Kunming

After touring Tibet, Liz flew to the capital of Yunnan Province, Kunming. To help orient yourself (pun intended!), first refer back to the map of China, above. You surely can spot Tibet. Now find neighboring Yunnan Province. Once you do that, come back to the detailed map below. This map of Yunnan will serve as your guide as you read more of the incredible journey Neil and Liz made. Each map and every image you see, can be clicked once to enlarge. All images came from Liz's actual photo collection.

Kunming is a large, scenic metropolis with a temperate climate. In fact, because the weather is generally nice throughout the year, Kunming's nickname is "Spring City." Kunming has 5 million people: the majority are Han Chinese. Minority people such as the Yi (seen below) make Kunming one of the most diverse cities in China. To read more about Kunming's significance to Southwestern China, read here.

Kunming is known for its tea. If you in Yunnan, make sure to observe a tea pouring ceremony and perhaps even tour a tea factory. Here is some info about Kunming tea. Another cultural highlight in Kunming is witnessing "fan dancing." Be sure to see Liz's video of this cultural gem. Lastly, one of the most intriguing sights near Kunming (actually, three hours away!) is the Stone Forest. The forest was once the bottom of the ocean!