Every time I ask my Chinese friends where I should go travelling in China, they all mention the same place – Yunnan.
每次我问我的中国朋友我应该去哪儿旅游，他们都说去云南。既然我们因为春节放了几个星期的假，我就决定利用这个千载难逢的机会去看这个很特别的省。我在云南的第一站是昆明，云南的省会。有一句话说昆明是一个‘春城’因为不管是什么时候，温度一直很暖和。 在昆明过了一天后，我们就去大理和丽江，看那边举世闻名的风景，比如丽江的玉龙雪山。这边的美丽和神清气爽比较北京的雾霾让我感到耳目一新。从这儿我们往南边走，去西双版纳，‘中国的泰国’。 丽江的大山给热带雨林让路，天气变得很湿润和棕榈树就到处可见。西双版纳和我认知里的中国有着天然之别 。可是，我们这次旅游的最精彩部分肯定是元阳梯田，我们一看到这些一望无际的梯田就知道做三次汽车来这个地方很值得。
The magnificent Yuanyang rice terraces
Every time I ask my Chinese friends where I should go travelling in China, they all mention the same place – Yunnan.
Since we had a few weeks off class for Chinese New Year, I decided to make the most of the opportunity and go and see for myself this supposedly very special province. My first stop in Yunnan was the provincial capital, Kunming. There is a saying in Chinese that Kunming is the ‘spring city’ because no matter what time of year it is, the temperature is always warm. After spending one day in Kunming we went to Dali and Lijiang to see the world famous scenery, including Lijiang’s Jade Dragon Mountain. The beauty and fresh air of Lijiang compared to Beijing’s smog made for a refreshing change.
From here we headed south to Xishuangbanna, or ‘China’s Thailand’. The mountains of Lijiang made way for tropical rainforests, the weather became more humid and palm trees could be seen everywhere. This really was a completely different China to the one that I was used to. However, the real highlight of our trip was yet to come. From Xishuangbanna we took a 9 hour bus east towards the Yuanyang rice terraces. As soon as we saw the multicolored terraces, which amazingly stretched out as far as the eye could see, we knew that the three long bus journeys required to get there had been worth it.
I can honestly say they were amongst the most breathtaking things I have ever seen, made even more incredible by the fact they were a man made creation.