I am very happy that backpackers have the ability to see the world, and I heartily welcome them to China. I hope they have a great time.

My question, however, involves how they go around town. Why do Western backpackers visit a town (such as Kunming), dressed in technical hiking or mountain-climbing gear, with all of their worldly possessions in a giant backpack?

Daily I see Westerners touring Kunming, wearing professional hiking boots, Northface Arctic jackets, and carrying giant, towering backpacks that would make Sir Edmund Hillary proud. They look as if they are about to climb Mt. Everest, in a city of 7 million people. Why is this the case? It is their business, and I am really just asking to learn. But why can Westerners who are not "backpackers" manage to visit cities without carrying all of their possessions and looking like they are crossing the Sahara, while backpackers cannot?

They are into their own image. Most of them today are airplane people.

It's pretty simple Neddy, they are in transit and hence have to carry all their stuff. The rest of the time they can usually leave their big bag where they are staying.

It is big backpack culture and not to be confused with big head culture. Most notably, big backpacks are filled with stuff for living and travel whilst big heads are quite empty save for trolling tenancies.

I see Chinese backpackers equipped and dressed exactly the same.

The towering backpack may also be a product of lighter gear and modern design. Modern gear having better frames with a higher CofG for the full bag. Lighter gear means you can carry more volume. We used to estimate (in the 1980s) about 0.5kg for every litre of rucksack capacity, when filled. That meant a 60-70 liter sack was about 30-35kg, the limit of what a normal person wanted to carry on their back all day. Especially trudging down a mountain. Marines and mules being the exceptions. Most of the bags I see today appear to be 70L upwards.

Another thing with backpackers. We learned to rationalise what we really needed to carry. Things that wore out were not always replaced. We left home like Hillary, and returned home more like a hobo, and much lighter in all regards.
I would guess that for some backpackers, China is the first stop. These are the ones that the OP probably saw. Last year I got to know a French guy who rode a bike up from Thailand. He had one raincoat, shorts, one pair of plimsolls, soap and not much more. He would probably blend in anywhere.

@neddy
Backpackers don't require your welcome to China, hearty or otherwise. Also, Marmot makes much better jackets.

Thinking about it some more. Given the time of year, and that China is the land of knock-off North Face gear. These could be English teachers from tier one cities, venturing into the wilds of Yunnan, having bought a combination of knock-off gear and raiding Decathlon's outdoor section. ;-)

This is because most of those backpackers are poor and are some of the cheapest people I ever met. I saw one argue for over an hour at a gate to Pudacuo because he was trying to use his student ID from a foreign country, all to save 30 Yuan. Even though I tried to tell him that is for chinese students not foreigners, he still insisted to waste his and others time to no avail. Then he complained how he could not get a discount on a ticket.

These double backpack carrying fools (huge in back and smaller in front, carry everything so they do not have to buy anything. They even carry food so they dont have to spend money while travelling. A cheap hotel room is about 8-10 US dollars but they are so cheap they live in dorms and only pay $2 per night.

I learned a long time ago that if I can not afford something then I can not have it. With all the crap they carry they can not fit a simple 2 ounce razor or a bar of soap because they never shave or bathe - again to save money.

@geezer.....lol

why do some chinese blokes wear a whole army field uniform but are not serving in the armed forces?

why do some people dress like they are from the qing dynasty, but obviously are not?

why do most chinese still wear 6 layers of clothes including a jacket or coat while the thermometer shows 20 degrees Celsius?

...the most important question is...does the pope have balls?

most backpackers carry all their crap with them when they are leaving a hostel they don.t need to go back. to take their sh*t.

plus transpirtation in kunming sucks 50 different stations and bus terminals...etc
no wander they are walking around like remote controlled?

@CAMPO
...just to save 30kuai. 30RMB is almost enough to get into the Louvre....the freaking Louvre.
Chine is the most expensive place on earth for tourist admissions...for complete BS run down attractions.

...just to save 30kuai
didn.t you just give a full description to save 3kuai in a taxi?with report to the company...calling the mayor etc.

so if you do this it.s for the greater good. if others do this they are stinky, bearded -jerks. ....are you really not seeing this? the irony?

look i am sorry to say this but you are such a hippocrit. you are so full of it with your generalizations and superiourity complex. it.s sad...really really sad

you need help. professional help.

i am glad that you are so wrong about pretty much everything. i am glad the world is so different, from how you see it.

p.s. for someone that is so proud of his work as travel critic & guide or whatnot...i would love to know where (as a backpacker) you can get a hotelroom for 8 to 10 dollars= 50 to 80kuai....
and a dorm room for 2dollars=ca. 15kuai.

your are such a dick.

@tuna: why do you, and quite a few other posters, bother to say all this kind of crap - you got a complex?