The tropical botanical garden at Menglun (勐仑) is quite nice, I went there for the first time in November and was very impressed. One can easily spend a day or two there and still not see everything there is to see.
I really enjoyed the afternoon I spent there and only saw a fraction of what there was to see. My favorite part was a less-visited section of pristine rainforest in the back.
There's a hotel located within the garden compound where you can stay overnight, allowing you to essentially have the entire facility to yourselves.
If you choose to stay a day or so, you may want to stock up on food. There's plenty of tasty tropical fruit to be picked up in Jinghong or Menglun. If you want to have a picnic there it may be worth stopping by Wangtianshu Deli (www.gokunming.com/en/listings/item/wan_31347/) in Jinghong before heading out:
It takes about 60-90 minutes to get to Menglun from Jinghong by car. I'd recommend showing up around one or two pm, as during mornings the park has a lot of tour groups passing through. That gives you an afternoon with the gardens basically to yourselves.
If you don't mind taking a little extra time to get to Menglun, I'd suggest rafting from Jinghong downstream to Ganlanba (橄榄坝) and taking a car east from there. It is possible in Jinghong to arrange a driver to meet you at Ganlanba.
Enjoy your trip!
Sichuan, Beijing earthquakes shake China
Posted byThe comment Doug refers to has been deleted
Music under the stars at Kunming Outdoor Music Festival
Posted byAs a foreigner who attended the show, I never felt unwelcome, although the soldiers ' noisy arrival was rather odd.
As the writer of this article, I can only report what I can confirm.
Australian coach ready for Kunming's high-altitude challenge
Posted byThanks Sharnie, the error has been corrected.
Kunming's no-car days expand to second ring road
Posted byHi Piers, thanks for pointing that error out, it has been corrected - it's based upon the month, not the day. This Saturday only cars with plates ending in even numbers will be allowed to drive between the ring roads.
China, Australia to battle for World Cup playing rights in Kunming
Posted byNone of the articles I found about the game talk about where to buy tix. As the match is more than two-and-a-half months away it may be a while before they go on sale. If anyone learns of where to buy tix/how much they cost, please let us know.