Our veteran American teacher friends recommended Kunming, Dali and Lijiang, all in the Yunnan province so we decided to make this the focus of our journey. At LP’s suggestion we found a centrally located nice hotel in Kunming, the ‘City of Eternal Spring,’ for $40/night including breakfast! Just down the street we found a Western style restaurant named Aloma’s that served homemade apple pie with ice cream for $2…a treat we enjoyed several times!
Even though LP described nearby Shilin (also known as the Stone Forest) as “ equal parts tourist trap and natural wonderland” we decided to give it a try. Taking a city bus to the long distance bus station, then a 2 hr ride on another bus, we arrived in the small village at Shilin and made our way down the main street to the entrance. Crossing a bridge, we began to notice stalagmite-like shapes rising around and in the water. As we entered a wooded area, we saw more & more of these odd shaped rocks (limestone karst) that eventually became a maze for our adventure. We followed musical sounds to find people dressed in native costumes (of the local Sani ethnic group) playing unique instruments and performing traditional dances at an open area among the rock. Unlike most other visitors with tour groups following a set path through the rocks, we forged our own route often finding ourselves far from the crowds and lost in the maze. We went up and down narrow passageways and through nooks and crannies finding endless wonderful rock formations! We marveled at the notion that this area was originally covered by water. Climbing the steps up to the central overlook pavilion, we posed with the multitudes…and then began to pose for them as many wanted to have their picture made with the foreigners. (We became almost as much of a spectacle as the rocks!) We noticed that we did not see any other foreigners in the park that day. After finally finding Sword Peak Pond, we made our way back through the maze. Before boarding the last bus out, we bargained with a local for a large box of oranges for $3.50…enough to share with others on our ride back to Kunming.
The next day, after a quick run to Wal-Mart (which happened to be just around the corner from our hotel) for snacks (actually a cheap lunch of pb & saltines), we took another two city buses in search of Xi Shan (West Mountain). As we had heard that locals say, “If you haven’t seen Xi Shan, then you haven’t seen Kunming.” we knew we must give it a try. At the end of the bus route we followed signs leading up the mountain, and we walked and we walked and we walked. Unfortunately the walk was along a road with only a small portion on a stair pathway. (Unlike the US, most mountains in China seem to have stone step pathways instead of natural dirt trodden paths.) We eventually came to a Buddhist Temple that was originally a summerhouse for a previous ruler. After much more walking we arrived at a chair lift to an upper mountain area, then followed a stone step path to the overlook. From here we had a great view of Dian Chi, the second largest lake in China, with the city of Kunming beyond.
From this point we entered the Dragon Gate and began our descent. The saying also goes, “If you haven’t seen the Dragon Gate, then you haven’t seen Xi Shan”…so we hurried to get this in before the last bus back. This area featured more Buddhist Temples and an interesting cave/stairway built by a monk along the rock side of Xi Shan. The Dragon Gate was a cave carved into the rock cliff accessed by a long cavern stairway. It was a long day, but now we guess we can say we have seen Kunming! The next day we took a city bus to another long distance bus station and bought a ticket for the next bus to Dali…which happened to depart in seven minutes…so we scurried across the station and onto another bus for another adventure!
~ Cathy
