Tag: Kunming

  • Golden Week in Yunnan: Oliver Sale, China – November 2018

    Dali Old Town

    ***黄金周***

    2018年10月1号是中国的国庆节,又名“十一”。为了欢度国庆节, 一个星期从一号到七号是国定假日,又名“黄金周”。我没有课,所以我跟一个同学去了云南省旅行。 还有是一个好机会练习汉语!

    我们坐了高铁从北京西站到昆明南站,十个小时。这个高铁线路是世界上的最长,二千七百公里!昆明是云南省的首都,是一个大城市,人口是七白万左右。我们在那里两天了。我们去了绿公园,云南大学,还有一些美术馆和博物馆参观。我们也发现了云南菜好吃极了!我们品尝地方风味比如:过桥米线(米线汤),煎乳饼,还很多羊肉。

    然后我们坐了公共汽车从昆明到大理,四个半小时. 大理比昆明小和漂亮多了!大理在一个大湖边的.第一天我们坐了出租车去湖边再游泳。大理也有一个好看的古城。第二天我们骑着了自行车到处转。我们发现了很多好吃的饭店和好玩的酒吧,虽然也有很多游人!大理的周围也有一些山。第三天我们爬最高的山了。从山上的风景很好看!我们可以看全大理和胡。

    Trying “going over the bridge noodles”

    ***Golden Week***

    The 1stOctober 2018 was theChinese National Day holiday, also known as “10/1”. In celebration, there was a week’s holiday from the 1stto the 7th, also known as “Golden Week”. I didn’t have class for the week, so I went travelling with a classmate in Yunnan Province. It was also a good opportunity to practise my Chinese!

    We took the high-speed train from Beijing West to Kunming South, taking 10 hours. At 2700km, it is the longest high-speed railway line in the world! Kunming is the capital city of Yunnan Province, a large city with about 7 million people. We spent 2 days there. We visited the Green park, the University of Yunnan and a few art galleries and museums. We found that Yunnanese food was extremely delicious! We tried local delicacies such as: “going-over the bridge noodles” (rice noodles in soup), pan-fried goat’s cheese and lots of lamb.

    Kunming Green Park

    We then took the bus from Kunming to Dali, which took 4 and a half hours. Dali is much smaller and prettier than Kunming. It sits on the edge of big lake. On the first day we took a taxi to the lakeside and went swimming. Dali also has an old town, so on the second day we rode bicycles around. There were lots of delicious restaurants and fun bars, although there were also lots of tourists! Surrounding Dali there are also several mountains. On the third day we climbed the highest one. The view from the top of the mountain was beautiful. We could see the whole of Dali and the lake.

    Dali Old Town

     

     

     

     

  • Travelling in Yunnan: Gavin Vine, China – February 2017

    Every time I ask my Chinese friends where I should go travelling in China, they all mention the same place – Yunnan.

    每次我问我的中国朋友我应该去哪儿旅游,他们都说去云南。既然我们因为春节放了几个星期的假,我就决定利用这个千载难逢的机会去看这个很特别的省。我在云南的第一站是昆明,云南的省会。有一句话说昆明是一个‘春城’因为不管是什么时候,温度一直很暖和。 在昆明过了一天后,我们就去大理和丽江,看那边举世闻名的风景,比如丽江的玉龙雪山。这边的美丽和神清气爽比较北京的雾霾让我感到耳目一新。从这儿我们往南边走,去西双版纳,‘中国的泰国’。 丽江的大山给热带雨林让路,天气变得很湿润和棕榈树就到处可见。西双版纳和我认知里的中国有着天然之别 。可是,我们这次旅游的最精彩部分肯定是元阳梯田,我们一看到这些一望无际的梯田就知道做三次汽车来这个地方很值得。

    The magnificent Yuanyang rice terraces

    Every time I ask my Chinese friends where I should go travelling in China, they all mention the same place – Yunnan.

    Since we had a few weeks off class for Chinese New Year, I decided to make the most of the opportunity and go and see for myself this supposedly very special province. My first stop in Yunnan was the provincial capital, Kunming. There is a saying in Chinese that Kunming is the ‘spring city’ because no matter what time of year it is, the temperature is always warm. After spending one day in Kunming we went to Dali and Lijiang to see the world famous scenery, including Lijiang’s Jade Dragon Mountain. The beauty and fresh air of Lijiang compared to Beijing’s smog made for a refreshing change.

    From here we headed south to Xishuangbanna, or ‘China’s Thailand’. The mountains of Lijiang made way for tropical rainforests, the weather became more humid and palm trees could be seen everywhere. This really was a completely different China to the one that I was used to. However, the real highlight of our trip was yet to come. From Xishuangbanna we took a 9 hour bus east towards the Yuanyang rice terraces. As soon as we saw the multicolored terraces, which amazingly stretched out as far as the eye could see, we knew that the three long bus journeys required to get there had been worth it.

    I can honestly say they were amongst the most breathtaking things I have ever seen, made even more incredible by the fact they were a man made creation.