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yunnan - the paradise of china
images: Yi Chang
Do you know that any time is a good time to visit Yunnan Province of China? Yunnan is the paradise province of the new China where the people enjoy spring the whole year round as average temperatures are between 14 and 18 degrees Celcius. Our travel contributor, Yi Chang, discovered that you can’t find a better place than that in Asia.
Yunnan means Southern Clouds in Chinese. It is home to 50 million people, many of whom are from the colourful and artistic tribes of Yi, Bai, Hani, Zhuang, Dai and Miao. It is also home to 30,000 species of higher plants.
The day I arrived at Kunming, I was already impressed at first sight – there were a lot of sparkles - sparkling new cars in heavy traffic and sparkling reflections from the huge smokers’ pipes which are only found in this part of the world. The sun was brilliant and it could not be a warmer welcome than that even though the air was cool at 16 degrees.
smoker with a Yunnan pipe
We drove four hours from Kunming to our first destination - Mengzi. Mengzi is a historical city where the streets are full of antiquated doors and cobble stones. Communistic slogans encouraging the Chinese to be progressive in agriculture and help build the nation can still be seen on the walls of some of the older buildings. New hotels are springing up everywhere as more tourists are expected in the next few years. New 4x4 MPVs and SUVs wheezed by older versions of modified vehicles and the occasional horse carts. Everyone minds his own business in this city which was once the seat of the Chinese government during the Japanese War and also a French-dominated trading town. There is even a famous and popular French-beer garden in Mengzi.
Nan Hu Lake
The Nan Hu lake is the crème de la crème of the Mengzi tourist sites. The lake consists of two connected small lakes, covering an area of 300,000 square meters. In the middle of the lake, there are three isles and several pavilions where, in the past, scholars would always gather to study and compose poems; therefore, Nanhu Lake was referred to as "A Sea of Knowledge" (Xue Hai). Our stay here included a lot of running-around the lake and sampling of the food available in the eateries which have sprung up here in the last twenty years.
The famous delicacy-"Cross-bridge Rice Noodle" originated from here. It is a local dish served with a big pot or bowl which holds a hot soup into which slices of chicken, fish, pork, vegetables and rice noodles can be added. We ordered for 8 people and there were so many condiments and ingredients that all the dishes crowded the huge table top. The superior chicken broth soup came served in a huge 12-inch diameter bowl!
Dinner table crowded with ingredients for the soup pot
Do you know that any time is a good time to visit Yunnan Province of China? Yunnan is the paradise province of the new China where the people enjoy spring the whole year round as average temperatures are between 14 and 18 degrees Celcius. Our travel contributor, Yi Chang, discovered that you can’t find a better place than that in Asia.
Yunnan means Southern Clouds in Chinese. It is home to 50 million people, many of whom are from the colourful and artistic tribes of Yi, Bai, Hani, Zhuang, Dai and Miao. It is also home to 30,000 species of higher plants.
The day I arrived at Kunming, I was already impressed at first sight – there were a lot of sparkles - sparkling new cars in heavy traffic and sparkling reflections from the huge smokers’ pipes which are only found in this part of the world. The sun was brilliant and it could not be a warmer welcome than that even though the air was cool at 16 degrees.
smoker with a Yunnan pipe
We drove four hours from Kunming to our first destination - Mengzi. Mengzi is a historical city where the streets are full of antiquated doors and cobble stones. Communistic slogans encouraging the Chinese to be progressive in agriculture and help build the nation can still be seen on the walls of some of the older buildings. New hotels are springing up everywhere as more tourists are expected in the next few years. New 4x4 MPVs and SUVs wheezed by older versions of modified vehicles and the occasional horse carts. Everyone minds his own business in this city which was once the seat of the Chinese government during the Japanese War and also a French-dominated trading town. There is even a famous and popular French-beer garden in Mengzi.
Nan Hu Lake
The Nan Hu lake is the crème de la crème of the Mengzi tourist sites. The lake consists of two connected small lakes, covering an area of 300,000 square meters. In the middle of the lake, there are three isles and several pavilions where, in the past, scholars would always gather to study and compose poems; therefore, Nanhu Lake was referred to as "A Sea of Knowledge" (Xue Hai). Our stay here included a lot of running-around the lake and sampling of the food available in the eateries which have sprung up here in the last twenty years.
The famous delicacy-"Cross-bridge Rice Noodle" originated from here. It is a local dish served with a big pot or bowl which holds a hot soup into which slices of chicken, fish, pork, vegetables and rice noodles can be added. We ordered for 8 people and there were so many condiments and ingredients that all the dishes crowded the huge table top. The superior chicken broth soup came served in a huge 12-inch diameter bowl!
Dinner table crowded with ingredients for the soup pot
A very enjoyable activity in Yunnan is to visit all the night-market stalls in the evenings. Food from elsewhere in China can be found like Dong Bei BBQ and Si Chuan BBQ. Mengzi is now a centre of attraction for northerners and westerners to migrate to. Being cosmopolitan, the residents of Mengzi are very friendly and outgoing. They enjoy a good lifestyle and dancing in the park is an everyday occurrence. Night-street food is available where your feet can carry you and vendors start their business in the evenings as early as 5 p.m.
One of the many doorways to the Zhu Mansion in Jian Shui.
The 1,200 year-old fort-city of Jian Shui is a must visit after Mengzi. It is a city rich in Qing Dynasty history and artifacts. One important attraction here is the beautiful private garden built by the Zhu brothers during the Qing dynasty. Kept in pristine condition, the Zhu Garden is now both a hotel and a living museum with 58 guest rooms. This private garden has an area of 20 square kilometres and a floor space of 5 square kilometres. Many Chinese films have been made here in the past. For a fee, a resident calligraphist can also write auspicious banners for you to take home or you can just simply watch and be delighted for hours by his clever brush strokes. The Zhu Garden is a wonderful place to stay or visit for a day, and if you have the time to wander around you can try to see the 100 temples and ancient institutions scattered all over the city.
Guests at a housewarming party in the mountains
We were lucky to be guests of a friend who was having a housewarming do way up in the mountains, and had the chance to interact with the tribal people. The guests arrived in their brilliantly- coloured costumes and sat in the courtyard overlooking the valley below. As the concrete jungle of urban development approaches their tribal land, many of the farmers are embracing modern farming using plastic coveralls for their farms. Land taken by the government was compensated for, allowing the wealthy farmers to build 3-storey mansions on the hill slopes. The housewarming dinner consisted of 14 dishes of meat and vegetables which came from their own farm. Over 20 cooks prepared the food throughout the day for guests from the whole village and overseas!! The villagers were friendly and warm. The guests were given free flow of tea and soft drinks. Cigarettes were passed around, as well as the big Yunnan pipes. The relatives sang beautiful songs to wish the house owners more blessings and more success in their farms. What a splendid event!
Tribal village women in their brightly-coloured outfits
The nice terraced rice fields of Yunnan – farmers are able to tame the steepest of the slopes to harvest the best of rice in China). In the morning low mists embrace the mountains as farmers climb up to tend their fields. It was a grand sight to behold.
terrace rice field
As I flew from back to Malaysia my thoughts linger for a long time on the clouds which seemed to have a new character now. They were so low and beautiful. I prayed that one day these clouds would bring me back again to paradise.
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