Kunming Memories｜Meeting the Beauty of Kunming

Number of days: 4 days
Time: December
Average cost: 2400 yuan
With whom: and friends
Updated: 2021.12.26

Where to go in winter? In my mind, there are only two choices, either Kunming or Sanya. I went to Sanya in 2018, and this time, I can choose Kunming.

Transportation:

This time I traveled to Kunming, I rented a car and drove myself. Before leaving, I booked a X-Trail from a certain Hi and picked it up at Changshui Airport. The store is right in the airport parking lot. After landing at the airport, we went directly to pick up the car, which was very convenient.

We grabbed super cheap tickets to Kunming. You know, the round-trip fare was less than 400, which is really a good deal.

Accommodation:

We stayed in Kunming for three nights over four days. We chose a different hotel each night. On the first day, we randomly picked a hotel in the city.

On the second day, we stayed in a B&B, also in the city. The room cost a little over 400 RMB, which was a bit pricey, but still a good deal.

On the third day, we chose Lugu Lake because it was included in our itinerary.

Encountering Seagulls at Dianchi Lake

After landing in Kunming on the first day, we had plenty of time after picking up the car, so we drove to Dianchi Lake. Before reaching Dianchi Lake, I stopped by a restaurant to grab a quick snack. Yunnan snacks are still primarily rice noodles. The point is, the rice noodles I ate in Kunming were much better than the ones I bought at home.

Dianchi Lake is huge, and the scenery is beautiful. However, having seen Erhai Lake and various other seas before, I wasn't particularly enamored with the scenery here. So, when I arrived at Dianchi Lake, I simply bought some food to feed the seagulls.

Actually, if you want to feed seagulls, I highly recommend going to Haigeng Dam, where there are a lot of seagulls.

The picture above shows the wild mushroom hotpot we had after returning from Dianchi Park. There are tons of these hotpot restaurants in Yunnan, and the one we went to made quite a good dish. After finishing our hot pot, we headed to the Nanqiang Night Market, located on Nanping Street. It was a bustling place, selling all sorts of art and other things. However, we just wandered around and didn't actually buy anything.

The Beauty of Luchong Scenic Area

The entrance fee to Luchong Scenic Area is incredibly reasonable, 7.5 yuan per person, and parking is 15 yuan. (This is the first time I've encountered an attraction where the entrance fee is cheaper than the parking fee.)

This scenic area absolutely exceeded my imagination. The lake water here is extremely clear, and I personally think it is much more beautiful than Dianchi Park.

The trees here are lush and green, and the boats in the distance are scattered everywhere, like stars on the sea.

There are so few tourists these days, and a few of us commented that every time we visited a scenic spot, we felt like we had the whole place to ourselves. It was such a wonderful feeling! If we only had three days off, I would have spent the entire day here.

There are so many small rocks here, probably designed by humans. It’s also nice to sit on a rock and take some artistic photos.

The boats moored by the lake are absolutely stunning, each one a vibrant, colorful design. When these colors collide, it creates a vibrant scene, a truly wonderful atmosphere. It's a shame the weather is still a little chilly; if it were summer, I'd definitely take a boat tour. There is a tree on the shore, which happens to be a good background for taking photos. I recommend avoiding getting directly between the trees when taking photos, as this will not turn out well.

After leaving Luchong Scenic Area, we headed to Wanghai Park. Wanghai Park is a great spot for wedding photos, and we saw several couples taking photos there.

In Wanghai Park, traces of spring are everywhere. The water shimmers, and distant mountains guard the lake. The sky is filled with large white clouds. Listen to the wind and watch the leaves sway. I think this is probably the Kunming I most want to experience.

The Beauty of Fuxian Lake

The first time I saw Fuxian Lake was while browsing Weibo. A blogger I follow posted a bunch of photos of Fuxian Lake. Before that, I didn't even know this attraction existed. Now that I know about it, I have to go.

This time, I chose to stay near Fuxian Lake. There are so many B&Bs here, and they all look very well decorated.

Afterwards, we headed to Gushan, a small mountain that's actually not worth the trip. If you've already been to other islands, I personally don't think it's necessary to visit Gushan.

Afterwards, I checked in at Moon Bay Wetland Park. From the outside, it looked like verbena was everywhere. The scenery was absolutely stunning.

Note that this small attraction has a separate entrance fee of 30 RMB. However, this entrance fee is deductible. It's said that you can use the entrance fee directly against your purchases in the town.

The Beauty of Dounan Flower Market

When you arrive in Kunming, you absolutely must visit Dounan Flower Market. It's said to be the most famous flower market in China, boasting a wide variety of flowers, affordable prices, and super freshness. We arrived at Dounan Flower Market before 5 PM.

We went to the flower market. They said it was bustling with activity every day. We even bought some flowers. How cheap are they? Sunflowers were only 15 yuan, and the daisies we bought were only 9 yuan. This is nothing like the price I pay for flowers at home.

Although I didn't buy many flowers at the flower market, I still took quite a few photos. I really envy those who live in Kunming. If I were in Kunming, I'd probably visit the flower market every week. To me, it's the spice of life.

Before flying back from Kunming, we went to a store to buy some souvenirs. With that, our trip to Kunming ended perfectly.