Hi there, i would like to ask if there are some activities on lakes related to wind as windsurf/kitesurf i saw in the area there are a lot of swimmable lakes and it will be awesome if there will be also that 22 km/h more or less wind for such activities, which period of the year is more windy???

Hey NickIT,

I've been looking into this. I moved here in December. I'm getting all my kiting gear here. The lakes near KM are Fuxian and Yanzhong. These have good thermal winds meaning a consistent 18-25 kts in the late afternoon. The lakes are gorgeous and beckoning for kiting. Erhai would be another option but further out. Spring should be windiest. I think the proper wind season runs from February till June and peaks around now.

I'm looking for people to get out on the lakes with. It's safer and definitely more fun to be out there with others. Let me know if you fancy joining me on weekends kiting on Fuxian.

Yangzong lake is polluted with heavy metals. I am not sure if they will allow you on/in the water. Dianchi Lake (for any who don't know) has heavy blue green algae pollution.
Fuxian lake is suitable, and clean enough to play in. The north shore is more accessible and has beaches, but the prevailing wind is on shore.
Winds are at their strongest in the spring. Most of the year the wind gets up in the afternoon, and around Kunming is predominantly S/SE veering E at times.

Finally someone replied, thanks guys.
so the spot is Fuxian!
The season is spring,
But i'm sure there will be some thermal wind spots also in summer, i see in the pics close by there are some mountains so it always means 2-3 hours of thermal every day.
Actually i'm not there but it will be great to know if there is someone who practice, of corse for fun but mostly for safety.
Should we make a group on QQ or here??

You say 'thermals'. This is not quite the same as wind. If you can tell us your purpose you may get a better response. I do know that there is paragliding there.

@NickIT
Contact @mike4g on gokm (somewhere around these boards). He runs paragliding trips around Yunnan & Kunming and sailing venues on Fuxian Lake, so he'd know best (amongst the expats) about shore winds & the best places to catch thermals.

I woudnt be so sure about the steady wind. I this case as far as I can see comes via mountains so can be pretty much gusty. I would be hapy to hear some report from actuall widnsurf/kitesurf session, if anybody here has done so far. Like Ive rigged up 5.5 sail and when got of shore 50m found out that even 3.7 is big:-)
Also not sure how accurate is windfinder or windguru here?

The windguru spot for Fuxian is custom. Difficult to judge its accuracy. There's a spot for Erhai owned by windguru, but I'm pretty sure that's based on GFS so not very accurate out here. I know the owner of the spot in Qionghai; the wind there is pretty predictable based on specific weather patterns; My guess the situation there is similar to here but it's a good 400 km North. Based on my experience that provides good conditions. It's always a hit and miss.

The GFS data seems promising but completely omits the effects of nearby mountains; safe to say it'll be gusty. The lake is big however and further away from the shore I reckon it'll be fairly stable. Look at conditions in places like Garda in Italy. Mountain-lakes can be perfect playgrounds if you get them right.

Alexez, do you mean to say you've been out windsurfing on Fuxian and 3.7 was big? That sounds like 30kts+ winds...

I'm going there 1 & 2 May. Just gonna test my luck. Anyone else welcome to tag along; I'll be camping on the SouthWestern shore near Xiaomagou, but may be driving up and down the shore to find launching spots and maybe some funnels. I'm taking my 7 and 11M kite.

samboo :-) I meant just 4 examp. Back home in Ireland use to on 4-5m sail 75-90l board. Kitesurfers r having a ball there as well:-) I did few sessions in Shenzhen with 150l board and 7m sail, feels like yachting rather then windsurfing. I have no car here yet and I sold all my "toys" before left to China with naive dream that Im going to buy some new gear in HK or TW and have real winds session in Vietnam or so. 2y later, nothing has happened and wind in KM streets really teasing me:-(

Fu Xian is a lot closer to kunming and the cleanest once offshore by a few meters. It's a deep lake, a big lake; 13km x 35 km with a few beaches and sheer cliffs down into water.
fishermen's buoys are well set up without floating surface lines.

West shore is in the lee of sharp mountains and huge thermal activity, still sail-able but gusty and can shut down while in the shade of the sunset.

North and East shores are the best for playing, 15 km away from the lee turbulence; you do get surges in wind speed caused by local thermal activity close to shore. Sunset,long beaches and coves. no fires though...only bummer.
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