The Trip You Owe Yourself Will Be Taken Someday – Colorful Yunnan ~ First Long Journey with My Bestie ~

Mei says: I don't remember where I saw this line, but it's deeply etched in my mind – 'The trip you owe yourself will be taken someday.' I'd always longed to travel, but kept getting stuck in the cycle of no time and no money. Finally, in 2015, my company announced a 'winter break' for the first time (unpaid though it was). My bestie and I immediately decided to go on a trip together ~ Our first choice was Yunnan, a mysterious and enchanting place ~

Random notes: Since then, every year during the company winter break I've chosen to travel domestically. But I never wrote any travel journals. Now that I'm getting older and more sentimental, I want to have a place to retrieve these happy memories before my memory fades ~ Hahaha ~ I plan to record the places I've visited in recent years, based on my Moments posts ~ This is the first one ~

First long journey ~ Full of anticipation, excitement, and thrill. I also asked experienced travelers for tips and packed my bag:

1. ID card, health insurance card (optional), wallet (this was before WeChat and Alipay payments) with some small bills and larger notes;

2. Clothes according to the weather at the scenic spots – brought a down jacket, dress, wool coat, and scarf;

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

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

The long-awaited trip (group tour) begins:

2015-2-1: Qinhuangdao Station – Beijing Station. After exiting, directly took the subway from the station to Beijing Capital Airport ~

When it comes to seat selection, I just go with fate; sitting on the wing is actually fine – higher safety. First time on a plane, no airsickness, but I did use earplugs. At 19:52 in the evening, we landed at Kunming Airport, waiting for the flower welcome pick-up. Since it was a national group, we had to wait until enough people gathered to fill a vehicle. After collecting our luggage, we looked for the travel agency flag outside and waited to be transferred to the hotel together. The flower welcome was one carnation per person.

The hotels throughout the trip were nominally five-star, which varied according to the local economy – not luxurious, but decent. No group dinner that night; after a tiring day, I had instant noodles, bought a bottle of Bingtanghulu drink, and went to sleep. Waiting calmly for the itinerary to start the next day.

2015-2-2: Early morning Kunming – Dali. On group tours in Yunnan, there's always a tour leader for the whole trip, and each scenic spot has its own local guide. The guides we met were fairly kind, except when nobody bought anything at the shopping stops – then they'd say a few unpleasant things. But we had strong hearts. In one ear and out the other, hahaha ~

The guide told us: Today's itinerary is to set off early for Dali ~ and arrive in Lijiang by evening ~ distances of 400km and 200km. When he said that, I had no real sense of how far, but as we traveled, it felt really far ~~~

We got off for a toilet break. PS: The guide said not to be those tourists who sleep on the bus, pee when they get off, snap photos at the sights, and then return home knowing nothing ~ We'd pass through 16 climate zones ~ to adapt to the altitude, don't sleep. But I still couldn't resist drowsiness ~ drifting off several times.

Around 1pm we started eating the group meal. It wasn't as bad as colleagues who had never been there described. It tasted pretty familiar ~ After eating, we continued. Heading to Dali Ancient Town ~

The guide said the most meaningful thing is the two characters 'Dali' ~ inscribed by Guo Moruo ~ The other well-known thing is the Duan family of Dali ~ hahaha

Standing on the city wall, gazing at the old town scenery ~

We strolled along Yangren Street (Foreigner Street), admired flowers and plants, saw unique architectural styles, a cinema museum, and zoomed through the ancient town's under-renovation alleys in a battery car ~

Light spring/autumn clothing was fine.

Approaching evening ~ we arrived at the shores of Erhai Lake ~ and there were seagulls! We took a small boat to watch a cormorant fishing show, which lasted about five minutes – the cormorants only caught a few fish before heading back. At the time, I was busy taking photos and teasing seagulls, so I didn't fully pay attention and the fishing show was over just like that ~ hahahahahaha. At the dock, there was a free bowl of fish soup to warm us up – it tasted pretty good.

After playing with the seagulls, we headed to Lijiang – about 200km away. Arriving in Lijiang, a local guide named A Xiong came to meet us, telling us we'd need to get up early the next day to queue for Jade Dragon Snow Mountain.

Dinner on the way was Yunnan crossing-the-bridge rice noodles, which indeed tasted different from what we had on the island. The noodles, broth, and toppings were all served separately. Once the steaming hot broth arrived, you quickly added the noodles and toppings. The taste was light, fresh, and delicious.

2015-2-3: The sights in Yunnan are quite far apart, so group tour schedules are tight. Almost every day required an early start. Today we got up at 6:09 and rushed to Jade Dragon Snow Mountain scenic area. The hotel air conditioning was broken, and everyone had signs of a cold. For going up the snow mountain, we hurriedly took cold medicine to hold up. On the way, the guide suggested buying oxygen canisters – 80 yuan each at the time. I used mine up eventually ~ not because of severe altitude sickness, but inhaling oxygen made me more comfortable. In winter, definitely wear a down jacket to stay warm ~

Kids from the north ~ aren't that amazed by snowy landscapes, but in this colorful southern land of Yunnan, traveling through 16 climate zones to see a different kind of snow scenery was still fascinating ~ amazed by the greatness of nature ~

Taking the cable car up was fine. First time riding a large cable car, quite high, and I was a bit worried about safety, but it felt very secure. However, on the way down, my hearing gradually became muffled. After resting at the foot of the mountain for half an hour, it went back to normal. Some say that's also a sign of altitude sickness. After descending, we went to Blue Moon Valley. A beautiful, pure place ~

Backed by the snow mountain, with turquoise lake water ~

Because I spent too long taking photos again, I only caught the last ten minutes of the 'Impression Lijiang' show, but it still felt spectacular – all with real natural backdrops.

The snow mountain as the backdrop ~ many performers, horses, lots of people. The final collective curtain call was really stirring ~ my first time watching such a large-scale outdoor performance ~ awesome ~

Jade Water Fortress scenic area ~

A casual strolling scenic spot, just right to ease the fatigue from Jade Dragon Snow Mountain ~

On the way, we also visited a Black Dragon Pool park. The guide said it's just like a People's Park found everywhere – free to enter; those who wanted to walk around got off, and those who didn't stayed on the bus to rest ~

In the evening, we visited Songcheng for the first time to watch 'The Romantic Show of Lijiang' by Songcheng Group ~

First time playing there, everything felt fresh. With limited time, I tried to explore as much as possible ~ quite interesting. Then we watched the show. This performance was at our own expense – I remember it was 280 yuan per person.

With various large-scale real-scene settings, the effects were super spectacular ~ worth the ticket price ~ hahaha ~

In the evening, the guide arranged a hotel just a five-minute walk from Lijiang Old Town – very grateful. After checking in, we headed straight to Lijiang Old Town ~ long-famous and heavily commercialized. But since it was my first time visiting an ancient town, I was still very excited ~ wandering, eating, browsing every little shop. We didn't start heading back until 11pm. Exploring the old town was free-time activity – definitely pay attention to safety. My bestie and I, somehow so bold, later thought we shouldn't have wandered alone for so long because the town is huge. We even climbed up to the viewing platform ~ young energy.

There were also colleagues and their family on the trip, but they went back to rest earlier.

The SLR I bought with a good chunk of money – I didn't know how to use it, so I could only take photos in auto mode ~

The big windmill at the main entrance – said to change your luck ~ Climbed to the hilltop ~ looked into the distance, the lights were brilliant. As a photography newbie, my shots weren't clear; you really have to be there to feel it ~

2015-2-4:

Rotated back towards Dali – visited the Bai People's Home, drank Three-Course Tea, saw Bai-style architecture and silverware stores. Because we stayed too late in the old town the night before ~ the whole group was catching up on sleep… In a daze, we were taken to the silverware shop… Drinking Three-Course Tea woke us up.

Remembered a small card ~ every time they gave out a small card, it meant entering a shopping store ~ hahahahaha

After lunch ~ the guide said there were still six or seven hours before we'd reach the outskirts of Kunming… wouldn't get to the hotel until the evening ~ PS: I'd already slept several times ~ woke up just arriving in the Yi area ~ listened to the guide share ethnic knowledge ~ today was the Start of Spring * let's look at spring scenery along the way ~

In the evening, checked into the Han Tang Lotus Hotel, five-star level ~ even years later, when colleagues traveled there again, they still stayed at the same hotel. Seems business is still good ~

2015-2-5: In the morning, they handed out all kinds of little cards ~ visited many shopping stores, didn't buy a thing, but still broadened my horizons a bit ~ looked at all sorts of jade and silverware. Along the way, the guide would naturally weave local customs and stories into an introduction of the items sold at the upcoming shopping stop.

Around 2pm, we headed to the Stone Forest scenic area – big rocks, small rocks, 30% understanding relies on explanation, 70% on imagination ~ riding the sightseeing car, all we saw was barren rock. During the walking part, everyone just sought out 'Ashima' and then headed back. A precious geological heritage site, covering many karst landscape types found on Earth.

In the evening, checked into a split-level double room ~ the door opened to a small open-air garden ~ there was an open-air hot spring on the rooftop ~ it exceeded our imagination PS: The only thing was we had to wake up super early the next morning to fly to Banna.

2015-2-6: Rushed to Kunming Airport ~ couldn't enjoy the luxury breakfast; got it packed instead… planned to make up for it with fruit in Banna.

Arrived in Banna ~ a 40-minute flight ~ spent 20 minutes circling… On the way, saw the sunrise in the sky ^_^ Headed to Daluo, the first town on the China-Myanmar border.

Daluo border gate ~ Dai ethnic village ~ lunch group meal featuring Dai home-style dishes (the best group meal so far, large portions, the elderly hostess was very hospitable… kept adding dishes and chicken soup for us… After eating, we toured the entire village ~ continued on – the Ancient Tea Horse Road

Hani Cultural Park ~ Ancient Tea Horse

Basically, when entering the tea shop, they'd shut everyone in a room for a lecture, selling tea, and wouldn't let anyone leave early ~

2015-2-7: Early morning

The air and humidity here are so comfortable ~~~ but at this hour, it's just starting to get light ~ PS: The pickled vegetables finally came in handy…

After breakfast, drove to a Dai village in Banna – every household had plum trees in full bloom ~ they were taken into a Dai stilt house for an ideological baptism ~ I stayed outside breathing fresh air PS: I wonder if they were being marketed to again.

After lunch, entered Wild Elephant Valley scenic area: We saw wild elephants ~ The guide said that over four million tourists come every year, but fewer than 50,000 get to see wild elephants ~ we were lucky kids PS: Later I saw on TV how cruel elephant training is. I hope all animals are treated kindly ~ The rainforest in Wild Elephant Valley has high oxygen levels ~ while riding the cable car, we could breathe in to our heart's content ~ cleaning our lungs ~

In the evening, flew from Xishuangbanna to Kunming; the flight was delayed for five hours ~ just waiting with no announcement ~ arrived in Kunming after midnight to check in.

2015-2-8: The last stop was a market ~ Due to the previous night's flight delay and luggage collection that took nearly an hour ~ we only got to sleep after 5am today ~ No one had the energy to stroll ~ waited for the flight ~ flew to Beijing ~ Various dried and fresh flowers ranged from tens to thousands of yuan. On a budget trip, just looking was fine, hahaha ~

The first long journey ended ~ saw different customs and cultures ~ quite eye-opening ~ Although it was a group tour, I gained something from the trip ~ allowed myself to completely relax and enjoy the holiday ~

PS: Join group tours first to look around ~ later, go back independently to the places you like ~ Yep ~ The plan is on the agenda ~ By the way, writing travel journals is not easy ~ especially when recalling from a few years ago ~ This is my first time writing, very rambling and diary-like ~ a memento ~ I'll gradually update with more travel journals in the future ~ Even though this Yunnan trip was a few years ago ~ friends who went recently had a similar itinerary and travel experience ~