Kunming - Côn Minh

Kunming (Chinese: ; pinyin: Kūnmíng; Wade-Giles: K'un-ming) is a city China. Kunming is the capital of Yunnan province, with a population of about 1,055,000 in 2006. Geographical location: located on the southern bank of Tianchi Lake (Kunming Lake). The city is often called Xuancheng (春城, literally "spring city"). The city is at an average altitude of about 1,892 m above sea level. The city has 2,400 years of history, is the cultural, economic and transportation center of Yunnan province.

Introduce

The city can be dated to 279 BC. In 765, the city of Tuodong (拓东) was established.

In the 13th century, Marco Polo came here and wrote about this land in his diary. The city was renamed Kunming by the Yuan emperor in 1276.

In the 14th century, Kunming was recaptured by the Ming Dynasty and built a wall around the present-day city of Kunming.

In the 19th century, Kunming came under the control of rebels under the leadership of Du Wenxiu (杜文秀) king of the Dali Kingdom from 1858 to 1868. Decades later, Kunming began to come under Chinese influence. The West.

Arrive

By air

Kunming Changshui International Airport has flights from Southeast Asia and cities such as Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, as well as numerous domestic connections via China. There are flights between this airport and Hanoi, Da Nang, and Ho Chi Minh City. Immigration can sometimes be congested. Hong Kong flights are handled pretty quickly like China from there just need to show your ID card. For older airports, processing foreigners can take around two minutes per person and with only three immigration officers working this can get quite frustrating, but this has since improved. with the opening of new airports.

Kunming Changshui International Airport is located about 25 km northeast of the city area (Please note that Wujiaba Airports have been decommissioned since June 28, 2012). A taxi ride to the city center will take about 30-40 minutes, peak times you can expect to double this, as Kunming suffers from massive traffic congestion.

There is also an hourly subway line (line 6), running between the airport and the East City bus station. The east bus station offers a large number of bus services into the city center in a short trip. There are two intermediate stops between the two stations, but these are not unopened as of August 2012. Hours of operation for line 6 are from 5:00 to 22:00 daily. Currently, daytime frequency averages 20-30 minutes, and during peak hours it is expected to be reduced to about 5-10 minutes. A one-way trip takes about 20 minutes, and costs ¥5.

You can book flights from Air China Office, Wallton Building, 448 Baoshan Jie, (0871) 3,159,171 or any number of travel agents within the King World Hotel which is a few blocks north of the house. Beijing Lu train station. Tickets to Beijing are typically around ¥1600-2000, to Hong Kong around ¥1200-1500, with destinations closer than ever getting cheaper as China's domestic carriers jostle for market share.

By train/train

By car

By bus

Kunming has moved its bus station to the edge of the city in an attempt to reduce traffic jams. There are four bus stops for each major direction (N, S, E, W). A general rule of thumb is that you should head to the bus stop in the direction you want to travel (for example, if you're heading to Dali or Lijiang, you'll need to use the West Bus Terminal (Xibu Keyun Zhan). ), or if you're going to Jinghong or Jianshui you'll need the South Bus Terminal).

The bus stations next to the train station no longer have long-distance bus stops.

Long distance buses are great - cheap, reliable, comfortable, however, overnight sleepers can be cold, bumpy and dirty, check the bus before you buy a ticket. Non-smokers should know that people smoke in buses in China, which is a big problem if the weather is cold and all bus windows are closed.

There are international departures to Laos and Vietnam, although these services are not always available. Buses to Laos go all the way from Kunming to Vientiane, and cost around 50 USD and end up 40 hours if you go all the way (this is unconfirmed, but there have been some reports for that, due to better roads being built at the end of several years, the whole journey now takes only 28 hours). You can get off at stops in between like Luang Prabang, and the cost of the ticket is cheaper. Either way, a long ride and a little expensive, though not much to expect. The bus was clean but had to stop at unexplained places for short periods of time. As for needs, the bus stops on the way at restaurants and even nastier toilets at gas stations. However, a journey of your own management if you need to go from Laos to Kunming or vice versa.

The journey to Vietnam is less difficult. Buses to Hekou, a border city on the Chinese side, are frequent again. There are night buses that allow you to leave Kunming at 08:00 and arrive in Hekou during the border crossing as soon as it opens, but the bus only needs 7 hours now so times may have changed . The bus station in Hekou is about 3 km across the border, public buses go there. From there, you can take one of the buses to Sapa, the bus or train to Hanoi, or elsewhere. To reach the East bus station from the train station, you can take bus 60 (¥2, ~30 minutes).

By ship

Traveling in the city

Kunming has very bad traffic conditions and not only at peak times. It's worth planning ahead if you have somewhere to go.

  • Bike Can be rented at some hostels for about ¥20 a day. There are bike lanes along the edges of many important and often slow-moving traffic routes. In addition, a program launched in 2012 in the Dianchi (lakeside) area of ​​the town offers bicycle rental as a public service, similar to the program in Paris and London. However, registration is a prerequisite and it is still unclear whether foreigners can access the system, especially short-stay tourists.
  • City bus fare 1 yuan per person and runs most of the city. The bus operates from around 06:00 to 21:30pm/22:00! (From the first stop, that is, if you go from the last stop, you can get the bus also at 23:00 back to the first stop). Buses stop at every stop along their assigned route, but not all bus routes stop at all bus stops! Don't be surprised to see a driving bus skip the stop, as it may not be on their way. The stops are usually 500m to 1km apart. Drivers often race against each other, especially on ring roads. They tend to stop suddenly too, so have a good hand hold. Some of these bus stops are on either side of the road but some bus stops are located in the middle of the road and appear to have been designed to provide maximum inconvenince and danger to passengers. There have been reports of pickpockets on crowded buses, especially just before the Lunar New Year when people need money to spend Tet. It is possible to get a bus card to reduce the cost of each trip to 0.90 yen. This card costs 20 yuan and can be purchased at bus stops. Bus Nos 52 and 67 run to the airport and can cost ¥2 depending on bus and hours. There are also some other buses that cost ¥2. They usually travel longer distances to the "villages" around Kunming. Bus routes are marked on some local maps (sidewalk or counter) but not always accurate. You can check China only http://bus.mapbar.com/kunming/xianlu/10lu/ the following site (bus 10) but at least has a map with bus stops and you can quickly change the number of buses in the url (only works for regular buses, not C62 and the like ). For C61/C62/C63, check http://km.ganji.com/bus/station/530100010382_5.html (but no map).
  • Taxi Initial price is 8 yuan. Make sure the driver uses the meter to avoid being scammed. Sometimes, the taxi driver will ask for a package fee, but you should avoid this, as the package fee is usually much more expensive than using the meter for city rides. As always, care needs to be taken when traveling at night or long distances. Larger taxis cost more than smaller taxis. Also note that taxis are planned and cannot run into all areas. Don't be surprised if a taxi driver can't get you to your destination as it may be outside their area. Only certain taxis are allowed to enter the central area at certain times. This allows all taxis a chance in lucrative business areas. It is especially difficult to get a taxi around 18:30, when the taxi driver changes shifts and the driver needs to return the taxi.

Visit

  • The world's first wonder - Natural stone masterpiece
  • Gia Minh Flower Market, visit Kim Ma Bich Ke - Typical architecture of Kunming city
  • Golden Bronze Temple - The temple is cast in green bronze weighing 250 tons, located near the center of Kunming city and is one of the three largest bronze temples in China.
  • Flower Garden Tea, Bell Tower
  • Tay Son Long Mon – Including ancient architectures such as Tam Thanh Cac, Hoa Dinh Tu…
  • Dai Quan Lau - the place where the longest couplets hang.
  • Tay Son Long Mon & Tam Thanh Cac are famous through the sentence "Whenever you come to Longmen, it is unusually prestigious" - come here not only to admire the natural beauty but also to find out why visitors to Long Mon will have good fate. than before, such as Carp crossing Vu Mon turning into a dragon.
  • Hoa Dinh Tu - Legend has it that this is the place where Buddha Quan Am came to lecture and became a Bodhisattva

Around Kunming

  • Shilin or Stone Forest (Chinese: 石林) is a natural stone forest in Yishilin Ethnic Minority Autonomous County (石林彝族自治县), Yunnan Province, China, 120 km from Kunming. The area is more than 40,000 acres. Thach Lam is a typical geological area that has formed and changed over billions of years and has special Karst geomorphology. On March 12, 2004, Thach Lam was recognized as a World Geopark by experts of UNESCO's World Geological Survey. In 1984, Shilin was approved by the Chinese government as a National Key Scenic Area. According to the legend of the Di ethnic group (彝族), Shilin is the ancestral land of this nation. The main landscapes of Shilin are: Big and small stone forest, Ly Tu Tinh Shilin (李子菁石林), Zhiyun Cave, Changhu, Dai Dieu Thuy (大叠水). Every year on the 24th day of the 6th lunar month is the most ideal time to visit Shilin

Play

Learn

Work

Shopping

Cuisine

Price

Affordable

Luxurious

To drink

Sleep

Price

Affordable

Luxurious

Security

Medical

Contact

Cope with

Next point

This tutorial is just an outline, so it needs more information. Have the courage to modify and develop it !