We
were woken abruptly at 6:00am by the lights being switched on and
the guard yabbering in Chinese wanting to give us our tickets back.
They had swapped these when we boarded for plastic cards with our
seat numbers on. In this way they know who to wake up for each stop.
Stef and I had both slept surprisingly well although it was pretty
hot in our little cabin when we woke. There was not much space for
four people, all waking up after a long trip to move about in, and
by the time I had managed to get my boots on we were at Kunming
station.
The
station was large and deserted. A flight of steps took us down to
where the taxis were and with a bit of haggling we chopped the fare
down from Y30 to Y20, probably still more than double the cost it
would have been if we could have got them to go on the meter, not
something they seem keen to do here from bus and train stations.
We had agreed with Ellie and Eric that we would try and get a
good discount at one of the better hotels in town so that we had a
comfy space to stay for Christmas. The Kunming Hotel obliged with a
rate of Y460 compared to their advertised Y780, not bad but it still
brings it in as our most expensive since Hong Kong. It was worth it
though. We have a large room with a king size bed, a balcony
overlooking the main street below and English language TV. Not just
CCTV9, China’s English speaking news channel that brings you global
news with a Chinese perspective, but also an HBO movie channel. A
long hot shower rejuvenated both of us as did a bit of a snooze
while we watched Biloxi Blues.
Later in the morning we headed out into Kunming. It seems
quieter than other cities we have been to and pretty well organised.
We arrived in the dark so did not really get much of a fell for what
was around us. We should have guessed really as it is just another
city full of big tower blocks and shopping malls. It seems to be
clean with no litter out and about and the traffic also seems to
follow rules of the road.
It was raining when we arrived and although it had stopped by
the time we went out the pavements were still slippery. We are not
sure if that is down to what they are made of or whether it is the
accumulation of months worth of spit that goes all slimy again in
the rain. The water has left a thin muddy film on the surface,
showing that although the city seems clean it is still carpeted in a
layer of dust.
We did a quick stop off at the Post Office and then headed to
China Telecom to buy phone cards to call home later in the day. The
number 5 bus took us down to the centre of town, near to the Yunnan
Provincial Museum, our planned sight seeing for the day. The bus
turned off the main three lanes each way road and worked its way
along a smaller street just one block back. Here to our left whole
blocks have been demolished and the ground is being cleared to make
way for new buildings, no doubt more high rise towers. To our right
the old traditional Chinese buildings still remain with their tiled
pagoda style roofs. They look very precarious and run down and I am
sure that it will not be long before the bull dozers work their way
to here as well. It is sad to see the old quarters disappearing but
if this section is representative of the whole it is probably a good
thing.
Stef popped into a noodle bar for a quick bite of breakfast.
The lady behind the counter took a cheese grater type implement to a
big white block and the end result was freshly grated noodles.
Various different chilli based sauces were added on top, along with
a sausage, all for the grand sum of Y3, about 25p.
The museum was interesting but disappointing at the same time.
It was based in a big old building that looked and smelled like it
had seen better days and there were signs of rising damp in the
walls. A large grand staircase at the back of the building led to
the upper floors where the exhibits were on show. The first section
was a display of Buddhist art which was mainly just showcase after
showcase with statues of Buddha and other deities. For us it was
displayed in a very boring style. I am not sure if reading the
Chinese panels would have made it more interesting but it was a
shame it was so dull.
Another room housed a collection of bronze drums, some of which
have been dated back to 250BC. The basic design of the drums has not
changed much between then and the modern day which I found
surprising. Most were ornately decorated and engraved but the dim
lighting in the museum made this hard to see.
The final collection charted the development of pottery over
the ages and this was the only part of the museum which we both
found interesting. It showed the different techniques and styles
used to add colour to pottery either by under glazing or
overgrazing. Initially pieces were just glazed in one colour but as
techniques improved multi-colour patterns and styles were used.
Styles and designs also changed with time and the different
dynasties as did the marks on the bottom of the pots that enable you
to track back and identify who produced them.
We walked down into the centre of town, through the main
shopping hub and out into another square. Large highly decorated
gates were dotted around and it seemed odd to see the silhouettes of
minarets from the local mosques against this background. Kunming has
a long Muslim tradition. A little away from the centre was a small
park with a pagoda dating back to the Tang dynasty (AD618 – 907) and
a couple of hundred metres to the east was a further pagoda. The
pagoda itself was pretty tall but looked unloved and slightly lost.
The square around it seemed designed to be a meeting place for
people to chat, gossip and play games but there was little going on.
Traditional bowl of sloppy crunchy stuff
The road between the pagodas has been renovated and closed to
traffic. On either side grey stone buildings line the road. A couple
of cafés have opened up on the ground floor but most seem like shops
that are still empty. Dotted around are metal statues of traditional
Chinese characters, at play or at work. Part of the reason why I
knew we were headed in the right direction when we were looking for
the pagodas was that I had spied he inevitable tour groups of
Chinese holiday makers. They were here en masse too all swapping
cameras so that they could all have the same photo taken.
From here we worked our way back to the hotel to relax for a
while before going out tonight. We had arranged to meet Ellie and
Eric so that we celebrated Christmas together but before hand tried
to call home. We thought we had done well to buy calling cards so
easily this morning. I tried to call using the hotel phone but to no
avail. At reception I could not get across what the problem was so
they were no help either. As I headed back up to the room I bumped
into Ellie and Eric and should have known then that we had bought a
duffie as we had got much higher value cards for our renminbi.
In frustration we headed back to China Telecom to use their
phones and then all became clear. We had not expected that there
would be any restrictions on where or how we could use our cards.
The ones we had could not be used in hotel or public phones. We can
only use them at certain phones within a China Telecom office. Not
great. Stef managed to get through to his Mum but my call to
Scarborough resulted in a message on the answer phone and the worst
bout of homesickness I have had so far. Silly me!!
Back at the hotel we met up with Ellie and Eric, and headed into
town for Christmas dinner. Ellie has been dreaming of finding
somewhere offering the full traditional turkey dinner but it was not
to be. We headed to a place they had gone to for lunch, another one
with settees at low tables and swinging garden chairs for young
lovers. Although our food was not the best we have had so far, we
had a great evening and a couple of bottles of Jacobs Creek wine
(which cost far more than our food!). Ellie purloined some Santa
hats from the staff and they also brought out to us some Santa
stuffed toys to decorate our table. All in all we had a fun evening,
rounded off by trying the local Chinese wine in our mini bar which
was a bit like sweet sherry and nowhere near as tasty as the Jacobs
Creek.
