From Deqen to Yubeng village 从德钦到雨崩村

 

2022 Yunnan---- Kunming ，云南民族村，翠湖公园 (the minorities village and the green lake park)

 I had visited Yunnan quite a few years ago and I always though that it seemed like an interesting place so a few months ago, it was time to get out the map and see a few more places. I heard that the northwest of the province could be interesting. Many moons ago, a guy told me that Shangrila was very nice but a lot of the town had been burned down in a fire. I had been to the southern part of Sichuan and it would be nice to see the difference between the 2 areas.

A map of the province of Yunnan (云南)

        So, at the start of July Marie and myself took a flight from Yiwu to Kunming and had a look around the city which never gets too hot or too cold before taking a bus to Deqen.

        As regards Kunming, I remember there was a nationalities village there as well as a lake in the centre of the city so the plan was to hit both these areas and see what happens.

       As soon as we landed , it was time to look for food. Street food seems to be the way to go here. I don't know where the influence of potatoes comes from but it seems to be everywhere in Kunming. I remember the 米线 from my last visit here but it was nice to taste some food familiar to home.

Paying by cash seems to be a thing of the past

  One big difference between the last time I was here and this year was the COVID testing.Everyone has to do a test every 2 days here in Yunnan so it is a bit of a trek to find the place where testing takes place but it has to be done or else .....no green code   and no green code means no more travelling!

 

COVID has not gone away.

Test every 2 days.

I always thought the the minorities place was kind of nice as one can see people who look quite different to everybody on the east coast of China.It is nice to see different things as many places on the east coast look very similar.

Dolls from the minorities village.

Over 25 minorities 少数民族 can be seen in this area.

Blast from the past at the entrance to the village

Traditional JingPo (景颇衣服) clothes

Entrance to a JingPo house

Sleeping on the floor is more comfortable when it is hot outside

An AChang (阿昌) woman working on the loom.

An AChang guy passing the time.

Cooking rice inside bamboo 

(Sugar is added)

A Hani (哈尼) woman cooks the rice 

The rice is separated out into pieces using the sugar.

Watching a performance at the minorities village.

These actors must be roasting.

Mosuo people (摩梭族)

Food cooked in the Bai way.

白族喜洲粑粑 - like a fruit tart , tasty

白族炸洋芋 - potatoes [usually called 土豆 but different in Yunnan]

Watching another performance at the minorities village stage.

Here, one can see many minorities dancing.

Marie showing off the bamboo tree at 翠湖公园 (Cuihu park) in Kunming.

Relaxing at the park with a spot of Tai Chi.

There is a lot of vegetation here.

Wonders of the modern toilet facility.

 One can see the empty cubicles BEFORE entering the toilets!

A tortoise relaxing under the water at the lake.

So green. 

Bamboo everywhere

Animals finding the perfect resting place

Plenty of room for more passengers.

Going up the mountains near Dianchi (滇池) in a cable car.

Yep, it is a loooong way down

Time to move on. 

The sign for Shangrila.

Only 131km to DeQen from here.

            It was nice to meet up with Edgar from couch surfing as he gave us a few tips on what to do and see over the following couple of weeks as we travelled through Yunnan. The plan was to see Deqen (Tibetan 藏族 people) and then try to see other minorities as we went through the province. That was dependent on the areas we were allowed to travel to. The first stop after Kunming was Deqen and the bus journey was spectacular. [Let's just say the high altitude tablets came in handy.]