User profile: Geogramatt

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Forums > Travel Yunnan > Weather around Yunnan

Count on rainstorms, but not necessarily day long ones. Even in the rainy season, the sun will come out at least part of the day. Also look forward to some beautiful valley fog inversions (the so-called "cloud sea" or 云海 effect). Southern Yunnan is subtropical and tropical, but it's still mountainous, and the mountains can create their own microclimates and shelter you from the rain if you're lucky.

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Forums > Travel Yunnan > Ruili & around

In Yunnan province, you'll find youth hostels in Dali, Shaxi, Lijiang, Lugu Lake, Shangri La, Tengchong, Jinghong, Yuanyang, Wenshan, Jianshui, and Bingzhongluo.

No hostels in Ruili. But dude, hotels in second/third tier Yunnan cities are cheap. You should be able to find a private hotel room in Ruili for 50-100 RMB. Obviously, you get what you pay for, but for 100 you should be able to find something perfectly decent, and for 50 something slightly less than decent.

Bus tickets from Kunming to Ruili are over 300 RMB these days. It's a long ass ride (~15 hours). Your'e better off breaking it up with stops in Dali, Baoshan, and Tengchong.

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Forums > Travel Yunnan > Tencent maps - Street view

I just discovered that Tencent (QQ) maps have a streetview function just like Google Maps does in western countries. They don't have every street in China, but they have every street in most cities, as well as several country roads, including several in Tibet, which is pretty fun. You can follow the highway all the way from Kunming to Lhasa using this.

Just go to map.qq.com/ then click 街景 and drop the cursor wherever it is you want to see

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Great article Colin. How interesting that Dali Bars are being made in Husa!

I spent a night in Husa in 2011 or 2012 on a bike ride and always remembered it as a very special place, a idyllic pastoral valley tucked in the middle of a high mountain range.

I was lucky that the day I cycled into the valley there was an Achang festival taking place. I remember meeting a monk from Burma who came over to bless the opening of the new temple. He said there was lots of movement back and forth across the border.

My only question is about logistics. Husa is pretty far away from everything. Yet you're making Dali Bars all the way out there and then trucking them into Kunming? I guess with the G56 highway now finishes to Ruili it reduces the time somewhat.

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Thanks for the report.

I visited Ruili during my very first trip to China in 2006. I didn't speak any Chinese at the time, and Ruili was the first place on my itinerary where no English was spoke. Even then, the "this place used to be scandalous, not so much anymore" narrative was already in place.

I personally find nearby Mangshi and Yingjiang to both be more pleasant cities, but the Burmese presence is definitely greater in Ruili.

Any word on when that border crossing will be opened up to foreigners (without expensive prepaid tours)?

PS I think a lot of that jade and timber trade can still be considered "illicit"

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I was going to say that Baima and Meili are NOT the same mountain range (the Mekong River divides them), but looks like b galipeau beat me to the punch!

At least one of the three tunnels has been open for a while. I biked through it back in 2013.

Reviews

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This is a really nice new restaurant in Dali. High quality vegetarian and vegan food, varied menu, daily specials. They make their own kombucha, too. The environment is very chill...multiple layers, floor seating, an outdoor courtyard and terrace balcony overlooking the the roofs of the neighbors in old Dali

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Serendipity is an honest-to-gosh American style diner, a concept I don't think I've ever really seen before in China.

They do salads, burgers, and pasta dishes, but the true stars of the menu are the breakfasts, which are served all day.

No measly hostel breakfast sets, these ones come with heaping servings of bacon and eggs and bottomless coffee.

No table seating. Everyone sits around the counter, where you can see what's going on in the kitchen and chat with the friendly staff.

The fresh donuts are the best I've had in China

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The 68 kuai Saturday night all-you-can-eat buffet is a terrific deal.

Steak, pork loin, chicken schnitzel, pizza, two kinds of salad, creme de caramel, cheesecake, and lots of other stuff.

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Recently experienced both very early morning departure and very late night arrival at Changshui. Was worried about making the connection to and from the airport, but both turned out well.

First, the departure. It was 7:30 am. I arranged a taxi to pick me up at 5:00. That he did. Cost: 100 yuan.

The departure was scheduled for 12:30 am, was delayed, and didn't get in until 2:30 am. I was sure I'd have to find a black cab, and wasn't even sure if I would find that. Instead, I was delighted to discover that the Airport Express Bus was still running! For 25 yuan it took me to the train station, where I then caught a cab for the short ride the rest of the way home. I was very impressed by this late night bus. I'd thought the buses only ran till around 11 pm-midnight. I don't know if this is a regular occurrence or not. Maybe, knowing my flight was delayed and there would be hundreds of passengers looking for a ride home, the airport dispatched an extra bus. If so, kudos to whoever was responsible!