The Trip You Owe Yourself Will Eventually Be Repaid to Yourself—Colorful Yunnan: My 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 repaid to yourself.' I had always longed to travel but was trapped 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 instantly agreed on a girls' trip. Our first choice was Yunnan, a mysterious and alluring place.

Random notes: Since then, every year during the company's winter break, I choose a domestic trip. But I never wrote travel notes. As I get older and have more reflections, to prevent future memory loss, I want a place to recall beautiful memories—haha. I plan to record the places I've visited in recent years based on the moments I posted on WeChat Moments. This is the first one.

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

1. ID card, medical insurance card (optional), wallet (no WeChat or Alipay payments back then) with change and bills.

2. Check the weather at the destination and pack appropriate clothes. I brought a down jacket, skirts, a wool coat, and a scarf.

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

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

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

2015-2-1: Qinhuangdao Station to Beijing Station. After exiting the station, took the light rail at the station's subway to Beijing Capital Airport.

I'm easygoing about seat selection—sitting by the wing is fine, as it's safer. First time flying, no motion sickness, but I brought earplugs. Arrived at Kunming Airport at 19:52, waiting for the flower welcome. Since it was a national group tour, we had to wait until enough people gathered before we could leave. After collecting luggage, we found the tour agency's flag outside and waited for a bus to take us to the hotel. The flower welcome gave each person one carnation.

All hotels were quasi-five-star, varying by regional economy—not luxurious but still upscale. There was no group dinner that night. After a tiring day, I ate instant noodles, bought a drink of candied hawthorn juice, and went to sleep. Awaiting the start of the itinerary the next day.

2015-2-2: Early morning, Kunming to Dali. On a Yunnan group tour, there will be a national guide, and at each scenic spot, a local guide. The guides we met were relatively friendly, except when we didn't buy things at shopping stops, they would say some unpleasant things, but we were strong-minded. Let it go in one ear and out the other, haha.

The guide told us: Today's plan is to leave early for Dali, then arrive in Lijiang in the evening—400 km and 200 km. We had no concept of the distance at the time, but along the way, it felt really far.

When we got off the bus to use the restroom—PS: The guide said we shouldn't be tourists who sleep on the bus, pee when we get off, take random photos at scenic spots, and then go home knowing nothing. We would pass through 16 climate zones, and to adapt to high altitude, we shouldn't sleep. But I still couldn't resist drowsiness—dozed off several times.

Around 1 PM, we had the group meal. It wasn't as bad as colleagues who hadn't been there said. It tasted quite familiar. After eating, we continued on the road. Headed to Dali Ancient City.

The guide said the meaningful part is the two characters 'Dali'—written by Guo Moruo. Another well-known reference is the Duan family of Dali, haha.

Stood on the city wall and took in the view of the ancient city.

Strolled through Yangren Street (Foreigner Street), looked at flowers and plants, appreciated the unique architectural styles, the cinema museum, and rode an electric cart through the ancient city's small alleys under renovation.

You could wear spring/autumn clothing.

Near dusk, arrived at Erhai Lake—there were seagulls! Took a small boat, watched the cormorant fishing performance for about five minutes. The cormorants caught just a few fish before heading back to shore. At that time, I was busy taking photos and playing with the seagulls, so I didn't watch the fishing performance attentively and it ended—hahaha. At the shore, there was a free bowl of fish soup to warm up, and it tasted pretty good.

After playing with the seagulls, we headed to Lijiang—200 km away. Upon arrival in Lijiang, a local guide named A Xiong came, instructing us to get up early the next day. We had to line up for Jade Dragon Snow Mountain.

Dinner on the way was Yunnan Cross-Bridge Rice Noodles, which indeed tasted different from what we have on the island. The rice noodles, soup, and toppings were all placed separately. When the hot soup arrived, we quickly added the noodles and toppings. The flavor was light and pleasant.

2015-2-3: Scenic spots in Yunnan are far apart, and the group tour schedule was tight. We had to get up early almost every day. Today, we got up at 6:09 to head to Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. The hotel's air conditioning broke, and everyone showed signs of catching a cold. Since we were going up the snowy mountain, we quickly took cold medicine to hold it off. On the way, the guide suggested everyone buy oxygen bottles. The price was 80 yuan per bottle at that time—I basically used all of mine later. I didn't have severe altitude sickness, but breathing oxygen was more comfortable. You must wear a down jacket for warmth in winter.

As a child from the north, snow scenes are not uncommon, but amidst the spring colors of colorful Yunnan, passing through 16 climate zones, seeing different snow scenery was still novel—I marveled at the greatness of nature.

Riding the cable car up was fine—it was my first time on a large cable car, quite high, and I was a bit worried about safety, but fortunately, it was very safe. However, when descending, my ears gradually couldn't hear people clearly. After resting at the foot of the mountain for half an hour, things returned to normal; some said this was also a symptom of altitude sickness. After coming down, we went to Blue Moon Valley—a very beautiful and pure place.

With the snow mountain as a backdrop, the lake water was blue-green.

Because I spent too much time taking photos again, I only caught the last ten minutes of the Impression Lijiang show, but it felt very impressive, all with real scenic backgrounds.

With the snow mountain as the backdrop—many performers, horses, and many people. At the end, the collective curtain call was stunning. This was my first time watching such a large-scale outdoor performance—awesome.

Yushui Village Scenic Area:

A small, leisurely scenic area that helped relieve the fatigue from visiting Jade Dragon Snow Mountain.

We also passed by Black Dragon Pool Park. The guide said it's just a people's park that every place has—free. Those who wanted to stroll got off, and those who didn't stayed on the bus.

In the evening, visited Songcheng for the first time—watched the Lijiang Eternal Love show, the Lijiang version of Songcheng Eternal Love.

First time visiting, everything in Songcheng felt new. In limited time, I explored as much as I could—it was quite novel. Then we started watching Lijiang Eternal Love. This show was at our own expense—if I remember correctly, 280 yuan per person.

Various large-scale real-life backdrops made it incredibly impressive—worth the ticket price, haha.

In the evening, the guide arranged for us to change to a hotel five minutes from Lijiang Ancient City, which we really appreciated. After checking in, we headed straight to Lijiang Ancient City—famous for a long time, very commercialized. But visiting the ancient city for the first time was still exciting—we strolled around, eating and shopping, visiting every small shop. We didn't head back until 11 PM. Exploring the ancient city was free time, and safety was important. My bestie and I were quite brave; later I thought we shouldn't wander alone for too long—the ancient city is huge. We even went up to the observation deck—young and energetic. Some colleagues who were also on the trip went back to rest early.

I spent a lot of money on a DSLR but couldn't use it well—just took photos on auto mode.

The big windmill at the main entrance, said to bring good luck. Climbed to the top—overlooking the city, brilliant lights—as a photography novice, the photos were blurry; you had to be there to feel it.

2015-2-4:

Back to Dali area—visited the Baizi people's home, had three-course tea, and saw the buildings and silverware shops of the Bai people. Since we had been out late in the ancient city the night before, the whole group caught up on sleep… Half-asleep, we were taken to a silver shop… drinking three-course tea to wake up.

Remember the little token—every time we got a small token, it meant entering a shopping stop—hahaha.

After lunch, the guide said it would take about six or seven hours to get back near Kunming, and we wouldn't reach the hotel until evening—PS: I had slept several times and only woke up when we arrived at the Yi area. Listened to the guide talk about ethnic culture. Today is the Beginning of Spring—enjoy the spring scenery along the way.

Checked into Hantang Lotus Hotel, five-star level—a few years later, some colleagues stayed there again when they went. Business seems good.

2015-2-5: In the morning, various little tokens were handed out—went to many shopping stops and bought nothing, but it broadened our horizons—saw various jade and silver items. On the road, the guide would gradually introduce local customs and then lead into the products sold at the upcoming shopping stop, with stories and legends.

Around 2 PM, headed to Stone Forest Scenic Area—big stones and small stones—30% explanation, 70% imagination. Took a sightseeing car—all we saw along the way were bare rocks. On foot later, everyone looked for Ashima and then turned back. Precious geological heritage covering many types of karst landforms on Earth.

Checked into a duplex room with an open-air garden at the entrance and an open-air hot spring on the rooftop—beyond our expectations—PS: That means we have to get up very early the next morning to fly to Banna (Xishuangbanna).

2015-2-6: Rushed to Kunming Airport—missed the luxurious breakfast, so we packed it. Plan to make up for it with fruit in Banna.

Arrived in Banna—40-minute flight, with 20 minutes of circling. Saw the sunrise in the sky on the way—headed to Daluo, the first town on the China-Myanmar border.

Daluo National Gate—Dai village—lunch was a group meal featuring local Dai cuisine (the best group meal so far, generous portions; the grandmother was very hospitable, kept adding dishes and chicken soup). After the meal, we toured the whole village—continued to the Ancient Tea Horse Road.

Hani Cultural Park—Tea Horse Road.

Basically, when entering a tea shop, everyone was locked in a room for a lecture. They sold tea and didn't allow early exits.

2015-2-7: Morning.

The air and humidity here are very comfortable—though it was just barely getting light—PS: The pickled vegetables finally came in handy.

After breakfast, we drove to a Dai village in Banna—every household has plum trees, and the plum blossoms were in full bloom. We were taken to a Dai stilted house for a 'thought baptism'—I stayed outside breathing fresh air—PS: I wonder if they were being sold to again.

After lunch, entered Wild Elephant Valley—we saw wild elephants! The guide said that out of over 4 million tourists each year, less than 50,000 get to see wild elephants—we are lucky ones. PS: Later I saw on TV how cruel it is to train elephants. I hope animals are treated kindly. The rainforest in Wild Elephant Valley has high oxygen content—you can breathe deeply on the cable car and cleanse your lungs.

In the evening, flew from Xishuangbanna back to Kunming—the flight was delayed by five hours. We just waited dryly, with no announcements. Arrived in Kunming after midnight and checked in.

2015-2-8: Last stop—a market. Due to the flight delay the previous night, it took almost an hour to get our luggage, and we only slept at around 5 AM. Everyone had no energy to shop. Waiting to board for Beijing. Various dried and fresh flowers sold from tens to thousands of yuan. As a budget traveler, just look—haha.

My first long-distance trip ended—saw different customs and broadened my horizons. Even though it was a group tour, I gained something along the way—fully relaxed and enjoyed the vacation.

PS: First, travel with a group—later, if you like a place, you can go on a free trip—yes yes. Planning to schedule it. Speaking of writing travel notes, it's not easy—especially writing about a few years ago. First time writing, very verbose and like a running account—just to commemorate. I'll update with more travel notes later. Although my Yunnan trip was a few years ago, a friend who went recently had a similar itinerary and travel experience.