Days 166-168: Kunming

After Chengdu, we spent the weekend in Kunming. When we got there, we met up with Elizabeth at the Kunming airport and we all went to the Crowne Plaza together, somehow managing to squeeze into one taxi. After resting a bit, we met up with Dean (another Fulbrighter) and we looked around the city center area a bit, wandering into a bookstore and looking at the street vendors. I bought a pocketbook for some lucky individual (don't know who yet). There was music playing, people with bubble balloons--it was a vibrant scene. We found a place with genuine Yunnan cuisine: Kerry and I had pork ribs on a stick with some rice, and I had a sort of gelatinous cold tea.  Cheap but tasty.

Nightlife in Kunming:

Beautiful gate in city center.

Our hotel, outside view.

The next day, we all went to visit Yunnan University, the school I rejected to come to Shanghai. The verdict: it's a very pretty school, but I think I made the right choice. To begin with, I had to walk up about 50 steps to go to the main building, which was not fun. It was a pretty day, and some girls even wanted to take our picture--which I allowed. I really prefer it when people ask permission instead of just doing it. We then wandered into a park where we happened to find many ladies doing matchmaking, of all things! Elizabeth ended up chatting up an old lady who seemed interested in Dean (who is Taiwanese). He wanted to get the heck out of there! She even wanted to know how old Kerry and I were; I told her my real age and she said I looked 40.  I was pleased. It was hard to get Elizabeth to leave, but we finally did. Afterwards, we went over to a Western restaurant called "Chef's Choice" where we ate upstairs and listened to music from Anita Baker, Paula Abdul, Whitney Houston, and Madonna ("Like A Virgin"), oddly enough! I had some pumpkin soup and a margarita pizza. Tasty! After the lunch, we went to a military museum that Dean wanted to check out. It was okay, but certainly wouldn't have been a place I would have chosen by myself. The changing of the guard was interesting to watch, though. In the evening, we had the buffet dinner at the hotel--seafood...I wished that they had more salmon, but it was okay otherwise.

Pics from our first full day in Kunming:

Cannon monument at Yunnan U.

Left to right: Dean, Elizabeth, me, and Kerry at a building at Yunnan U.

Matchmakers in the park!!

Elizabeth and her new friend!

Military academy schoolroom.

Initially, the day after, we were going to go to a Stone Forest with Dean and Elizabeth. But Dean had a stomachache and I didn't sleep well during the night, either....I'd been feeling under the weather...so I used that as an excuse to bail. Elizabeth went by myself. I knew she would manage, and she did. She makes friends wherever she goes! So I slept in a bit. Later in the day, when I was more rested, we explored the city streets a bit, bought some New Year's stuff at a shop, and ate at McDonald's.  Elizabeth invited us to go to dinner with her new German friends that she went to the Stone Forest with, so we did, even though I wasn't feeling great (throat issues...I think the sewers, smoking, and pollution in Kunming really got to me). Her friends' names were Eva and Frank. We went to a steakhouse and I got a ribeye. The food was good, even though they gave Kerry a pizza with onions (which he hates) and they didn't have the union rings we want. The cheesy broccoli was supreme, though!

Best pics from this day:

Lion guarding a building.

Cheesy broccoli we had for dinner!

Overall, Kunming was okay. Definitely not one of my favorite places in China. Perhaps because we all got sick there at one point or another. But at least my curiosity is satisfied now. I know what I missed and I'm glad I chose Shanghai instead.