but I'd be very happy if you would link to it, and I would return the favor, of course, by posting a link to your blog.
And; at some point before I leave Kunming, I do wanna write about the tibetan restaurant Makye Ame, which is not exactly suited for my blog...though my blog is so random that anything goes, really, maybe I could do it on yours. I really can't plan ahead regarding what I'll write or not write, but I'll follow your blog, and if you give me your email, and I do come up with something, we could then see if it's something you'd wanna publish?
HFCAMPO: I was there a few weeks ago, the 'standard' road from Lijiang is in good condition I'd say (at least compared to every single road I ever took in Qinghai and western Sichuan), but it was raining and we encountered several brutal accidents along the way. For our return to Lijiang, however, we chose the obscure northern road from Yongning. This road was at the very least two times as long, including an expensive (100 yuan) ferry passage across the Jinsha Jiang because the bridge was not finished, but it was also perhaps the most gorgeous scenery I have ever seen, beating out Tiger Leaping Gorge, the Nujiang Valley, Tibetan Sichuan and even the chinese part of the Karakoram Highway. If you have a car and don't mind a very very long drive, it's an absolute must see, mind-blowing mountain scenery, but try to leave from Yongning early, as you'll get to go the backdoor route through the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain nature reserve in order to get to Lijiang, and when we got that far it was so late that it had already become dark, and we couldn't see anything. This road is, except the lack of a bridge across Jinsha Jiang, also in rather good condition, it's just extremely long, snaking through a ton of mountains.
If you aren't like, obsessed with overpriced western food and beer, around the same monthly budget as you had in Yangshuo should be fine in Kunming. 1500-2000 would give you a room in a REALLY fancy apartment, but it you wanna live on your own, you might have to move out from the city center a bit for that price. Personally, I'd say there's absolutely no reason to pay more than 800 for a room in Kunming.
The night life is okay, there's a vibrant local music scene, with some interesting chinese bands, but there's not many very laowai:y places, so if you like those, expect to see the same people a lot.
Kunming's traffic congestion is very bad, but the bus coverage excellent and extremely cheap; if you're prepared to spend some time in transit, buses'll do. Bicycles and scooters are both viable options too, but slightly more lethal, and scooter theft is a frequently discussed problem here on GoKunming. The mountains around Kunming offer interesting bicycling possibilities, if that's your thing.
The air is okay, I'd say, but I'm not too sensitive about that. The local dialect is okay, but not proper mandarin by any stretch, you'd better go to Harbin (yes, 真的) for that.
The most beautiful part is the ultimate northern one, beyond Bingzhongluo. Here, across the river and rather inacessible by bike, is the indescribably scenic village of Wuli, that you reach via a path carved out in the steep cliffside along the riverbed. From Wuli, a small trail leds into a deep, misty valley, again with paths in the cliffside, and absolutely otherworldly jungle. Follow this path long enough (several hours, you'll be able to judge by the litter that you're on the right track), and you'll reach the extremely secluded village of Yaotou, high up a mountainside. Again, this won't be accessible by bike unless you're like a magical world class athlete + suicidal, but I wanted to mention it anyhow because it's one of the most awesome places I've ever seen.
Anyhow, sorry for digressing; you'd definitely wanna take your bike all the way up beyond Bingzhongluo, as it's extremely beautiful there. Bingzhounglou itself has an extremely good and cheap restaurant in a basement along the main throughfare.
I'd take the bus to Fugong, which is the farthest you can get into the valley directly from Kunming, seeing as I'd wanna go as far north as possible in the valley on my bike.
Camping is possible, of course, if police or somebody objects just play the stupid laowai card. But I personally wouldn't bother as accomodation is super cheap in China if you have no standards + a minimum of language skill (though being two people so you can share a shabby double is by far the cheapest), and even in some obscure outback villages in Nujiang valley, there are guesthouses. Talk to chinese hikers you meet along the way, they often have some kind of maps and valuable area knowledge.
Henri: from the square before the Kunming train station (昆明站), walk east along the road that goes in that direction, past a small bus station on a corner on your left. Soon afterwards, again on your left, will be a small bus stop for a K something bus (maybe K5?), hidden beneath a few trees. One of the stops on the sign will read 官渡古镇. Get on this bus; it's an express bus that's rather comfortable and stops just right outside Guandu Old Town. It'll take forever to get there, but eventually the bus'll pass some archaic-looking gatetowers on the west side of an extremely long and straight road; this is where the Guandu Old Town starts, so get off here. (The speakers will hopefully say 'Guandu guzhen', otherwise, ask the driver).
Ximeng is a very nice place, with beautiful scenery and amazing barbequed fish; most of the interesting food is located in stalls just outside the gorgeous but overpriced Longtan park (sneaking in without paying wouldn't be very difficult, though). There is decent restaurants in town as well, but it's true that they're not that special.
However, in the end, I have to say Ximeng isn't really worth your time unless you know locals (with cars) who can take you to the ton of interesting-but-unknown places in the area. There's village festivities, beautiful waterfalls and lakes (for bathing!), Dai buddhist temples, sacrificial grounds, local shamans, musicians and instrument makers, forests with (fake) rock paintings and bisarre and enormous trees, etc, but I would never have found or been able to go to one single of these things without having local friends take me there.
Therefore, I feel that I must actually, and regrettably, discourage people from going to Ximeng, unless you have access to a car and local area knowledge. If you do have these things, however, Ximeng can be amazing, just like many other remote, off-the-beaten-track parts of China.
well, the guy might reasonably have been a threat to individuals in China, which makes him no different from the way terrorist are a threat to the US; no terrorist organisation are in any way an even a remotely serious threat to the US as a nation, the only thing they threaten are the lives on individual americans, and that would arguably make this drug lord comparatively dangerous, as he has apparently ordered various large killings and stuff. There is no particularly strong dividing line between terrorists, rebels and large-scale criminal leaders, and one is not necessarily more dangerous to civilians than the other, with terror-like methods being employed even in situations like the drug war raging in Mexico. What I mean by this is that notions like 'drone strikes should be reserved against terrorists' are rather problematic, as there's not always that much separating Al-Qaida from drug cartels, not to mention various insurgencies, whether their cause is perceived as legitimate or not.
The temple itself is interesting, but small; the surrounding exhibitions range from pointless and boring to rather fascinating, but you really need to know chinese or have somebody translating for you to get anything out of it. If you only have limited time in Kunming, skip it and head for the Bamboo Temple instead. Otherwise it's worth a visit.
Though overpriced, the bread is good and the pizza not bad (though a bit small). However, this place score tons of points for the great and cozy atmosphere, it's absolutely worth repated visits.
The temple itself is not very interesting, but the grounds are beautiful and the adjoining park (Admission fee: 5 yuan) makes for a pleasant stroll or picknick in a quaint and somewhat forgotten corner of Kunming. I don't know if people are ever allowed into the pagoda;if so, it would make for a grand view of the city, and be worth one extra star. Definitely worth a visit. Note that the temple compund and the park is connected via an underpass just behind the park's west gate.
Getting Away: Guandu Old Town
Posted byHenri: from the square before the Kunming train station (昆明站), walk east along the road that goes in that direction, past a small bus station on a corner on your left. Soon afterwards, again on your left, will be a small bus stop for a K something bus (maybe K5?), hidden beneath a few trees. One of the stops on the sign will read 官渡古镇. Get on this bus; it's an express bus that's rather comfortable and stops just right outside Guandu Old Town. It'll take forever to get there, but eventually the bus'll pass some archaic-looking gatetowers on the west side of an extremely long and straight road; this is where the Guandu Old Town starts, so get off here. (The speakers will hopefully say 'Guandu guzhen', otherwise, ask the driver).
Getting Away: Ximeng's Wooden Drum Festival
Posted byXimeng is a very nice place, with beautiful scenery and amazing barbequed fish; most of the interesting food is located in stalls just outside the gorgeous but overpriced Longtan park (sneaking in without paying wouldn't be very difficult, though). There is decent restaurants in town as well, but it's true that they're not that special.
However, in the end, I have to say Ximeng isn't really worth your time unless you know locals (with cars) who can take you to the ton of interesting-but-unknown places in the area. There's village festivities, beautiful waterfalls and lakes (for bathing!), Dai buddhist temples, sacrificial grounds, local shamans, musicians and instrument makers, forests with (fake) rock paintings and bisarre and enormous trees, etc, but I would never have found or been able to go to one single of these things without having local friends take me there.
Therefore, I feel that I must actually, and regrettably, discourage people from going to Ximeng, unless you have access to a car and local area knowledge. If you do have these things, however, Ximeng can be amazing, just like many other remote, off-the-beaten-track parts of China.
Mystery man posing as Beijing official in Yunnan
Posted bywell, the cool thing is he doesn't seem to do it for monetary gain, so we're imagining some kind of idealist fuck-the-system-guy here ^_^
Mystery man posing as Beijing official in Yunnan
Posted byWhoever he is, he's awesome.
China considered Myanmar drone strike during manhunt
Posted bywell, the guy might reasonably have been a threat to individuals in China, which makes him no different from the way terrorist are a threat to the US; no terrorist organisation are in any way an even a remotely serious threat to the US as a nation, the only thing they threaten are the lives on individual americans, and that would arguably make this drug lord comparatively dangerous, as he has apparently ordered various large killings and stuff. There is no particularly strong dividing line between terrorists, rebels and large-scale criminal leaders, and one is not necessarily more dangerous to civilians than the other, with terror-like methods being employed even in situations like the drug war raging in Mexico. What I mean by this is that notions like 'drone strikes should be reserved against terrorists' are rather problematic, as there's not always that much separating Al-Qaida from drug cartels, not to mention various insurgencies, whether their cause is perceived as legitimate or not.