Nine-day Trip to Yunnan and Guizhou in March - Kunming

Number of days: 2 days
Time: March
Average cost: 800 yuan
With whom：parents and children
Updated: 2025.04.05

On the morning of March 16th, we took the high-speed train from Guiyang North Station to Kunming. The weather in Kunming was much warmer, although it was only around ten degrees Celsius. We took the subway to the Howard Johnson Guandu Hotel on Rixin Road. The room was quite large. After putting our luggage away, we immediately found Caiyunli Restaurant, a restaurant with ethnic characteristics, near the hotel. We tried a Yunnan dish called water hyacinth, scientifically known as sea hyacinth, which mainly grows in Lugu Lake in Lijiang and Erhai Lake in Dali. The taste was average, relatively light and a bit slippery.

After lunch, we took a taxi to the former site of the Yunnan Army Military Academy. Taking a ride-hailing app in Kunming is very convenient; it's fast and inexpensive, with each ride costing only about ten yuan. During our two days in Kunming, except for walking, we traveled by taxi.

"A century-old military academy, the cradle of generals," this military academy, which nurtured marshals like Zhu De and Ye Jianying, is an important monument in modern Chinese history. The main building of the Military Academy is a two-story brick and wood structure with corner towers. The four buildings on the east, south, west, and north sides are symmetrically connected to form a square courtyard, covering an area of approximately 14,400 square meters. The east and west buildings are each about 119 meters long and 10 meters wide; the south and north buildings are each about 116 meters long, 7 meters wide, and about 12 meters high; the review building in the middle of the south building is about 115 meters high and 13 meters wide, and is grand in scale.

There are guard changing drills at the Military Academy every hour, but the schedule may be adjusted from time to time. Please pay attention to the official WeChat account for details. After watching the 3 o'clock performance (which only lasted two or three minutes), we continued to Cuihu Park across the street. Green Lake Park is a pearl in the center of Kunming, with clear and sparkling lake water, surrounded by green trees and colorful flowers. Walking along the lakeside, the willows are swaying lightly, and a field of weeping crabapples are in full bloom by the lake, which is very eye-catching. Unfortunately, there is no trace of the seagulls.

After an hour's stroll through Cuihu Park, we continued on to Kunming Old Street. After about a 20-minute walk, we arrived at Wenmiao Street. Kunming Old Street is the last remaining historic district in Kunming and encompasses several nearby streets. Preserving many distinctive residential buildings from the Qing and Republican eras, it offers a truly authentic glimpse into old Kunming! Here, you can enjoy authentic small-boiled rice noodles, find authentic Yunnan antiques, and even encounter bookstores from the days of the United Nations and century-old pharmacies. We strolled through Old Street and bought a Yunnan delicacy—flower cakes. They were delicious, but a bit sweet, and I got tired of them after just three. Tired of walking, we found a tea shop, which was mostly coffee shops. Yunnan is famous for its small-grain coffee, but I'm not a coffee drinker, so I didn't try it.

Kunming Street Scene

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Ma Family Courtyard src="https://dimg04.c-ctrip.com/images/1mf1k12000jkmp9liE9BB_R_800_10000_Q90.jpg?proc=autoorient" />

Former Site of Fuchunheng Trading Company src="https://dimg04.c-ctrip.com/images/1mf1212000jkmpd4c0552_R_800_10000_Q90.jpg?proc=autoorient" />

We walked around the old street until 5:30, then went out for dinner. We found a restaurant nearby that serves wild mushrooms. Although now is not the best time to eat wild mushrooms, it is said that the best time is from June to October, when it is the rainy season in Yunnan and the mushrooms grow in large quantities. Even so, the chicken stewed with mushrooms is really delicious.

After dinner, I didn't continue shopping and took a taxi back to the hotel to rest. On the morning of the 17th, the sky was overcast. Although the weather forecast called for a sunny day, it was a bit unreliable. It remained cloudy all day. As a result, I didn't wear enough clothes when I went out, and had to go back to the hotel to change clothes at noon. Today's itinerary was to visit Yuantong Mountain to see the cherry blossoms and feed the seagulls at Dianchi Lake. Yuantong Mountain is also known as the Kunming Zoo (admission fee is 20 yuan). The cherry blossoms and weeping crabapples in the park are at their peak viewing season, presenting a magnificent spectacle of "two flowers in full bloom." I took a taxi to the zoo's east gate. From there, a short walk brought me to the Yuantong Flower Tide. The first thing I saw was the weeping crabapples lining the road, and further on, the cherry blossoms appeared. We just came to see the cherry blossoms, so we didn't go to see other animals. We walked all the way to the west gate of the park, where there is a peacock garden with many peacocks.

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After coming out of the west gate of the zoo, I took a taxi to Xihua Park. Xihua Park is not far from Dianchi Lake. I had originally planned to go directly to Haigeng Dam to feed the seagulls after exploring Xihua Park, but the weather kept getting colder, so I had to return to the hotel to change. Xihua Park is a comprehensive park in Kunming, featuring flower viewing and Bai architecture. It combines natural landscapes, ethnic culture, and leisure and entertainment. It combines the graceful beauty of Jiangnan gardens with a rich Yunnan ethnic flavor. Pavilions, towers, and the beautiful scenery of the lake and mountains complement each other, creating a unique charm. In mid-March, the crabapple blossoms in the park burst into bloom overnight, as if receiving mysterious instructions, blanketing Xihua Park in a dreamy floral attire. My favorite part of Xihua Park is the lake. The pink crabapples and verdant willows by the lake, combined with the reflections on the calm surface, create a fairyland-like scene. Xihua Park is small and can be explored in just half an hour.

I went back to the hotel to change clothes and went to Caiyunli for lunch. I tried the Yiliang roast duck, which tasted good, similar to the roast duck in Guangzhou. After dinner, we took a taxi to the Haigeng Dam on the edge of Dianchi Lake. Dianchi Lake, also known as Kunming Lake, is a "highland pearl" of Kunming and the sixth largest freshwater lake in China. The lake covers an area of approximately 330 square kilometers, with an average depth of 5 meters and a shoreline of 163 kilometers. Every year from November to March, large numbers of red-billed gulls migrate here, creating a spectacular sight.

Even though it was mid-March, Dianchi Lake was still full of seagulls. We bought a bag of bread at a nearby supermarket, and just by holding the bread, many seagulls flew over to eat. We tried feeding them biscuits and oranges, but the gulls wouldn't eat the oranges at all. One or two would come for the biscuits, but only when we offered them bread did they rush to eat.

Steamed stone pot fish is another Yunnan specialty. The pot is made of stone and uses no fire or charcoal. Instead, steam is pumped through a pipe and ejected from a copper spout at the bottom of the pot to heat the pot. It's clean and hygienic, and the steam can reach a temperature of 170 degrees Celsius, shortening the cooking time. Fish cooked this way also tastes delicious.

On the morning of the 18th, I wanted to take a taxi to Kunming Station. I looked at the map and found it was very congested, so I decided to take the subway instead. From Kunming Station, I took the high-speed rail to Lijiang North Station, a four-hour ride. Next, we will spend three days in Lijiang.