I am looking to get out of the city for a couple of days in the next few weeks. I would like to be somewhere where I could hike, climb or do something else outside. If anyone has any suggestions of places within four hours of Kunming I'd love to hear it!
Thanks
Jianshui is a nice town (5 hours away). Dali (5-6 hours) has nice villages and mountains right outside of the old town. Luoping might be worth a look if you like rapeseed flowers. They gave me hayfever as a kid so its never been a draw for me.
Anhui - hot springs
West Kunming - mountain bike riding - there's a group that sponsors rides - some are frame-bending advanced - others casual.
Xishuangbanna (FAR) - warm tropical weather - and since it's CNY (Chinese New Year) - you can "experience" the minority festivals there - PROBABLY make friends - people there super friendly (at least, in my experience) and the younger crowd are a blast of fun...BUT pace of life is SLOW, so be prepared to patiently relax and wait for most everything (except for trains - they're ALWAYS on time).
Note that 'minority' festivals in Xishuangbanna don't necessarily occur at CNY, which is primarily a Han traditional holiday, and that minority activities in Jinghong are largely bs affairs to attract Chinese, and to some extent foreign, tourists. Jinghong today is overwhelmingly a Han town, though there are places to go in Banna where the population has a higher percentage of minority folks. Not sure what laotou meant about the trains, but there are none to Xishuangbanna. I've been on trains several times that ran late, especially between Kunming and Guangzhou, usually as a result of weather.
I'm not knocking Xishuangbanna or Jinghong, which I like.
Dali. Mountains to climb and a lake to cycle around; better air than Kunming. But the crowds during new years maybe not so good, and actually the air in Kunming will clear up during new years, so maybe explore Xishan instead.
MIAO GAO TEMPLE – 妙高寺 – Hai Tun Rd + 3rd Ring Rd + Qiong Wang Rd
It is a good hike and can be done in a few hours.
Stone Dragon Dam - I really love this place - great if you are into history.
1 day trip to Yuxi by train - 1.5 hours -
Chengjiang Fossil Site - Chengjiang County – Yuxi - This is 1 of the 5 UNESCO sites of Yunnan
www.gokunming.com/en/forums/thread/9948/unesco_sites_in_china
Fuxian Lake - A great 1 day trip - and can be there and back in 1 day.
1 day trip to Qujing by train - 1.5 hours -
The Sand Forest in LuLiang, Qujing.
www.gokunming.com/en/forums/thread/11625/4_forest_of_yunnan
9 Dragon Waterfall in Luoping, Qujing
Another good route is Lion Mountain in Wuding, Chuxiong. Then contniue on to Yuan Mou, Chuxiong to see the Soil Forest (Tu Lin) and then down to Lu Feng, Chuxiong to see Heijing (1 of the 3 salt Towns of Yunnan.
If you want to climb then go to to 1000 Lion Mountain in Jian Chuan, Dali. Can also stop at Shi Bao Shan (Stone Treasure Mountain) and Shaxi which are not too far away (35km).
