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!
Starbucks' thirst for Yunnan coffee growing
Posted byThat would appear to be true. There's also a new one on Dianchi Lu at the massive Nanya Fengqingyuan development.
Giveaway: Massage for two at Canaan Day Spa
Posted byCongratulations to Karen Song, the first to reply that Geoffrey Chaucer was the medieval poet credited with linking St Valentine's Day with romance.
Stay on the lookout for more giveaways on GoKunming in the near future!
Yuxi-Mengzi railroad to be operational this year
Posted byI can't help but agree with EK Kadiddlehopper. An efficient regional rail network would be good for many of the people in China/SE Asia/South Asia who have yet to see the benefits of their respective countries' recent opening up.
Around Town: China's last narrow gauge passenger train
Posted byI suppose Billbob's first comment on this post was also inspirational.
Around Town: China's last narrow gauge passenger train
Posted byOddly, this train may be one of Kunming's better places for a picnic. Inspired by Quester, I rode it again this afternoon with a friend, who brought a nice wine and some freshly baked bread. We hung out on the sunny side of the train with the windows open and shot the breeze as the empty Chinese New Year version of Kunming rolled by... good fun.