June-July, 2010: From the Pearl River to the River Neva.

From River to Shimmering River:
23°6′32″N, 113°15′53″E

GMT+8















59°56′N, 30°20′E

GMT+4

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March 2010: Kunming City, a day at the Zoo

I was looking for the YuanTong temple, when I stumbled upon the Kunming Zoo. It is actually within the YuanTong park. Normally I avoid zoo when I travel, and I can't even remember the last tie I was in Singapore's own zoo. But a banner at the entrance was bringing my attention to it's cherry blosom festival. Since I was too late for this year's sakura blosom in Japan (and most likely too poor for next year's), I decided to go in for a look-see.
The park is indeeed a zoo.
And there was sakura blosoming in the park, alright.
There was even the mausolem of a Mr. Tang Ji Yao, famous as an ally of Sun Yat-sen, and fought against Yuan ShiKai's army when Yuan proclaimed himself as emperor. The guy did quite a bit during his short live of 44 years. So, I guess it was appropriate his mausolem was surrounded by sakura.
But I guess compared to the sakura, the bright red Begonia (Hai Tang) which was also blosoming in the park, speaks louder to the Chinese psychic.
There was also a circus going on at the park, with dogs, monkey, goats and bears. The performance was free and it was standing-room only.

I admire the courage of one Chinese woman who was trying to get those in the first row to sit down. She was educating her fellow countrymen that "in foreigh countries, the audience in the front row would sit to avoid blocking the view of those behind." Her effort got her some harsh words from another woman in the front row.
She looks like she have been to some 'foreign country', so I don't see how it did not occur to her that in most 'foreign country', circus animals are treated more humanely (or at least appears to be treated so.)

That's about all I did the day before ending this Bangkok-to-Kunming trip, before heading home from Kunming airport.














If you have done some travelling on Chinese railway, you should be familiar with the Kang-Shi-Fu brand of cup noodle. I have on more than one occasion seen travellers coming onboard with a whole carton of the noodle. So, it came as a surprise that the brand has its own beef noodle restaurant in Kunming city. It looks pretty highend. On the evening I saw it, it was fullhouse and there was a queue waiting to get in.
No wonder the flight out of Kunming felt a bit bumpy----->>>>

March, 2010: ShiLin, Kunming, China

A lot of tourism marketing in China goes like this:
"If you have come to ___(1)___ and have not visited ___(2)___, then it is as if you have not been to ___(1)___!!!"
You can fill in (1),(2) with Beijing,Great Wall or Shanghai, The Bund. And in Kunming, it would be Kunming,ShiLin. Judging by the crowd, the tactic works.
Tactics aside, ShiLin does have its charm.
In one of those obligatory side-trips that Chinese tour guides take you to, a little information on the YunNang-Vietnam railway built by the French colonizers.
It was a difficult undertaking because of Yunnang mountainous terrain. Even today, lorries plying the Yunnang route have to be modified. The wheels are fitted with water sprinklers so that the braking disks can be cooled regularly because of all the braking the drivers have to do down slopes.

March, 2010: Kunming, Yunnan, China

Turns out in the morning that the bus have dropped us off the previous night near a clothing wholesales centre. The hotel I put up in was one of many found at the entrance of a village. The many modern budget hotels that spring up in what look like a rural village seems like the idea of enterprising villagers betting on business that would be brought in by traders coming to the wholesale centre. And I guess they may be on to something, judging by the vehicles parked in front of the centre.

The Kunming train station is about 20cents from the hotel by bus. Before long, and after a little arguement between the bus driver and a traffic police, the Kunming rolling stocks came into view.

Kunming is one of those cities that rank high on the 'most liveable' tables the media come up with, not least for its good cool weather around the year. Don't bother looking for the airconditioner remote in the hotel room, the weather is so good all around the year that the only remote you will find is for the TV.
And those who lives here are known to take things easy, so it is not difficult to see people going on with a bit of singing and dancing. Although most of them are old folks.
This reminds me of 8 Miles, the movie Eminen (where's the guy now?) starred in as a rapper. It's like a rapping contest where one side try to come up with some 'verses' that will disrespect the other. Only here, the two sides sing, and it has to be between a guy and a woman. Quite often, what they sang drew laughter from the crowd.
This looks what you would find in Dali north of Kunming, but it is right in the city centre.
In the bustling crowd outside a Mickey Dee, an old man dressed in the China Railway uniform (and an old and tattled one) claimed that he has been wrongfully persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party. The details are found in writing on the paper laid on the floor.
Speaking of railway (which we often do around here), a railway-themed restaurant known as 1910 La Gare Du Sud (The South Station) hidden in the alley.

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