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Kunming

Karst stone pillars reflected in water at the Stone Forest near Kunming

Yunnan's "Spring City" capital and gateway to the loop, home to the otherworldly Stone Forest karst.

Sightseeing map

Major local sights pinned on a satellite map — tap a marker for its name.

  1. 1 Dianchi Lake (Haigeng)
  2. 2 Green Lake Park
  3. 3 Western Hills & Dragon Gate
  4. 4 Kunming Old Street
  5. 5 Guandu Ancient Town
  6. 6 Yunnan Provincial Museum
  7. 7 Stone Forest
  8. 8 Yunnan University
  9. 9 Yunnan Military Academy
  10. 10 Daguan Park
  11. 13 Yunnan Nationalities Village
  12. 14 Dounan Flower Market
Best season
Autumn (Sep–Nov) offers the best value — clear air, fewer visitors. Winter (Dec–Feb) is sunny and comfortable. Summer (Jun–Aug) is the rainy season, carrying 85% of the year's rainfall, usually as afternoon downpours. Beware the "eternal spring" trap: the seasons look alike in the slogan but not on the ground — the black-headed gulls are only here November to March, the cherry blossom only in March, the jacaranda April to June.
Time to allow
One to two days, including a day trip to the Stone Forest.
Altitude
1900 m

About

Yunnan's capital, at close to 1,900 m, with a famously even climate. Almost every Yunnan itinerary enters and leaves through here: the airport, Kunming station and Kunming South station form a triangle roughly 30 km on each side. The Stone Forest karst landscape lies just outside the city, and the classic loop begins here.

Getting there

Changshui airport is about 30 km from the centre: the airport bus to the railway station costs ¥25 and takes about 40 minutes, running until 2am; metro line 6 to line 3 is about ¥7. Kunming to Dali by high-speed rail takes about 2 hours for around ¥150, with frequent departures all day.

Getting around

The metro is purely radial with no loop line, so interchanges are slow, and almost every station still leaves you some distance from the sights — awkward with luggage. City buses and ride-hailing both work well.

What to eat

Crossing-the-bridge rice noodles, steam-pot chicken, rose-petal pastries; in summer, the new season's wild mushrooms including matsutake.

Know before you go

Kunming station and Kunming South are easy to confuse — the names were historically swapped, they are about 30 km and an hour's metro ride apart, and China–Laos railway trains leave from the central Kunming station. Both airport and stations have secondary security checks with poor signage, so allow extra time when connecting. Most hotels have no heating in winter.

Routes through here
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