Cool places to see in Yunnan?

[Chinadoog]

Hey. I'm going to Yunnan for a week or two and possibly down to Laos for another week and I'm wondering what are some cool places to see in southern Yunnan? I know about Kunming, Dali, and Lijiang, but other than that I don't really know where I should go.

[Erbse]

石林

Don't take the tour, instead take your time and also explore the more remote parts where the tours never go. Entrance fee is a bit steep though. It's said to have the highest entrance fee of all the natural wonders in whole China. You can take a bus from Kunming south station. It's probably more relaxed to stay there for a night, but can easily be done as a day trip, if you start early in the morning.

You can also go strawberry picking in some small town nearby Kunming. But you will need someone who knows where to go. We went to YiLiang, which is half a hour by bus east of Kunming. There we hired a local with his minivan to bring us to the strawberryfields.

Xishuangbanna should be very nice as well, never have been there.

[Don_Horhe]

石林 - I can second that. 100 RMB might seem a a bit too much, but it's worth every 毛.

If you are indeed planning on going in northwest Yunnan, definitely take the two-day hike along the Tiger Leaping Gorge, aka 虎跳峡. If you have enough time, you might want to head even further up north to the small town of 香格里拉/Shangrila, and check out the Ganden Sumtseling Monastery, locally known as the Little Potala.

[roddy]

Heard very good things about Jinghong.

[xiaocai]

罗平, go there in March if you'd like to catch the "rapeseed flower" (any better name for this plant?) season. But any other time of the year is just as good to me. They also have a very nice fall there, too.

And the recommendations above of course.

[abcdefg]

Xishuangbanna is nice this time of year. I went in January two years ago. Not cold, yet not as hot as it will be in summer. It's the ideal time to go.

Jinghong town is the "jumping off" place for seeing Xishuangbanna, though it also has some worthwhile features of its own, such as that fine Buddhist Temple on a hill just outside town. Lots of really cheap Burmese handicrafts as well as excellent local wood carving and carpentry.

The whole area is usually crawling with Chinese tourists, and if you go during the latter part of Spring Festival I would expect a crowd. This area is not "undiscovered" or "off the beaten track." Taxis will definitely "take you for a ride."

A guide I got to know there in 2009 told me and my friend in an unguarded moment, "If you don't visit Xishuangbanna, you will always regret it. If you do visit Xishuangbanna, you will always regret it." Sounded better in Chinese.

[anonymoose]

I've been to Xishuangbanna twice, and not regreted it either time. To be honest, I wouldn't say there is any one single attraction that is an absolute must, say in the way that Lijiang or Dali are, but there are many smaller locations that have their own points of interest. For example, there is the wild elephant valley. You might not actually get to see a wild elephant (although you will if you're lucky), but you get to walk through a bit of rainforest. There is also the tropical botanical garden, which is pleasant for a walk around. There is also the Dai park, Jinuo Mountain, Manfeilong Pagoda, and so on, which are all fairly close to Jinghong.

Xishuangbanna is nice if you are in China, because it is one place that doesn't feel so typically like the rest of China. On the other hand, if you are going to Laos, that might be even better.

[liuzhou]

Dali and Lijiang are fake tourist traps. Avoid.

Head south to Dehong and get into the countryside. As pretty and interesting as Xishuangbanna, but not so teeming with Chinese tourists and not so commercialised.

Ruili is a totally mad small city. A lawless border town. Full of Burmese smugglers and refugees, rampant vice and corruption, the Golden Triangle's door for heroin into China and beyond and China's HIV/AIDS capital - but surrounded by the most beautiful minority villages, Buddhist temples (more Burmese than Chinese - the border has moved back and forwards over the years) and some of the loveliest people I have met in China. And the best meal I have ever eaten in China.

[Chinadoog]

A friend of mine was recently in Dali and Lijiang and he also mentioned how touristy it felt. I might just take your advice, skipping those two cities and going to some smaller, less touristy areas on my way south to Laos.

You also mentioned food - can you recommend any specific dishes? Will I be able to find things a lot different than what I've had living in Sichuan and Shandong? I went to a Yunnan resturaunt in Beijing and had some great rice noodles and the best chicken wings I've ever had.. but I'm sure that Yunnan has a lot more interesting things to offer, I just don't know what it is.

[imron]

Lijiang is touristy, but it's the stop-over point for Tiger-Leaping Gorge, which you don't want to miss.

[abcdefg]

but I'm sure that Yunnan has a lot more interesting things to offer, I just don't know what it is.

Here's an article about Yunnan food: http://www.forest-cafe.org/what-to-eat-in-yunnan.htm

In the south, in Xishuangbanna around Jinghong, you will find lots of Dai minority food. Roasted fish 烤鱼 are always spicy and good. They also make a delicious sour fish cooked in a broth with pickled bamboo shoots. I personally like the such hot and sour tasting dishes such as that and fine rice noodles in a spicy lemon sauce. I don't know the characters for it, but the name sounds like "ningmeng sapie" maybe 柠檬洒撇。

On the sweet end of the spectrum, Dai 菠萝反 is a treat. Some Dai cuisine, such as that, reminds me a bit of Thai. Plenty of fried grubs and larvae are available, if that's your thing. Sorry, I don't know a good source of information on Dai cuisine.

Edit: Well, here's a link -- http://www.dehong.gov.cn/en/culture/2009/0529/en-15684.html

[Chinadoog]

That food looks tasty..

It's really too bad that I only have 8 or 9 days to spend in Yunnan. So much to see.

[abcdefg]

That food looks tasty.. but it would be helpful to know the Chinese names of some dishes.

I reckon you'll need to do a Baidu search. I can say many of them, but not write them.

[anonymoose]

Lijiang and Dali are touristy, for sure, but I would not use that as a reason to not go to them at all. They are tourist traps specifically because they are attractive and unique. If you have time and you like temples set amongst spectacular scenery, I would also recommend a visit to Santa in Dali. I went there around Chinese New Year a few years ago, and there was hardly anyone else there, tourist or otherwise.

[Chinadoog]

Hey anonymoose - did you find this time of year (Chinese new year) to be a busy season in Yunnan for travellers? I'm wondering if it will be difficult for me to get bus tickets to these places like Dali/Lijiang/Jinghong

[anonymoose]

No, not at all. On the contrary, it was a lot quieter than I had expected.

[knickherboots]

Visited Xishuangbanna, Dali, and Lijiang in 1990 (summer) and 1998 (spring). Returned to Lijiang and added Xianggelila, Tiger Leaping Gorge, and Yubeng, a little place near the Tibetan border, last year (summer). If I were you, I'd just explore Xishuangbanna. Lijiang is packed with Chinese tourists and has completely lost its charm. Dali wasn't that great in the first place, and I don't expect it's improved. My favorite place last year was Yubeng, which is practically closed in the winter because it's too remote and cold, and it would take you about six days just to get there and back from Kunming. (Plane to Xianggelila, bus to Deqin, minivan to trailhead, then hike or take a mule to Yubeng.) Though long ago, I remember having a very relaxing time in Xishuangbanna, mostly taking day walks or day long outings to sites via local buses. I also experienced the spiciest dish of my life while there, a kind of small green pepper with a pork filling. I think it was roasted. Painful to eat, yet also somehow quite tasty. The peppers looked like jalepenos but were infinitely hotter. Fried pieces of water buffalo skin that resemble 油条 were also a speciality, I think eaten with peanut sauce. Not my favorite, but worth trying. You can hike to a place where you have a view of both Myanmar and Laos. Enjoy!