Yunnan, where memory meets the present
Kunming “Spring city” of Yunnan
Traveling to Yunnan, China is a great experience.
It’s one of China’s most scenic and culturally diverse provinces.
Why Yunnan is so special?
Yunnan offers mountains, rice terraces, lakes, gorges, and mild weather
The region is home to many ethnic minorities (Bai, Naxi, Yi, Dai, Tibetan)
For Foodies: Here you find unique flavors—mushrooms, rice noodles, Dai-style dishes
The region is more relaxed than cities like Beijing or Shanghai
I first visited China in 2000 and spend time in Yunnan province.
TNow to be back was a wonderful opportunity to see how much had changed.
And changed it certainly has, far more than I could have ever imagined.
Dali and Lijiang, little towns with a few visitors in sight, are now bustling hubs of domestic tourism.
Jinghong is a modern city.
In former times people dressed mostly in blue Mao suits or green uniforms, if they were in the army.
The roads were filled not with cars but with bicycles and horse carts. I have fond memories of the morning rush hour in Chengdu, Sichuan province, when its wide avenues became a river of thousands of cyclists.
If you wanted to change lanes, it was useless to signal.
You just had to go for it, hoping that everyone else would slow down — which they did, of course.
Of course, the biggest change is the sheer scale of development, which includes blocks of apartments and an extensive road network.
Now, they’re full of touristS, shops, and many hotels have been built in the surrounding region.
In the past, local ethnic groups in bright costumes would come into town to shop, shyly turning away from cameras.
The changes have been huge, but also positive. Food offers a wide range.
I relished the street food, particularly items like crickets, beetles and caterpillars, but also the food in the restaurants, which was uniformly excellent.
I enjoyed the best local delicacies.
Yummy.
