South of the Clouds

Yunnan is China’s most south western province. The province is full of diversity ranging from its geography to its people. In the far north snow capped peaks line the border between Yunnan and Tibet and in contrast the south boasts tropical forests. Yunnan shares a border with Myanmar (Burma), Laos and Vietnam. This may be an indication of why the province is home to a third of China’s ethnic minorities. Almost 50% of the population is non-Han Chinese (China’s majority ethnic group). The cultural diversity is evident by the variety of culturally specific clothes that many women wear. Yunnan’s geographical and cultural diversity is what draw Tom and I to spent our Christmas holidays in 云南, Yúnnán, “south of the clouds”.


Our journey began in Hong Kong with a chaotic train ride to Guangzhou involving missing the express train by minutes and spilling miso soup in my bag. After spending a comfortable night at Havilah and Scott's we were off on a two hour flight to Kunming, Yunnan. Where to beauty and kindness surrounds and captivates.

The red line indicates the train we took from HK and the flight to Kunming. Below are some of the other more interesting forms of transportation that we used to get around this great province.


The dusty micro-bus

The trusty relaxing train

The cramped smoky long distance bus

And the cute but rough three wheeled car