Search the Community

Note: This is the final instalment of a series covering my trip to southwestern China. Read Pt. 1, Pt. 2 and Pt. 3 here. YUNNAN Day 11: We had an early start as we had to fly to our first location in Yunnan province, Lijiang. It was a short two-hour flight, but my parents had chosen to fly business class (just five rows ahead from where my brother and I were) for the extra baggage allowance, which turned out to be a wise choice given my unexpected purchases in Chengdu. Stepping out into Lijiang Sanyi International Airport (ironic given that it only manages domestic flights), the weather felt cool still, but warmer than most of the other places on our trip. On the way to our accommodation in Baisha Old Town, our taxi driver apparently had something to attend to, so she dropped us off to be picked up by a colleague. Something so inconceivable to a city dweller - a perfect way to start our time in the boonies, I thought. When we arrived, I was surprised. Perhaps it was the fact that it was a touristy area and not a nameless village, but my initial impressions of Yunnan being a remote, hidden-in-the-clouds province were wiped when I saw the usual F&B outlets in an otherwise laid-back town. Dread it, run from it, familiar franchises like Mixue and Luckin Coffee appear all the same. Our accommodation was the Yulong Laixi Mountain View Homestay, specifically the family suite that provided 2 king-size beds and a view of Yulong Snow Mountain. Once our luggage was settled, we had lunch at a nearby restaurant. The local food was a segue for our taste buds, transitioning from spice-heavy Sichuanese cuisine to a more “conventional” (by my standards), albeit oily, one. In the late afternoon, we took a 20-minute DiDi ride to Lijiang Old Town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Here, the traditional houses at night were quite the sight. One street reminded me somewhat of Amsterdam’s Red Light District that I’d visited earlier in the year due to the presence of nightlife illuminating the otherwise dark area (though of course the pubs did not offer similar services). Day 12: Waking up early in the morning, I saw the sunlight gradually illuminating Yulong Snow Mountain in the distance from my bed. Going to the Black Dragon Pool cemented the thought I had as I went about getting footage for my personal projects - Lijiang is a beautiful place. We stumbled upon the Dongba Culture Research Institute and Museum at the other end of the park, getting a quick rundown on Naxi culture. The later half of the afternoon was spent walking around, eventually returning to Lijiang Old Town. Exploring the old town unfortunately got old after a while, having been to at least one in every city, so we went back to our accommodation and played pool for an hour. After a quick walk for dinner, we settled in for the night, and quietly looked out our windows as the fireworks ushered in 2025. Day 13: We headed to Dali by car, stopping at some old towns along the way. A fairly uneventful day, except that the transport company attempted to scam us by charging us a premium for a driver who arrived in an older-generation Buick GL-8 instead of the latest generation shown in the listing. Since overly disputing it might have left us without transport, a compromise was reached, and we continued on our way. Of the various stops we made, the most notable one would probably be the Yujin Bridge in Shaxi Old Town. Mum wanted to visit because the town was the setting of the Chinese drama Meet Yourself, which brought in many tourists like us. We eventually reached our hotel in Dali, and spent the night walking the nearby Dali Old Town. Day 14: The day was spent going around Erhai, Dali’s social media-famous lake measuring 40 km by ~7-8 km (for reference, Singapore measures 49 km by 28 km). More old towns awaited (they started to become indistinguishable much like European towns), but also a lot of picturesque views of the lake, the little islands within and of course seagulls. Probably the most bizarre place this entire trip was Ideal State, a ripoff of the Cycladic architecture associated with Santorini, Greece. An astonishing number of people climbed up the resort (many paid to gain access to more private paths). Day 15: We took a two-hour train ride to Kunming, which Dad revealed was only on the itinerary because there was no other way to fly back to Singapore. Arriving in Kunming, I was somewhat shocked at the number of commuters despite it not being a holiday season. The lack of attractions was eminent in how we pretty much covered all the landmarks Dad had researched by dinnertime. On my end, I was surprised by yet another ACG store, where I bought Genshin Impact keychain finger dolls. I usually dislike keychains, but as I had not seen them before, that moment might have been the only opportunity to get them without paying for shipping that could cost more than the product itself. Now, I’m glad I did, because while these finger dolls exist in Singapore, I have not seen any shops with Raiden Shogun or Nahida in stock. As we walked back to our hotel, we entered Gingko Shopping Mall, having walked past it earlier in the day. With only a Xiaomi store open and most other shops closed, our debate on the way back was centred around whether it was a dying mall or a new one. Day 16: With nothing much to do, we sauntered around Daguan Park, a public park that felt more like a theme park with the assortment of displays portraying traditional Chinese culture. Later, we went to a random mall we spotted on the way to the park. An amusement ride outside the mall caught my eye due to its shameless Frankenstein’s monster of the protagonist Gundams from Gundam SEED, an instalment of the Japanese franchise popular in China. Just another mall, though I got to see the XPENG flying car that my colleagues had seen months before. With that, we picked up our luggage and headed for the airport, where we waited for several hours for our 3.00am flight home. HOME SWEET HOME And that’s that! I learnt quite a bit about a relatively unexplored part of China (compared to the eastern cities) on this trip. Going back to the original question in Pt. 1 of why southwestern China is gaining popularity among tourists, I would say it coincides with China’s rise as a global power. Even before blowing up on social media, Chongqing was already becoming a popular tourist destination. This attention has also spread to Yunnan as a province, and it’s not hard to see why. Just like any other place in the world, there are plenty of wonderful sights, both natural and man-made, the food delicious, and for the most part the people were accommodating, if not friendly. If you have even the slightest interest in visiting China, I would definitely bring the southwestern cities up for consideration, though it may also depend on factors like: How many times have you been to China? How much do you enjoy spice? What balance of urban/rural sights do you like (because Yunnan in particular is more rural)? Perhaps I should head further west in the future? Xinjiang seems otherworldly... ~ Wei Feng Images: Myself