... I think that is very chinese :-) The Shangri-La Grand Canyon The main canyon in the Grand Canyon National Park. An impressive gorge, and even more impressive / incredible was the 2.5km trail they built along the rock wall of thte gorge. Hiking around Shangri-La The next day, we avoided national parks and went for a hike in the hills around Shangri-La instead. A very peaceful and pleasant day out in the greed. Resting.... Hari and Tserang I just realized I haven't posted many photos of Harî. We are still travelling together and she will also join the group tour in Tibet. Behind her is Tserong, our guide for the day - looking more like a city slicker thanl a trekking guide. He was very nice, though, and guided us well.
Tibetan House Visit Visiting a typical tibetan house - here having lunch in front of the stunning house alltar. Wishing for the Best A typical sight all over china. Chinese are very superstitious and place symbols of good luck anywhere, often as stickers on window.