Things to do in Yúnnán
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Old Market Sq
Old Market Sq is the focual point of Old Town. Once the haunt of Naxi traders, they've long since made way for tacky souvenir stalls. However, the view up the hill and the surrounding lanes are still extraordinary, just be prepared to share the experience with hundreds if not thousands of other people.
reviewed
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Black Dragon Pool Park
On the northern edge of town is the Black Dragon Pool Park; its view of Yùlóng Xuěshān (Jade Dragon Snow Mountain) is the most obligatory photo shoot in southwestern China. The Dōngbā Research Institute is part of a renovated complex on the hillside here. You can see Naxi cultural artefacts and scrolls featuring a unique pictograph script.
Trails lead up Xiàng Shān (Elephant Hill) to a dilapidated gazebo and then across a spiny ridge past a communications centre and back down the other side, making a nice morning hike, but note the warning on.
The Museum of Naxi Dongba Culture is at the park's northern entrance and is a decent introduction to traditional Naxi lifest…
reviewed
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Naxi Orchestra
One of the few things you can do in the evening in Lìjiāng is attend performances of this orchestra inside a beautiful building in the old town. Not only are all two dozen or so members Naxi, but they play a type of Taoist temple music (known as dòngjīng) that has been lost elsewhere in China. The pieces they perform are said to be faithful renditions of music from the Han, Song and Tang dynasties, and are played on original instruments. Local historian of note Xuan Ke often speaks for the group at performances.
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Flower & Bird Market
The Flower & Bird Market has long been one of the more enjoyable and relaxing strolls in the city. It's also known as lǎo jiē (old street) and comprises several downtown blocks surrounded by buildings of immense, gleaming modernity and bustle. Flowers and birds most certainly aren't the main draw here anymore, though on weekends the chirping, yawping and cawing can still be heard a block or more away.
Instead, strollers pack this surreal hawkers' ghetto and its mazy neighbourhood walk of stalls chock-full of flora and fauna (well, again, not so much of these anymore, endless curios, knick-knacks, and doo-dahs, the contents of someone's back hall on more than one occasio…
reviewed
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Spring City Golf & Lake Resort
The Spring City Golf & Lake Resort, on the northeastern shore of Lake Yangzong, is arguably China's best golf course (can't wait to get furious letters from China's East Coast on that claim). Golf media absolutely gush over some of the signature holes. It features one championship 18-hole course designed by Jack Nicklaus and another designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr, as well as a five-star resort and water-sports centre.
reviewed
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Green Lake Park
Come here to people-watch, practise taichi or just hang with the locals and stroll. The roads along the park are lined with wannabe trendy cafes, teahouses and shops. In November everyone in the city awaits the return of the local favourites, red-beaked seagulls; it's a treat watching people, er, 'flock' to the park when the first one shows up.
reviewed
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N's Kitchen
Clamber up the steep stairs for one of the best breakfasts in town, a monster burger and a cheery welcome. It's a good source of travel info too, as well as having mountain bikes for hire.
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Qióngzhú Sì (Bamboo Temple)
Dating from the Tang dynasty, the temple burned down and was rebuilt in the 15th century. It was restored from 1883 to 1890, when Sichuanese sculptor Li Guangxiu fashioned 500 luóhàn (arhats or noble ones). These life-size clay figures are a sculptural tour de force - 70 incredible surfing Buddhas ride waves on mounts including blue dogs, crabs and unicorns.
The statues have been constructed with the precision of a split-second photograph - a monk about to chomp into a large peach (the face contorted almost into a scream), a figure caught turning around to emphasise a discussion point, another about to clap two cymbals together, yet another cursing a pet monster. So lif…
reviewed
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Ganden Sumtseling Gompa
About an hour's walk north of town is this 300-year-old Tibetan monastery complex with around 600 monks. Extensive rebuilding (and a 150% jump in the ticket price in the last two years alone) has robbed the monastery of some of its charm, but it remains the most important in southwest China and is definitely worth the visit. Bus 3 runs here from anywhere along Changzheng Lu (Y1). You can sometimes avoid paying by coming after 5pm.
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Yuántōng Temple
This temple is the largest Buddhist complex in Kūnmíng and a draw for pilgrims. It's over 1000 years old and has been refurbished many times; the latest renovations were going on at the time of writing. To the rear a hall has been added, with a statue of Sakyamuni, a gift from Thailand's king. The good vegetarian restaurant here is to the left of the temple entrance.
reviewed
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Kunming City Museum
The left-hand hall of this museum is packed with swords, spears and surprises like mini bronze ox heads excavated in the Kūnmíng area; you've got pot luck (generally none) on English captioning. The right-hand hall houses the highlight of the whole shebang, worth the cost itself - an impressive 6.6m pillar engraved with Buddhist scriptures from the Kingdom of Dali (AD 937-1253).
It's said Prime Minister Yuan Douguang of the Dali kingdom had the pillar constructed for Kūnmíng's Military Administrator Gao Mingsheng. A dinosaur exhibit inhabits the 2nd floor with the highlight, we kid you not, Yunnanosaurus robustus; this area is a bit middling, sadly underrepresenting Y…
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Báimǎ Lóngtán
Báimǎ Lóngtán is a famous example of one of the pools that formed part of the web of arterylike canals that once brought the city's drinking water from Yuquan Spring (now called Black Dragon Pool Park). Where there are three pools, these were designated into pools for drinking, washing clothes and washing vegetables. Sadly, the days - not too long ago - when you would see locals washing their veggies in the streams after heading home from the market are a bit unthinkable now.
The town once had several water wheels, though the only one left now is Yulong Bridge Waterwheel, a reconstructed model at the north edge of the old town. The nearby monument celebrates Lìjiāng's…
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Nancheng Mosque
The oldest mosque in Kūnmíng (or at least on the site where a mosque has sat the longest), the 400-year-old Nancheng Mosque can be recognised by its telltale greenish onion domes, though the lower floors essentially look like the white-tiled offices that they are!
Even worse, the once-lively strip of Muslim restaurants and shops selling skullcaps, Arabic calligraphy and pictures of Mecca nearby got its marching orders from the city government and has slowly been dispersing throughout the city. Not much is left. To get to what's left of the Muslim area from the Zhengyi Lu roundabout, walk west past Chūnchéng Jiǔlóu (Spring City Hotel) and then bear left a half-block to …
reviewed
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Bronze Drums Hall
The Bronze Drums Hall has a collection of artefacts from tomb excavations at Jìnníng (Diān Chí), Wanjiaba (Chǔxióng) and Lijiashan (near Jiāngchuān). The drums themselves date from the Warring States and Western Han periods and are superb. Of 1600 such drums known to exist in the world, China has 1400 and Yúnnán 400 itself, most unearthed at Shizhai Shān near Diān Chí. The ancient drums are brought into a modern context by their continued use among minorities such as the Yi.
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Mu Family Mansion
The former home of a Naxi chieftain, the Mu Family Mansion was heavily renovated (more like built from scratch) after the devasting earthquake that struck Lìjiāng in 1996. Mediocre captions do a poor job of introducing the Mu family but many travellers find the beautiful grounds reason enough to visit.
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Chongsheng Temple
Some travellers find the admission price for the Three Pagodas steep, given that you can't go inside the pagodas. However, the temple behind the pagodas, Chongsheng Temple, almost makes up for it. Laid out in the traditional Yúnnánese style there are three layers of buildings lined up with a sacred peak in the background. The temple has been restored and converted into a museum chronicling the history, construction and renovation of the pagodas.
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Sakura Café
This unbelievably raucous place has gone from subdued and relaxed to utterly rè nào (hot and noisy, the way Chinese like it) in half a decade. It is actually one of several other 'Sakura Cafés' also found along this lane; perfectly located to draw in tourists, they absolutely swell with customers at night. You'll hardly hear yourself think at times, but the Korean bimbab set meal is still outrageously good.
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Looking at the Past Pavilion
The Looking at the Past Pavilion was raised for tourists at a cost of over one million yuán. It's famed for a unique design using dozens of four-storey pillars - unfortunately these were culled from northern Yúnnán old-growth forests. A path (with English signs) leads from Old Market Sq. It acts as a sentinel of sorts for the town. Sit on the slope in the early morning and watch the mist clearing as the old town comes to life.
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TC/G Nordica
TC/G Nordica is best described as a gallery-exhibition hall-cultural centre. There's even a relaxing restaurant with Scandinavian and Chinese food. (One founder was Swedish, another Chinese - hence the mix). Do check out Nordica's website for a full slate of performances and exhibitions; most weekends something is happening (though if you wish to eat, at times on Friday or Saturday evenings reservations are required).
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Artistic Space of the Sacred
Not your run-of-the-mill joint, this place - is it a bar, an inn? - is run by an artist, and it shows, from the lighting to the colour coordination. Best of all are the inspiring views from the tiered outdoor terraces. A Ming has a gallery full of paintings upstairs and will show you if you ask. He's also set up a four-bed dorm with a Buddhist shrine and a private room with one of the most romantic views in the city.
reviewed
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Lamu's House of Tibet
Lamu has been putting smiles and service before yuán for over a decade and, after a few relocations, she's finally nailed her spot in this casual pine-and-bamboo place on the north side of the old town. The upstairs is great for people-watching. It's a UN menu, but the Tibetan items are all you really need (though the Naxiburger rocks).
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Yunnan Explorer
15 days (Kunming)
Journey deep into Yunnan Province to the spectacular Meili mountains.
Not LP reviewed
from USD$2,890 -
Yunnan Meili Trek
15 days (Kunming)
Explore the stunning landscapes and rich diversity of Yunnan and the Meili Snow Mountain range.
Not LP reviewed
from USD$2,760 -
Five Phoenix Hall
Five Phoenix Hall is a striking Ming dynasty, Naxi 20m-high edifice dating from 1601 but only moved to its current location in 1979. Its three roofs with eight eaves each are supposedly in the shape of phoenixes. It's located at the far side of the Black Dragon Pool near an art exhibition building and a pavilion with its own bridge across the water.
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Blue Papaya
One of the places many folks take the time to write about, this is among Lìjiāng's top casual-chic places. The Italian-centric food - heavy on pasta and fish - is excellent with many, many creative flourishes. The restaurant is also home to a 'cultural exchange academy', offering courses on cooking, massage, taichiand more.
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