Kunming

Perched 2000 meters up on the mountainous roof of Southern China, the curious city of Kunming is the cultural, commercial and agricultural hub of Yunnan province as a whole. From its high position it entices a cascade of different visitors every year, from hiking enthusiasts looking to explore the alien highlands of the Yungui Plateau, to culture-buffs in search of age-old sights and well-preserved religious architecture. Many visitors come here to seek out the ancient temples that cluster around the turquoise waters of nearby Dian Lake, while the city’s slowly-fading old town at Guandu has been carefully restored to retain the magnificent Shaolin Temple, and Bai-style pagodas of Miaozhan and Vajra. If it’s this cultural past that interests you, then be sure to ask your Kunming tourist guide for directions to the 1000-year-old Yuantong Temple in the north of the city, unquestionably the most significant Buddhist worship site in the region. Away from the cosmopolitan city centre, replete with skyscrapers and wide roads, the rugged gorges and mountainsides of Yunnan make up the other half of Kunming’s touristic offering. Excursions run throughout the year to the nearby Tiger Leaping Gorge, the fantastic geological formations of the Stone Forest and dramatic hoodoo gardens of the so-called Yuanmou Earth Forest.