The satellite image is from Google, but the road data is from OpenStreetMap.org — Google has not been updating their maps for China for years now, as they have no mapping partner in China anymore.
There is a relatively new direct road between Qiubei (the county town a few km from Puzhehei) to Guangnan, which goes through sparsely inhabited karst land, no need to go back to the expressway. That road is just a bit over 100km.
Both busses will arrive sometime the next morning, I would estimate the travel time to be 12-15 hours: about 6-8 hours to Puer (Simao, all expressway), then another 4-5 to Lancang (a smaller road with not much traffic), and another 2 to Menglian (another smaller road, plus the bus might stop in Lancang for breakfast). Sleeper busses sometimes take their time, but you should be there before noon the next day.
If you wanted to travel faster, take a plane to Simao (can be pretty cheap), then a bus from there. If you took a morning flight, you could be in Menglian in the evening.
Menglian is one of the furthest destinations from Kunming and one of the few county towns that does not have a day bus to Kunming, however AFAIK there are two sleeper busses a day from the southern station, one leaving around 3pm, the other around 6pm.
Photos of the time tables from the southern station at www.yunnanexplorer.com/transport/station/kunming-south/
Best to buy tickets in advance from one of the ticket agents in the city center, but if you do not have time for this, just head down to the southern station which is a long way from central Kunming. Should the busses be sold out, you can also travel to Lancang 澜沧 which is only one hour from Menglian and connections are easy.
Jim Goodman, the veteran researcher and writer who was recently featured on GoKM, has just published another book, this time on the people of the Red River area, called "The Terrace Builders: the Hani and their Neighbors in Yunnan's Ailao Mountains".
Available for the Kindle: www.amazon.com/[...]
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It is rare to find good approximations of western food anywhere in China and their lamb-chops (listed as lamb T-bone steak or so) were the best I have found so far. They came with good fries and the beer was cold. I liked the way that they serve the gloopy 'black-pepper sauce' separately, so one can just skip it. Pleasant and quick service too.
A pleasant modern eatery. The menu claims the chef worked for a large Chinese chain of Thai restaurants, but the Thai aspect of the food is difficult to find.
I gave the 'boneless chicken feet' a miss and had some spicy beef which while not bad was closer to the usual Sichuan fare than anything Thai. A dog under the table quickly lapping up any dropped food complemented the Sichuan experience.
The spring rolls were not bad though and together with a beer the bill came to Y58.
Easiest improvement would be better rice.
Easily the best bread to be found in Yunnan with friendly and efficient service. I have made detours to Dali just to pick up some bread on the way back to Kunming.
Kunming's forgotten, and now desecrated, WWII cemetery
Posted byI was at the site a few years ago, then it was a sparsely forrested hill surrounded by southern Kunming's growing construction. Apart from the Flying Tigers marker there were a number of newer Chinese tombs (the coffin part is more likely from one of the newer graves). Some people were up there for picnics, leaving the usual rubbish.
Finding the Flying Tigers marker set in 2008 is not too difficult. We took a taxi down to the old 贵昆路 to 普照村. Then with a little help from a local we turned east, crossed the railway line and scrambled up a dirt track to the top of the hill. There seemed to be better access from the other side.
A link to a map showing the location: www.yunnanexplorer.com/[...]
Around Town: Kunming's 12-1 monument
Posted byA bit more background information on the times and the 12-1 incident in a book by one of Kunming's longest western residents, John Israel: Lianda - A Chinese University in War and Revolution, for the 12-1 incident see particularly pp369.
While scholarly, John's book is very readable and gives a lot of insight into the times of the anti-Japanese war here in Kunming. It has recently been translated and published to great acclaim here in China.
www.yunnanexplorer.com/bibliography/publication/lianda/
Dragon Boat Festival
Posted byClosest 龙舟比赛 probably in Yiliang 宜良 as part of the annual 花街节. Races start at 10am on Wednesday, I am not actually sure exactly where they have enough water for a serious race, but the flower market is held along 乡鸭湖大道, a ten minute walk from the bus terminal.
Full program here:
www.yunnanexplorer.com/gp/yiliang-huajie-2013-1/
Nobel laureate Mo Yan's Yunnan connection
Posted by@helface
You misunderstood me if you thought that I was expecting GoKM to be anything but lighthearted. Not reporting controversial issues is a practical solution to a real problem and as nothing of that nature appears in GoKM I assume that this an editorial decision. This is fine with me.
As I said, I draw the line where this turns into a bizarre defense of distorted facts that have significant meaning in this country, assisted by some semantic trickery and hidden editing.
Is that really asking too much?
@Liumingke1234
It was meant in jest.
Land mines and coffee in Wenshan
Posted byI have been to Tianpeng 田蓬 in Funing county where this has happened a few times, the first time maybe ten years ago. Not only is the scenery pretty nice, but it also has a unique mix of minorities: Miao, Yao, Yi, Zhuang. Even the Han dress traditionally there and some people cross from the Vietnamese side on market day.
But the border police has been very itchy every time I went there. The first time they told me to move into a different guesthouse and not to leave the township apart from on the bus back. Now I understand their concerns a bit better.