The Trip You Owe Yourself Will Eventually Be Paid Back—Yunnan's Multicolored Clouds: A First Long-Distance Trip with My Bestie

Mei said: I don't remember where I saw this sentence, but it’s deeply imprinted in my mind: "The trip you owe yourself will eventually be paid back." I had always dreamed of going out to play, but was always stuck in the cycle of no time and no money. Finally in 2015, the company announced a “winter break” for the first time (though it was unpaid leave). My bestie and I immediately agreed on a girls’ trip. Our first choice was Yunnan, a mysterious and longed-for place.

Random notes: Since then, the company has taken a winter break every year, and I’ve chosen to travel domestically. But I’ve never written a travelogue. As I get older, with more thoughts and feelings, and to prevent forgetting in the future, I want a place to recall beautiful memories—haha. I plan to record all the places I’ve visited in recent years, using the moments I posted on Moments as a reference. This is the first one.

First long-distance trip—anticipation, excitement, thrill. I also asked people who had been there about things to note during the trip and prepared my luggage:

1. ID card, medical insurance card (optional), wallet (WeChat and Alipay payments weren’t available back then) with small bills and larger bills.

2. Check the weather for the places we were going and pack suitable clothes. I brought a down jacket, skirts, a woolen coat, and scarves.

3. Fever reducer, cold medicine, norfloxacin capsules, digestive tablets.

4. Instant noodles, pickled vegetables, sausages, snacks.

The long-awaited trip (with a tour group) began:

2015-2-1: Qinhuangdao Station–Beijing Station. After exiting the station, we went directly to the subway station in front of the station and took the light rail to Beijing Capital Airport.

I’m casual about seat selection; sitting by the wing is fine—it’s relatively safe. First time on a plane, no motion sickness, but I brought earplugs. Arrived at Kunming Airport at 19:52, waited for the flower welcome. Since it was a nationwide group tour, we had to wait until enough people gathered before leaving. After picking up luggage, we looked for the travel agency’s flag outside the station and waited to be sent to the hotel. The flower welcome was one carnation per person.

The whole trip was quasi-five-star hotels, based on the local economy—not luxurious but still quite nice. No group dinner that night. After a long day, I ate instant noodles, bought a drink of rock sugar hawthorn juice, and went to sleep. Looking forward to the itinerary starting tomorrow.

2015-2-2: Early morning, Kunming–Dali. On a group tour to Yunnan, there is a national guide and local guides at each scenic spot. The guides we met were generally kind, except when we didn’t buy anything at the shopping stops, they would say some unpleasant things. But we were mentally strong—in one ear and out the other, haha.

The guide told us: Today’s schedule is to leave early for Dali, then arrive in Lijiang in the evening. The distance is 400 km and 200 km—had no concept when he said it, but on the road it felt really far.

We stopped at a rest area to use the bathroom. Ps: The guide said we shouldn’t be the kind of tourists who sleep on the bus, pee when we get off, take random photos at sights, and then go home knowing nothing. We were supposed to pass through 16 climatic zones and not sleep to adapt to altitude. But I still couldn’t resist drowsiness and dozed off several times.

Around 1 p.m. we had the group lunch. It wasn’t as bad as colleagues who hadn’t been there said. I found it quite palatable. After eating, we continued on. Headed to Dali Ancient City.

The guide said the meaningful part was the word “Dali” itself—written by Guo Moruo. Another well-known thing is the Duan family of Dali—haha.

Stood on the city wall and looked out at the ancient city view.

Strolled on Foreigner Street, looked at flowers and plants, saw unique architectural styles, a cinema museum, and rode an electric cart through the ancient city alleyways under renovation.

You could wear spring/autumn clothing.

Near evening, we arrived at Erhai Lake. There were seagulls! Took a small boat, watched the cormorant fishing performance. In about five minutes, the cormorants caught a few fish and then we started heading back to shore. I was busy taking photos and playing with the seagulls, so I didn’t watch the fishing performance intently—and it ended. Hahaha. At the shore, there was a free bowl of fish soup to warm up; it tasted pretty good.

After playing with the seagulls, we headed to Lijiang—200 km away. Arrived in Lijiang, where a local guide named A Xiong met us, and told us to get up early the next day to queue for Jade Dragon Snow Mountain.

On the way, dinner was Yunnan cross-bridge rice noodles. They were indeed different from what we have on the island. The noodles, soup, and toppings were all served separately. Once the hot soup arrived, we quickly added the noodles and toppings. The flavor was light and pleasant.

2015-2-3: The scenic spots in Yunnan are quite far apart, so the group tour schedule was tight. Almost every day we had to get up early. Today we got up at 6:09 to head to Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. The hotel’s air conditioning was broken, and everyone seemed to be catching a cold. Since we were going up the snowy mountain, we quickly took cold medicine to ward it off. On the way, the guide recommended buying oxygen canisters. They were 80 yuan each at the time. I used most of mine—I wasn’t severely altitude sick, but breathing oxygen felt more comfortable. In winter, you must wear a down jacket to keep warm.

As a kid from the north, snow scenery isn’t that novel, but seeing different snow scenery after passing through 16 climatic zones in the spring-like Yunnan was still fascinating. I marveled at the greatness of nature.

Riding the cable car up was fine. It was my first time on a cable car, especially the big one, quite high, and I was a bit worried about safety, but it was very safe. However, going down, my ears gradually couldn’t hear people clearly. After resting for half an hour at the foot of the mountain, I recovered. Some said this was also a sign of altitude sickness. After descending, we went to Blue Moon Valley. A very beautiful and pure place.

With the snowy mountain behind, the lake water was blue-green.

Because we spent too much time taking photos, we only caught the last ten minutes of the Impression Lijiang show, but it was still stunning—all real scenery backgrounds.

With the snowy mountain as the backdrop, there were many performers, horses, and so many people. At the end, the collective curtain call was very impressive. It was my first time watching such a large outdoor performance—awesome.

Yushui Village Scenic Area.

A small scenic area for a leisurely stroll, which helped ease the fatigue from visiting Jade Dragon Snow Mountain.

On the way, we also went to Black Dragon Pool Park. The guide said it’s just like the people’s park in every city—free. Those who wanted to could get off and stroll, those who didn’t could rest on the bus.

In the evening, we visited Songcheng for the first time and watched the Lijiang Eternal Love show.

First time there, everything in Songcheng felt fresh. In the limited time, I wandered around as much as possible. It was quite novel. Then we started watching the Lijiang Eternal Love show. The cost for this show was at our own expense; if I remember correctly, it was 280 yuan per person.

With various large-scale real scenery backgrounds, the effect was super impressive—worth the ticket price. Haha.

That evening, the guide kindly changed our hotel to one just five minutes from Lijiang Ancient City. After checking in, we headed straight to Lijiang Ancient City. It was famous and heavily commercialized, but visiting the ancient city for the first time was still very exciting. We strolled around, ate and shopped, visiting every little shop. We didn’t start heading back until 11 p.m. The ancient city tour was free time, so safety was important. My bestie and I were quite daring; later I thought we shouldn’t wander too long alone—the ancient city is huge. We even climbed to the observation deck. Young and energetic. A colleague and his family were also with us, but they went back to rest early.

I spent a lot of money on a DSLR, but I didn’t know how to use it, so I just took point-and-shoot photos.

The big windmill at the main entrance, said to bring good luck. We climbed to the top, looked into the distance—bright lights. I was a photography novice, so the photos were blurry; you had to be there to feel it.

2015-2-4:

Returned to the Dali area. Visited the Baizi People’s Village, drank three-course tea, and saw Bai ethnic architecture and a silverware shop. Because we had stayed out late in the ancient city the night before, the whole group was catching up on sleep. Half asleep, we were taken to the silverware shop. The three-course tea woke us up.

I remember a little sign—every time we got a little sign, it meant entering a shopping stop. Hahaha.

After lunch, the guide said there were still six or seven hours back to Kunming’s outskirts, and we wouldn’t reach the hotel until evening. Ps: I fell asleep several times; when I woke up, we had just arrived in the Yi region. Listened to the guide talk about ethnic knowledge. Today is the Start of Spring. Let’s enjoy the spring scenery along the way.

Checked into the Han Tang Lotus Hotel, five-star level. Even years later, colleagues who went stayed at the same hotel. Business seems good.

2015-2-5: In the morning, we were given various little signs and visited many shopping stops. Didn’t buy anything, but it broadened our horizons—seeing all kinds of jade and silverware. During the journey, the guide would gradually steer the conversation to introduce the local customs and then the items sold at the upcoming shopping stop and their legends.

Around 2 p.m., we headed to the Stone Forest Scenic Area—big stones and small stones, “30% explanation, 70% imagination.” We took the sightseeing car; along the way, we saw bare stones. Later, on foot, everyone just looked for Ashima and then headed back. Precious geological remains, covering many types of karst landforms on Earth.

Checked into a duplex room with an open-air small garden outside the door and an open-air hot spring on the roof. Beyond our expectations. Ps: We had to get up very early the next morning to fly to Banna.

2015-2-6: Headed to Kunming Airport—couldn’t enjoy the luxurious breakfast, so we packed it. We’ll make up for it with fruit in Banna.

Arrived in Banna—40-minute flight, circling for 20 minutes. Midway, we saw the sunrise from the sky. Heading to Daluo, the first town on the China-Myanmar border.

Daluo border gate, Dai ethnic village. For lunch, we had a group meal featuring local Dai cuisine (the best group meal so far, generous portions; the grandma was very hospitable, constantly adding food and chicken soup for us). After eating, we toured the entire village and continued to the Ancient Tea Horse Road.

Hani Ethnic Culture Park, Tea Horse Road.

When we entered the tea shop, everyone was shut in a room for a lecture. They were selling tea and didn’t allow anyone to leave early.

2015-2-7: Morning.

The air and humidity here were very comfortable. It was just getting light at this hour. Ps: The pickled vegetables finally came in handy.

After breakfast, we drove to the Dai village in Banna. Every household had plum trees, and the plum blossoms were in full bloom. They took us into a Dai stilt house for a “thought baptism.” I stayed outside breathing fresh air. Ps: I wonder if they were being sold to again.

After lunch, we visited Wild Elephant Valley: We saw wild elephants! The guide said that of the 400,000 tourists each year, fewer than 50,000 get to see wild elephants. We were lucky. Ps: Later, I saw on TV how cruel elephant training is. I hope animals are treated kindly. The rainforest in Wild Elephant Valley was rich in oxygen. On the cable car, we could breathe deeply and cleanse our lungs.

In the evening, we flew from Xishuangbanna to Kunming. The flight was delayed by five hours. We waited with no announcement. We arrived in Kunming and checked in after midnight.

2015-2-8: Last stop—the market. Due to last night’s flight delay and taking nearly an hour to get our luggage, we only slept after 5 a.m. No one had energy to shop. Waiting to board the flight to Beijing. Various dried flowers were priced from tens to thousands of yuan. As a budget traveler, just looking was enough, haha.

The first long trip ended. I saw different customs and cultures and broadened my horizons. Even though it was a group tour, I gained something from the journey—complete relaxation and enjoyment of the vacation.

PS: Go on group tours first; later, free-travel to places I like. Yes, that plan is on the agenda. Speaking of writing a travelogue, it’s not easy, especially one from years ago. This is my first time writing, very verbose and diary-like. Just commemorating. I’ll update with more travelogues later. Although this Yunnan trip was a few years ago, a friend who went recently had a similar itinerary and experience.