Andy Oakley

The week-long Spring Festival holiday provided an excellent opportunity for some longer travel within China. The successful trip to Harbin the weekend had given us confidence that the already-spent investment on this organized tour with the China Culture Center would be good. We were not disappointed.

Briefly speaking our itinerary took us from Beijing into Kunming, onto Jianshui, a full day at Yuanyang, back to Kunming for a flight to Xishuangbanna and then back into Kunming for a day before flying home. Amy is doing a much more thorough job of telling the story in detail over here: Yunnan Adventures, Rice Terraces, Xishuangbanna.

Kunming-Jianshui

We stayed in a courtyard hotel which felt like an overnight stay at the Summer Palace. During the day we spent time in the city as well as smaller villages and saw a side of Chinese life that seems entirely absent in the huge bustling capital.

Hani rice terraces at Yuanyang

With a full day from before dawn to well after dusk there was plenty of time to take photos. Although the morning fog stayed well into the day it did lift in the middle of the afternoon to reveal some incredible feats of manual labor and engineering.

Xishuangbanna

In Xishuangbanna we explored local markets, visited a much smaller traditional village and took a trip to a tea plantation by tractor.

Kunming

A bonus final day in Kunming gave us the opportunity to reconnect with the same local guide we’d had earlier in the week and visit the nearby ‘Stone Forest’.

Overall it was an excellent trip. I would happily recommend the CCC tour for its organization and efficiency, and particularly the efforts of our guide, Edwin, who made a deliberate and consistent effort to ensure a good time was had by all.

Yunnan trip slideshow

When the entire kitchen staff of the hotel next door take a mid-afternoon break to set of 10+ yards of firecrackers and a load of fireworks, it’s a clear sign that the New Year festivities are coming to a close.

No awards for photographic accomplishment on this one. That will teach me not to leave my SLR at home.

Not something you expect to see every day