Highlights of Kunming Travel

As a large and modern city in west China, Kunming is most famous for its ethnic-minority culture, which is a tourist hotspot for visitors from all over the global as well, and I designed my itinerary as below during my Kunming travel last May.I walked into the Western Mountain Park to breathe some fresh air and do morning-exercise in the morning, taking a bus to Yunnan Ethnic Village to experience ancient Kunming folk customs later, and then I reached to Kunming Ancient Street to taste local snacks in the afternoon. After shopping along the Golden-Horse & Jade Rooster Archway in the evening, I returned to my hotel loaded with local specialties.

Western Mt. Park Kunming

Western Mt. Park

Perching 6 km in the western suburb of Kunming, the Western Mt. Park is covered with pines and cypresses and overlooks the 500-acre Dianchi Lake, stretching over 40 kilometers along its way.
Owing to its shape resembling a sleeping Buddha, the 20- hectare Western Mt. is also called Reclining Buddha Mt., where the Huating Temple, Three-Trinity Pavilion, and Dahau Temple are available as well as some stone rooms and stone caves.

Yunnan Ethnic Village

Yunnan Ethnic Village

Located north of Dianchi Lake and watching the Western Forest Park across water, Yunnan Ethnic Village is home to the Yi, the Bai, the Dai, the Miao, Jingpo, the Wa, the Harni and the Dulong ethnic groups, where the visitors can not only fully appreciate the lazar fountains and water-screen movies, but they can know more about the folk customs, taste local snacks and purchase specialties in this magic land.

Golden-Horse & Jade Rooster Archway

Golden-Horse & Jade Rooster Archway

Perching in the intersection of Sanshi Road and Jinbi Road with 12 m tall and 18 m wide, the 400-year old Golden-Horse & Jade Rooster Archway is decorated with carved beams and painted rafters in an exquisite style, which is actually composed of the Golden-Horse Archway in the east (next to the Golden-Horse Mountain) and the Jade Rooster Archway (neighboring the Jade-Rooster Mountain) in the west, serving as a symbol of Kunming.

Jade Rooster Archway

As the Sun is to about to sink, its afterglow shines on the Jade Rooster Archway from the west, whose reflection casts a shadow on the street in the east; meanwhile, the Moon rises from the east, shining on the Golden-Horse Archway and casting its shadow on the street in the west; at last, the two shadows connect to each other gradually, which is the highlight of the archway.
For those visitors who’re planning a Kunming travel, don’t miss the following attractions I mentioned.

Author：Yang Qingwei