Kunming resident Colin Flahive recently drove from the Spring City to Luang Prabang, Laos. His trip—through Mengla and the Mohan/Boten border crossing—provided culinary surprises on both sides of the border. If you have a story to share with GoKunming readers, please get in touch with us via our contact form.

The drive from Kunming to Luang Prabang takes about 16 to 20 hours under normal circumstances, so it is best divided into two days.

The border crossing, which lies about eight to 10 hours from Kunming, closes to foreigners at 5pm. Therefore, travelers planning on making it into Laos on the first day will need to get an early start.

There is, however, no need to rush across the border. The city of Mengla (勐腊) in Xishuangbanna prefecture, a 25-minute drive north of the border, is a great overnight stopping point.

Mengla's major draw is its Dai minority cuisine. One of the more adventurous culinary experiences can be had at Xiaomaocao (小猫草), a small family-owned, back-alley operation.

Some of Xiaomaocao's signature dishes include raw heirloom eggplant salad (凉拌茄子), banana flower pork soup (芭蕉花红烧肉) and sapie, a local specialty of seasoned ground beef eaten with raw greens (撒撇).

After crossing the border at Mohan (see more information about procedure and visas below) the drive to Luang Prabang is between eight and 10 hours.

After arriving in Luang Prabang and working one's way close to the banks of the Mekong River, the city's UNESCO World Heritage status becomes evident.

Quality accommodation options are plentiful and the city has some of South Asia's best shopping. The night market teems with interesting snacks, art and all sorts of souvenirs.

Luang Prabang has many Western dining options and it's easy to make the mistake of missing out on local delicacies. One of the best spots for eating and drinking is the elevated banks of the river, a beautiful spot to catch the sunset while sipping on cocktails.

Along the river, visitors will also find a row of restaurants with Lao hotpot, a unique hybrid of the Chinese style with open flames to grill seafood and meat. Ask the servers for help as the techniques involved take a bit of practice.

Other highlights in Luang Prabang include sunrise atop Wat Phu Si, a massage at one of the many spas, and hiking the Kouang Si Waterfalls 30 minutes south of town. For Kouang Si, be sure to pack a lunch, bring your swimsuit and be prepared for water fights.

Spending a day or two in Luang Namtha, located one and a half hours southwest of Mohan, is a pleasant stopover on the return trip to China. The road to Luang Namtha is in excellent condition because the Chinese government recently paid to have the route to Thailand repaved. It's a beautiful drive and a place where the benefits of having one's own vehicle are evident.

We parked our car at the Zuela Guesthouse just off of the main road, where the staff can provide visitors with a map of sites in and around Luang Namtha. Motorbikes are also available for rent.

The town of Luang Namtha has built a new town square just across the street from the guesthouse. It bustles at night and offers some of the finest delicacies in Laos.

This is the last chance to fill up on Lao food before the long drive back to Kunming. Along with a sampling of the unique cold dishes sold be street vendors, the whole rotisserie duck is not to be missed.

Travel information:
Roads: The highways in Yunnan are in good condition, but watch out for the speed cameras dotting the median—a 200 yuan fine awaits speeders. The road to Luang Prabang is in poor shape in some sections, but appears to be under repair.

Visa: Travelers from many countries can get a visa at the Mohan border crossing, but those wanting to err on the side of caution can get a visa ahead of time from the Laos consulate in Kunming, which has recently moved from inside the Camellia Hotel to Caiyun Bei Lu.

Border crossing: Travelers driving their own vehicle must register the vehicle on the second floor of the customs building where Chinese vehicle registrations are exchanged for temporary Lao ones. Chinese citizens are required to purchase malaria medication and mosquito repellent at the border.

Most of Yunnan's popular travel destinations are places where visitors chill out, take in some scenery and maybe go for the occasional trek or daytrip to surrounding areas. But some places such as Luoping and Yuanyang primarily attract photographers – Luoping for its mountains and yellow fields of rapeseed flowers and Yuanyang for its rice terrace-covered mountains.

During the Chinese New Year holiday, we spent four days in Yuanyang with two shutterbug friends in search of that perfect rice terrace shot. After driving six hours due south from Kunming, we arrived at the Yuanyang county seat of Nansha (南沙), taking the high road into the mountains another 28 kilometers before reaching Xinjie (新街, image below), the nearest town to the rice terraces and the place people are usually referring to when discussing Yuanyang.

It had been four years since our last visit, and not much had changed in the town itself. As it was the new year holiday, there were throngs of visitors, most of them staying in the Yunti Hotel or the Yunti Shunjie Hotel, which was once a dreary hotel run by police.

It was when we went out to visit the terraces that recent changes became evident. The upper road that leads out of Xinjie toward the rice terraces had been relaid as a brick road and was much smoother than before. The fork where the road splits off to the Duoyishu/Bada scenic spots or the Laohuzui scenic spot were finally marked, but there was also now a ticket booth for Duoyishu and Bada. Commercialization of the rice terraces has begun in earnest.

Aside from road improvements and ticket booths, the composition of the people shooting the terraces was dramatically different from a few years ago. Whereas Yuanyang previously attracted primarily Europeans, Japanese and Hong Kongers, domestic tourists outfitted with thousands of dollars of equipment were ubiquitous. The majority of mainland tourists to Yuanyang nowadays hail from Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong and Kunming.

Sunrise and sunset are the best times to shoot the terraces – during our time in Yuanyang we shot three sunrises and three sunsets. Here are some brief introductions to some of the top spots for taking photographs in Yuanyang:

Laohuzui (老虎嘴)
Laohuzui is the most popular place in Yuanyang to shoot sunsets. The spot's name literally means 'tiger mouth', as somewhere in the myriad curving terraces there is reputedly something resembling a tiger's mouth. We were unable to see anything remotely tigerlike, but it was breathtaking nonetheless.

Laohuzui has two viewing platforms, one high up near the access road that has recently been enclosed by a 200 meter fence. There is also a lower platform that can be reached after walking down a set of switchbacks. You may want to skip the lower platform if you have bad knees or smoke three packs of Honghe cigarettes a day, as the climb back up is fairly strenuous.

There is no shortage of young Hani women offering to help carry camera bags, tripods or backpacks back up the hill for five yuan. On the surface some may seem a bit jaded by the growing number of wealthy tourists, but in general they are all happy to converse if you make the effort.

The upper platform can quickly become a noisy traffic jam before sunset, when tour buses, private cars and trucks clog the narrow road outside the upper viewing platform. Regardless of which platform you choose, it is advisable to show up at least an hour before sunset to get a good spot.

Entry to Laohuzui is 30 yuan or 15 yuan for children, the elderly or disabled and is paid at an on-site ticket booth.

Duoyishu (多依树)
We left the hotel a bit before 6:00 to catch the sunrise at Duoyishu an hour later. We weren't the only ones looking to secure a prime spot for viewing the sunrise – about 200 photographers had their tripods set up when we got there, and many more arrived afterward.

In addition to photographers, there were plenty of local Hani of all ages selling hard-boiled eggs for one yuan each, plus some older Hani women cooking potatoes and stinky tofu on small barbecues.

If you are looking for more variety than the two viewing platforms can offer, you may want to consider heading into the fields. The footpath connecting the viewing platforms heads downhill into the terraces – this is how most photographers get into the terraces.

An alternative way to get into the terraces is to walk about 200 meters south on the road near the upper viewing station. On your left there will be a handful of small footpaths leading from the road into the terraces, offering a different perspective on this expansive valley without having to shoot into the direct path of the sun's light.

Entry to Duoyishu is paid at the aforementioned fork in the road – 60 yuan gets you access to Duoyishu, Bada, Quanfuzhuang and several other spots along the same road.

Bada (坝达)
Most visitors to Bada stop by in the morning on the way back to Xinjie from Duoyishu or they come out in the late afternoon to catch the sunset. Bada has one of the biggest collections of terraces and is easy to photograph from different angles.

Bada has two viewing platforms that offer views at similar heights but different lateral perspectives. Additionally, there are a few footpaths near the second platform leading up into some of the higher terraces, or down below, where new vantage points into the valley open up.

In addition to the countless soft curves and hard bends that can be found in the terraces below Bada, there are also plenty of small huts which make for interesting objects with which to anchor one's shots. Due to the height of the mountain behind Bada, the sun's rays don't hit the terraces below until an hour after Duoyishu.

Should you be tired from waking up to catch the sunrise, there is a small restaurant at Bada offering instant coffee.

Quanfuzhuang (全福庄)
Our last morning in Yuanyang, we decided to do something different and try the comparatively lo-fi viewing areas at Quanfuzhuang. While your correspondent was passed out in the car, his companions managed to take some of their most gratifying shots of the trip.

Should you tire of the crowds at the three aforementioned sites, Quanfuzhuang is highly recommended. In addition to fewer people, there is also easier access to the terraces.

Quanfuzhuang image: John Seelinger

The Spring Festival travel season is upon us and in light of some recent questions in the GoKunming forums we have consolidated the information we have about Kunming's new long distance bus stations.

In the last three months, 11 bus stations close to the city center have been closed, and long distance buses are now running out of five stations on the city's perimeter—presumably to make it easier for buses to get onto highways and out of the city. The abruptness and insufficient publicizing of the bus station reorganization has created difficulties for many Chinese and foreign travelers.

Addresses and map points for all of the new bus stations can be found in the GoKunming listings section. Here's a quick overview of each station and the areas they serve:


West Bus Station - Chunyu Lu / Yining Lu intersection
西部汽车客运站
Serves west and northwest Yunnan destinations including: Lincang, Dehong Prefecture, Jingdong, Lancang, Shangchong, Nujiang Prefecture, Diqing Prefecture, Baoshan, Lijiang, Dali, and Zhongdian/Shangri-la

This station, likely to be one of the most heavily used by foreigners because it serves the northwestern tourist circuit, is commonly known by locals as Majie bus station (马街客运站), this is probably the best name to give to a taxi driver.

South Bus Station - Xin Kunluo Lu
南部汽车客运站
Serves destinations in southern Yunnan including: Pu'er, Xishuangbanna, Jinghong, Yuxi, Jianshui, Shiping, Yuanyang, Lüchun, Honghe, Luang Prabang, and many others.

East Bus Station - Dongsanhuan Hongqiao Flyover
东部汽车客运站
Serves destinations in east and southeast Yunnan including: Shilin, Hekou, Yiliang, selected destinations in Honghe Prefecture, Wenshan Prefecture, Luliang, Shizong, and Luoping.

North Bus Station - Longtou Lu
北部汽车客运站
Serves destinations in north Yunnan including: Qujing, Zhaotong, Xundian, Songming, Lüquan, and Dongchuan

Northwest Bus Station - Puji Lu
西北部汽车客运站
Serves destinations in northwest Yunnan including: Wuding, Yuanmou, Yongren, Huaping, Panzhihua, Chuxiong, Datao, Taoan, Lüfeng, Shuangbai, Nanhua, Mouding, Yimen, and Anning.


Please note the stations are expecting to handle 7,000 to 15,000 passengers daily during the height of the Spring Festival travel season next week, so expect some chaos if attempting to travel then.

Additionally, passengers buying more than five tickets will be asked to display identification in order to prevent scalping. It's unclear how strongly this will be applied to foreigners, but it is advised to bring your passport if you're purchasing for a group.

Tickets can be purchased at the stations seven days before the date of departure, or can be booked online two days in advance through the official passenger transit website, which has no English interface.

Booking online still requires a trip out to the station to pay for the ticket, which must occur more than 24 hours before scheduled departure. This takes some of the convenience out of online booking, but it does in theory ensure a ticket will be waiting for you at the station.

South bus station image: Shenghuo Xinbao

It's official: this month Kunming will launch direct flight services to Dubai, joining a small handful of other Chinese cities with air links to the Middle East.

China Eastern Airlines announced last week that it will launch flight services between Kunming and Dubai on February 22. The thrice-weekly flights include one direct Kunming-Dubai flight and two with stopovers in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

The direct service, MU755/6, will depart Kunming at 4 pm and arrive seven hours later in Dubai. MU2021/2 will also leave Kunming at 4 in the afternoon, arriving in Dubai around eight hours later after stopping in Dhaka.

The new air connection is expected to boost already booming non-oil trade between China and Dubai. Additionally, Yunnan is home to one of China's largest Muslim populations, after Xinjiang, Ningxia and Gansu – which should lead to more Yunnan Muslims visiting the Middle East as leisure and religious tourists.

The addition of flight services to Dubai is another step in Kunming's evolution into an international air hub. Since the end of 2007, Kunming has added flight services to Kolkata, India and Kathmandu, Nepal.

The biggest step forward in Kunming's emergence as an international aviation hub will be the opening of Kunming's new airport. The 12 billion yuan (US$175 million) airport is scheduled to open in 2011.

The airport will be located about 30 kilometers northeast of downtown, just past the town of Dabanqiao (大板桥镇). Considerable progress has been made on the airport since construction began in 2008, with the steel skeleton of the airport terminal nearly completed and base earth layers ready for the runways.

The new airport and other infrastructure projects outlined in Kunming's ambitious 12-year development plan, which was unveiled in 2008, promise to bring major changes to the city. Alongside construction of the airport is a four-lane expressway that will link the new airport with the eastern end of Dongfeng Dong Lu via interchanges at the second and third ring roads.

Also, the timeline for construction of light rail line number six, which will run from downtown Kunming to the new airport, has been pushed forward, with construction beginning next year. The light rail was originally going to be extended to the airport by 2020 and is now projected to be completed within five years.

Photos of the new airport expressway and airport construction site:



Dubai image: Dubai Travel Guide

Beginning this coming January 1, direct rail service between Kunming and Lijiang will be available, connecting Yunnan's capital and most populous city with its most popular tourist destination.

Direct rail access from Kunming to Lijiang not only offers a new and relatively hassle-free way to get to Lijiang's old town, it also provides increased access to other popular destinations including Shuhe, Yulong Snow Mountain, Tiger Leaping Gorge and Lugu Lake.

The new train line will operate twice daily, with the day train leaving for Kunming at 8:20 am and arriving at Lijiang East Station at 7:30 pm for a total of more than 11 and a half hours plus a faster night train that leaves Kunming at 10:00 pm and arrives just under nine hours later at 6:55 am.

Ticket prices for the train will range from 130 yuan to 614 yuan.

Construction work has begun on a new airport near Lugu Lake, according to a Xinhua report citing local officials.

The 837 million yuan (US$122.6 million) airport will be located 35 kilometers from Lugu Lake (泸沽湖), which is located in the northeast of Lijiang prefecture, approximately 200 kilometers (124 miles) from the city of Lijiang. It is generally reached by bus or car from Lijiang, but mudslides and flooding often block roads.

The 60 square kilometer lake straddles the border between Yunnan and Sichuan provinces at an altitude of 2,685 meters and features eight islands and several beaches and bays.

Lugu Lake is popular with domestic tourists for its mountain and lake scenery as well as for the local Mosuo (摩梭) people – population 40,000 – who are designated as a subgroup of the Naxi (纳西族) people and are best known for their matriarchal society, a label which is not fully accurate.

Mosuo women make business decisions and property is passed down along the female line, but men hold political power in Mosuo society, which prevents the Mosuo from being a pure matriarchal society.

The Mosuo are also known for their 'walking marriages' (走婚), in which women choose male partners to visit their bedroom after dark. The man typically returns to his own home early the next morning.

Once completed, Lijiang Lugu Lake Airport is expected to offer flight services to Kunming and Guangzhou. The airport is projected to handle between 1.5 million and two million passengers annually.

Lugu Lake image: rexythegreat via Flickr

Deteriorating relations between Thailand and Cambodia have brought the fate of the eastern line of the proposed Trans-Asian railway which would link Kunming with Singapore into doubt, according to a Phnom Penh Post report citing Thai and Cambodian sources.

A six-kilometer section of track that would link Aranyaphrathet in Thailand with Sisophon in Cambodia may not be built, which would be a major blow to the 5,300 kilometer regional rail network. It is this section that would act as a linchpin, connecting all existing railway networks in the vicinity.

The never-easy relationship between Thailand and Cambodia has become increasingly tense in recent weeks.

In November Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen angered the current Thai government by offering deposed Thai leader Thaksin Shinawatra a home and an economic advisor post in the Cambodian government after refusing an extradition request by Bangkok, where he is supposed to serve two years in prison for corruption. The Thai government under Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has interpreted this as criticism of its judicial system.

Since Cambodia's refusal to extradite Shinawatra, both countries have recalled their ambassadors from each other's capitals and a Thai citizen has been arrested in Cambodia for spying.

This is the lowest point in relations between the two countries since Shinawatra's days in power in 2003, when rumors that a Thai actress had claimed that Cambodian icon Angkor Wat belonged to Thailand resulted in mob violence aimed at the Thai embassy and Thai-owned businesses in Phnom Penh.

One day later the Cambodian embassy was damaged in an attack by a crowd in Bangkok. Diplomatic relations between the countries were suspended for three months afterward.

Adding to the drama is the fact that Shinawatra still holds much influence on the Thai side of the border, where he is still popular in rural regions. On top of that, consummate political survivor Hun Sen, who has been a mainstay of Cambodian politics since the days of the Khmer Rouge, is much more adept at political brinkmanship than Thailand's Vejjajiva.

There has been no word from Bangkok or Phnom Penh that either country has decided to scrap plans for the Aranyaprathet-Sisophon link. Were one country to withdraw from the plan, the rail link between Cambodia and Vietnam – and the rest of the rail network – would become unviable to governments and lenders, according to experts familiar with the project.

Local and international residents of Kunming and Dali are mourning the tragic passing of Arun Veembur, a young Indian writer who died from injuries sustained after falling during a solo hike in Dali.

Veembur, 28, was hiking alone in Dali's Cangshan mountain range on Monday when he fell and sustained serious injuries. He was not located by a search team until Tuesday night, by which time it was too late, according to friends and family cited in a report on The Hindu.

Veembur was born and raised in Bangalore, where he first took interest in writing before becoming disenchanted with the constraints of conventional journalism. Prior to coming to China, he worked as a reporter for the Deccan Herald.

While on holiday in northeast India's Assam state, Veembur learned the story of the Stilwell Road, the World War II supply route connecting Ledo in Assam with Kunming via northern Myanmar.

Veembur's obsession with the road compelled him to travel its full 1,600 kilometer length, including unstable regions of Myanmar, for a travel history book project. He ended up staying at backpacker hostel The Hump before getting a job working for the Yunnan provincial commerce department for two years. He was a welcoming face for many Indian businesspeople and journalists visiting Kunming.

After his government stint, Arun joined the management of The Hump Group, owners of the hostel that was his first home in Yunnan. The Hump Group recently opened a hostel in Dali and in late August, Arun launched dalichina.info, an English-language website focusing on Dali prefecture. He wrote nine articles for the site prior to his passing.

Known among his friends for his big smile, sharp intellect and unique brand of humor, Arun described himself as a "half-baked journalist and much-less-baked writer" on his dalichina.info bio. In addition to enjoying travel and a good party, he was also active in the promotion and organization of the Hump Group's charitable ventures.

Arrangements to return Arun's body to his family home are being made.

All of GoKunming's staff knew Arun personally and will miss him. We extend our deepest sympathies to his family and close friends.

Image: The Hindu