Hi guys how is it going. I am planning on spending sometime backpacking around Yunnan in June. I am not making any strict plans on how long I will spend in certain places, but would like to spend maybe ten days in Kunming. Could people give me good advice on where and what to go and see, which hostels and bars are nice and sociable to stay in as I would like to meet people as I am traveling on my own.

P.S any additional information on how much I should budget for the month, what type of clothing to bring, or any other additional information you think I should know, it is all appreciated.

Many thanks.

maybe you should reconsider..."kunming is a nice place to
live, but i wouldn't want to visit there." really. it's a great
place to live, but there just aren't that many sights to

keep visitors busy. it's more a place to pass through, change
planes/trains/buses, as you go someplace interesting.
three days should be enough to see the sights. there's so
much to see and do in yunnan, why waste limited time in
a city, regardless of how pleasant it is?

Cool man thanks. I was planning on seeing Kunming, Lijiang (tiger leaping Gorge) Dali old town and maybe a small trip up too Shangri la, If you have any suggestions on good places to stay or places that I must see feel free too post up here.

if you wanna meet people i both for kunming and dali recommend the hump (there is a hump hostel in both cities). even though i think the dali one is even nicer, both places are really relaxed, you will meet a lot of interesting people and especially if your chinese is not that great the staff will be very helpful (buy tickets, recommend stuff to do...). with kunming i agree, you can easily spend 10 days at the hump, hanging out at the bar and relax, but as it comes to sights kunming really doesnt have that much to offer. you can take a trip to the green lake, dianchi or shilin (stone forest), but it will probably not have the wow effect youre looking for. for dali i recommend just renting a bike, going to the lake, take a walk on the town wall or hike into the mountains. as for sights the three pagodas have been recommended, i myself have never been, just seen them from far, since the ticket is supposed to be really expensive. coming to night activities you will probably find yourself going to the bad monkey in dali.

ah, for the price...a dorm room should be 25 in dali, 35 in kunming per night. additional money for food and drinks, depending on what you wanna eat and how much youre planning on spending on drinks (beer in a bar about 15 kuai, noodlesoup about 6 kuai, western food about 30kuai a meal). busticket to dali about 100-110, guess from dali to lijiang, lijiang to shangri-la about the same (?). actual sights like the stone forest, three pagodas..have pretty high entrance fees in china, heard the stone forest is more than 120 kuai nowadays.

I'm a big fan of GuanDu old town. Why? Well, it's just a one yuan for a 40 minute bus ride there from Kunming's train station, it's pedestrianised, it has a nice park, two old towers (well, one older than the other), a stupa, 2-3 temples and the "world-famous" baba to eat. Best of all, you hardly see any foreigners there and (for now at least) the locals seem kind and curious rather than greedy and jaded. Each time I go there's something new to see - they are aiming to be a tourist attraction long term, I think. Best get there now before it turns "Disney".

Cheers people much appreciated