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!
Mongolian band Hanggai to play Friday night
Posted byGreat show... impressive vocal performances by all four members of the band.
Go west, young band: Jennifer Gentle
Posted byThe Jennifer Gentle show at Yunnan Art Institute was quite an experience. The auditorium was filled to capacity and there were also more than 100 people outside the auditorium waiting to get in.
Luckily those of us on the outside could at least hear the show well. After the set was done, most students left immediately, obviously unfamiliar with the concept of an encore performance.
Once the band came out again, there was enough room for all the patient folk outside to find a seat. What followed was more than just a tight band rocking out hard, it was a few hundred youth driven into a screaming, writhing rock beast that wanted more, more, more. Great fun, much respect to CinaOggi and PSI for organizing this awesome event.
Sub Pop artists Jennifer Gentle to play Kunming
Posted byHi Elizabeth, I just confirmed with Matteo that it's the second building on the left as you enter the main gate (正门) of the Yunnan Art Institute. It's off of Kunrui Lu, the road that leads northward to Optimus Prime. I'd say the easiest way to get there is to tell a cab driver to take you to 云南艺术学院正门. See you there!
Go west, young band: Jennifer Gentle
Posted byI'm not very familiar with Jennifer Gentle's music, but I was quite impressed by their three-song acoustic performance at the Halfway House open mic night yesterday. Most of the audience seemed to dig it. Should be interesting to catch them tomorrow when they're plugged in...
Hike Xishan with Jin Feibao
Posted byHi Maggie,
There is plenty of camping/hiking gear here. Jin Feibao's brother actually owns one of the better outdoor supply stores in town, on the sw corner of Renmin Lu and Huancheng Xi Lu. There are loads of other stores throughout town too.
Chris