We passed a wonderful bit of Chinglish on the way to the hostel – a sign for a ‘Children’s Clothing Discounts Store’, except that the word ‘discounts’ didn’t have an ‘O’ in it… yeah…
On our first afternoon in Kūnmíng we went to Cui Hu (Green Park) which was near the hostel. There were lots of ponds and lakes which were stuffed full of lily pads. In the centre of the park it was like a crazy party – at every clearing, every tiny available space, there was a different dance troupe. Everything was catered for; there were professional groups in jingly, bright red costumes who were dancing to warbly Chinese folk music (with live musicians wielding strange ancient instruments), middle ages women doing salsa steps in sparkly high heeled shoes, a step-by-step dance tutorial taught by a camp young guy with hair like a lions mane springing out from under his headset microphone, there were people doing box step, and some that were just sort of … jumping. We enjoyed walking around and joining spectator groups of various sizes to watch the different performances.
There were also several choirs, the largest one being what drew us to the performance area. Dozens of people were all gathered round with songbooks, the lyrics all in Chinese characters. Best of all were the old ladies of the group, not missing a word, and all the while knitting furiously from wool that was jammed into the cardigan pockets.
We went to the park again on the 10th, and as it was a Saturday there were even more people milling about and enjoying the entertainment. With noise coming from every direction it sounded like a fair ground. In the outdoors café next to the choir we drank Yunnan Red Tea, which was lovely – quite mild and easy to drink.
On our first evening in Kūnmíng we ate at a local place in this area that was bursting with restaurants. There were so many good ones listed in Sasha’s Rough Guide that we were spoilt for choice, though the one we were looking for we couldn’t actually find. In the end we chose a random one, and ordered Beijing duck (with pancakes and sauce, etc), fried goats cheese with onions and mushrooms, and a spicy mashed potato dish. Goats cheese is popular in this part of China – until quite recently it’s been hard to get cheese of any kind in the East of China (I read somewhere that the Han Chinese used to associate the eating of dairy products with the savage, minority tribes and wouldn’t eat it because of that) but these days you can get quite a selection in the bigger supermarkets, all for a hefty price tag, of course. But it was nice to have fried cheese there on the menu!
On the 8th we had a quiet, relaxing day. The morning was spent near the Kūnmíng Old Street at the market that specializes in birds and flowers. There were plenty of other animals for sale in cages too – kittens, puppies, guinea pigs, chipmunks, piglets, hedgehogs, squirrels, chick with feathers dyed neon pink and green… Hmmm.
Sasha was looking at the jade and I found some lovely little teacups. The tea sets at that market were so cheap – 55 Yuan (£5.50) for a complete set. I wish I’d had more room in my suitcase so I could bring back boxes and boxes as gifts! After lunch we went to the Yunnan Provincial Museum, which was actually pretty rubbish, just to buck the trend as provincials museums are usually excellent. There was a sign outside that claimed the museum was closed, which was quite confusing because it was actually open, and then once inside there weren’t many exhibits and hardly any English translations.
On the 9th we had our big outing day. We were planning on going to Shi Lin (the Stone Forest) but it seemed like a waste of time. Over 300 RMB each at least, with 4/5 hours of travel time over the day. Reviewers said that it’s a massive tourist trap, so… no thanks! I’ve seen enough touristy rubbish over the last 2 years.
Instead we decided to go to Qiong Zhu Si, which is a temple a little way out of the city. We got bus 82 to the West Bus Station, and then looked in vain for the C61 bus. The guidebooks said we could catch that to the temple but it didn’t seem to exist. Taxis and illegal taxis gave us various prices and eventually we chose this guy because, unlike other ‘pai che’ drivers, he said he wouldn’t give us a time limit at the attraction so he can wait and take us back, he said he would just drop us off and then would pick us up when we called him later.
When we got to the temple he completely changed his tune and doubled the price that we had agreed on, and claimed we hadn’t understood him because we are foreign. We had a massive screaming match with him, and two of the parking ticket attendants came over. He tried to get the attendant on his side and laugh at how stupid we were, but the parking guy clearly thought he was a muppet and backed us up instead.
His original price had been 80 RMB round trip, and then he said 80 each way. So, 160, which is ridiculous because the distance wasn’t very far at all. I gave him 40 RMB, which was the original price agreed on for the journey up to the temple, then as he realised he was losing the fight he started to drop his price. We gave him an extra 10 RMB after that to shut him up and, on the parking attendant’s advice, we walked away, fast. The funniest thing is that the driver had been boasting to his friends before we left about how much he was charging us, so he had to slink back with his tail between his legs… what an asshole. I hate taking those illegal taxi’s in China (even the legal ones sometimes) because you occasionally get people like that who see a Westerner and want to make some money out of you. But sometimes you have no other choice – it’s either risk it or don’t go and do fun things. I’m just glad we could speak such good Chinese at that point. If we had been unable to communicate, the parking attendant wouldn’t have heard our side of the story – especially when we can say convincing things along the lines of ‘You’re just charging us extra because we’re White – you saw us and thought we wouldn’t understand what you were saying but, as you can hear, we know exactly what you said and you lied to us’. I wouldn’t recommend taking those taxis to people who don’t speak enough Chinese to put up a fight with when they’re being scammed, and I would never take one travelling alone, that’s for sure!
Anyway, after the blazing row that left us both quite shaken, the temple was a big contrast! So peaceful and serene. The main attraction was the 500 ancient statues, carved to represent the stories of the arhat. The statues (shi tou) were exquisite, just wonderful. They looked like monks, scribes, beggars, princes… all kinds of characters, and such features! Such expressive faces! Far more interesting than the terracotta warriors. The arhats were beautiful, comical, grotesque, furious…all different personalities. Some posed with open scrolls, others sat astride stags and tigers or taught tricks to ugly stone dogs. They had eyebrows that reached the floor, lips that jutted or mouths open wide. Their faces were lines with wrinkles from laughing, their arms clutching at a twisted wooden staff or held out in wild gesticulation. Feet were crossed or slung leaning on the opposite knee, and their clothes, with necklines open to the waist, were creased and rumpled like natural cloth. I wanted to take photographs but of course that would be disrespectful, so I contented myself with a few amateur sketches, trying to capture their likeness. I did find some pictures on the internet though, which some other sneaky tourist must have taken...
Though dusty, their colours were bright, but difficult to see in the dim display room, where they sat lined up on three rows of shelves, like toys in the window of a toy shop. Aside from the 500 arhat statues, the temple was much like any other. We had a vegetarian lunch for 8RMB and walked around the grounds, enjoying being up on the hill, the forest hiding the city below us. We particularly enjoyed sitting in the teahouse and making friends with a tortoise who was lazily walking around and eating the grass.
On the way back, we managed to find the C61 bus which does exist, but which leaves from somewhere near the West Bus Station and not actually inside it, which is why we couldn’t find it on the way up. From there we got on the number 2 bus and took that all the way back to the hostel.
For dinner that evening we went to the 1910 Gare du Sud restaurant, which used to be a colonial French train station. It now serves Yunnanese food with a French twist. We had plum wine, a meat platter (ham, pork, pigeon and swan – which was, by the way, delicious; so moist and soft…), deep friend goats cheese (served with sugar, which sounds very peculiar but it actually went quite well!), steamed pumpkin and Parma ham, and fried tofu served with garlic and lemongrass (although the menu actually claimed it would be served with vanilla.) It was really good, and only about 100 RMB each, not to mention the lovely atmosphere and décor of the place.
On our last day in Kūnmíng we went back to the market to pick up the little bits and bobs that had caught our eye, then a quick visit to the Yuan Tong temple, which was also near the hostel. After that we went back to the green park to enjoy the sun, although the booming music from all the different dance groups was not so relaxing! On the way to the train station we ate at Ajisen Raman, a favourite noodle chain of ours, and onwards for another overnight train. The train left Kūnmíng at 11 pm and arrived to our next destination, Li Jiang, around 8 the next morning.
(our hostel garden, and a the Yuan Tong Temple)
I loved Kūnmíng – I found it really cosmopolitan, what with all the different minorities (particularly evident in the park) and of course all the Western tourists who flock their now. There were so many wonderful places to eat and drink, lots to see and do, the weather was great and not too humid either. Also, the hostel we stayed in (the Kūnmíng Upland International Youth Hostel) was amazing – the food was great, the service was awesome, great atmosphere… yes! We loved Kunming. If I was ever going to live in China again, I’d have that city as top of my list. So, next blog to come… Li Jiang!
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