Kunming

Understand

Kunming is one of the most important transport hubs of Southwest China. It is well connected to the rest of China by road, rail and air and also has good air links to Southeast Asia and a few outside the region.

Some historic routes no longer exist. The old French-built railway to Vietnam is no longer in service, but a new railway along a similar route (Kunming to Hekou North 河口北), with regular passenger service, has been opened to replace it. There are also buses along that route, and a new fast rail link link all the way toVientiane, with an extension to Singapore perennially under discussion. The Burma Road, which terminated in Kunming, no longer exists but there are newer and better roads over much of that route and rail over some of it.

The area is known for the Yí (彝) people, an ethnic minority prevalent in and around Kunming. Especially at popular tourist sites, you may see people dressed in traditional Yi garb and selling handicrafts or showing off local dances.

Get in

Kunming is well connected to anywhere in China or Southeast Asia and reasonably easy to reach from outside that region.

Get around

thumb|Main train station and the usual heavy traffic Kunming has generally good roads but they are often badly overloaded with traffic, and not only at peak times. By Western standards, the driving is often appalling; see Driving in China. For any journey by ground transport, a generous allowance for traffic delays is good planning.

Do

thumb|Zhigong Hall, Yunnan University

Buy

thumb|Golden Horse memorial Archway on Jinbi Road Top end international luxury goods can mostly be found at Plaza 66 next to Dongfeng Square.

Eat

thumb|Small pot rice noodles, a common breakfast for Kunming locals thumb|Over-the-Bridge Rice Noodles with more toppings Local specialties include: Over-the-Bridge Rice Noodles (过桥米线; guòqiáo mǐxiàn) is a typical Yunnan local flavor that could only be tasted in some parts of Yunnan. This famous dish consists of several courses and a big bowl of chicken soup with very thick oil on top to keep the heat for cooking the food items, including raw pork, cooked chicken pieces, pork liver, slices of squid and slices of carp for the first course to be dipped into the boiling hot soup. Vegetables are then added afterwards as the second course, and the rice noodles follow as the last course. It is a kind of snack food in Yunnan. The name supposedly comes from a husband who isolated himself in a garden for intensive study before his civil service exam; this is the dish his loving wife prepared, and carried over the bridge, to sustain him.

Steam Potted Chicken (汽锅鸡 qìguō jī) with Tienchi & Steam Potted Chicken with Cordyceps used to be made in a restaurant famous for this course. Later they created a new variety with gastrodia tuber in the soup, becoming one of the well known local nutritious dishes in Kunming. Early in the Qianlong Era of the Qing Dynasty, the steam potted chicken became popular among the common people. Jianshui County has a long history in producing the best pottery ware in Yunnan. Pots produced in this county has different shapes and forms. The steam pot has a hollow…

Drink

The main club area is in the Wuhua district, specifically Kundu Bar Street. Clubs are open until 05:30 or 06:00. There are probably more than 10 clubs to suit every style and taste.

Connect

If you are arriving in China through Kunming, note that there is no telco store in the Kunming Changshui Airport. A convenience store at the arrival hall (level B1) sells one at a hefty price of ¥100, it is not clear what is included in that price (as of Mar 2019).

Stay safe

Kunming is in general a very safe city, and tourists are very unlikely to be victims of violent crime. It is generally not a problem for women to roam the streets alone at night. Just be sure to avoid the touts at the airport, train stations and tourist attractions as they are bound to rip you off. Instead, use public transport or a ride hailing app like Didi Chuxing. Otherwise, the biggest risk to tourists is the ever-present electric scooters; they are much quieter than motorcycles, though they will usually use their horn to let you know that they are coming.

Dianchi Lake (滇池) is highly polluted. Do not swim in the lake or eat fish caught in it.

Go next

Shilin – the Stone Forest, a national park full of spectacular stone pillars carved by erosion, and home to the Yi ethnic minority Visit the hot springs at Anning - 34 km from Kunming. Dongchuan – known for its colorful terraces Travel further north-west to the old towns of Dali (4 hours) or Lijiang (8 hours), both very popular with domestic and foreign tourists. See Yunnan tourist trail for discussion. Fuxian lake - one of the cleanest and deepest lakes in China (hard to believe when you see how locals wash their motorbikes on the beach). One hour by bus from Kunming. Great one day trip. In Kunming get to South bus station (buses 170, 156; taxi ¥40), really far from downtown. Regular buses to Chengjiang (澄江) for ¥15–20 every hour. There you can take local transport/taxi to lake or walk. Lake is 3–4 km far from Chengjiang bus station. Last bus back to Kunming at 19:00. You also can camp on the beach, recommended not too close to city. Lake is huge, clear, beautiful! You can walk around within a weekend or just a half, to South end of lake, there are also villages with transport to Kunming. The tin-mining center of Gejiu, the historic towns of Shiping, Mengzi, and (most impressive of all) Jianshui, and the Yuanyang rice terrace all lie to the south. Yuanmou - buses can be taken to here will allow you to explore the Earth Forest.