Kunming, Yunnan, China

2003-08-23 - 2003-08-29

walter@pratyeka.org

I lived in Kunming for six months between 2001 and 2002. This collection of shots is from a short trip back I did in August 2003. Even in that short space of time, a lot had changed - noticably there were many more cars.

Paul's Cafe, Kunming. (Paul migrated south from Chengdu.) One of Kunming's waterways. These generally drain southward to Lake Dian.Water lillies at Green lake, Kunming.Exterior of Paul's Cafe, Kunming. My friend had a bike stolen right outside. Paul migrated south from Chengdu, where his "Paul's Oasis" became a cult hangout for westerners.An inquisitive local.Lively Kunming street-scene, Dong Fang Dong Lu.Breakfast on Dongfang Dong Lu.Traffic accident, Dong Fang Dong Lu.The tree-lined boulevard that is Dong Fang Dong Lu. (South side shown here, near the stadium) The Tuodong Stadium, my old residence ahead through the far gate, just visible.Inside the gate to my former residence in Tuodong Stadium. Entry ahead a couple of doors on the right.Here we are, SAN DAN YUAN. That's my old door ahead on the right.Tuodong Stadium in all its glory. Copious Honghe cigarette ads are a permanent fixture of this sporting facility. A market is around the corner to the right, my old residence left.Night time cab ride down Qing Nian Lu.A Kunming bus!Another Kunming waterway shot, taken on Dong Fang Dong Lu between Qing Nian Lu and Beijing Lu, looking northward.The center of town, in the opinion of the would-be-capitalist Chinese up and comers... Walmart! SUPERCENTER! Xiong Brothers' Bike Shop - where I got my bike for my first cycle-tour. They ripped me off but I don't think they meant to do so as badly as they did, so it's OK. I didn't go back in though.The old 'culture street' that once had many a backpacker/student-hangout. Stone Tribe is gone, but here's the evidence it once existed. I never quite meshed there anyway, everyone was a bit weird...Strange shot of light rain, looks like it's snowing.Ahh yes! Another change since the days of my residence - flurescent blue lights now colour the waterways! Sort of like the lights in Yangshuo/Guilin colouring hillsides green, this is perhaps a suggestion that "if the water was clean, its colour would be a bit more like this..."People's Square, cnr. Beijing Lu and Dong Fang Dong Lu.Yunnan Provincial Museum. A great place, and cheap!A 10th-13th century painting of Guatama Buddha and his followers, completed by Chinese in the Kingdom of Dali, during the Song Dynasty. Yunnan Provincial Museum, Kunming.The Moslem street. Good bread here. Center of Kunming.One of the many great fruit and veggie markets around Kunming.A night-time shot of Kunming's traffic.Just south of the mall. The lit gate is right next to where 'The Hump' used to be, before it was closed.The roof of one of the Camellia hotel buildings.The new Camellia Hotel dormitories. That's my bed on the left.Looking out of one of the windows of the Camellia Hotel's new dormitories.Dong Fang Dong Lu traffic, looking west, with Beijing Lu intersection visible. Da Guan Lou park, entry gate. Entry is pricy, but worth it if you want to sit around all day.Map of Da Guan Lou park.The lake, Da Guan Lou Park. Xi Shan can be seen in the distance.Da Guan Lou itself.Another pond in Da Guan Lou park, covered in water lillies.Looking southward from Da Guan Lou park across lake Dian.
Hosted at pratyeka. Last updated Saturday, May 15, 2004.