Juliet's 6-Day Trip to Yunnan with Jingmai Mountain
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Departure Date2024-10-01
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Travel Length6 Days
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Travel ThemeEthnic Minority, Tea, Culture, Local Cuisine
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Group Size1
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Travel RouteKunming - Pu'er - Kunming
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HighlightsYunnan Provincial Museum, Western Hills, Lake Dianchi, Green Lake, Nuogan Ancient Village, Wengji Ancient Village
Yunnan, the South of Cloud, is famous for its colorful ethnic culture, breathtaking natural views, delicious cuisine, and comfortable weather. It is also an ideal destination on my travel list. So, I made my Yunnan trip come true on the National Day Holiday. Despite the crowds, the travel experience was incredibly enriching, especially tea making experience on Jingmai Mountain which is World Cultural Heritage with nearly 2,000 years of tea cultivation history and over 3.2 million old tea trees. I can’t wait to share my 6-day Yunnan trip with you!
⋙ China National Day Holiday Travel Tips
Day 1: Arrive in Kunming and Stroll Ancient Street
After arriving in Kunming, I first headed to my hotel to check-in. It was already 19:00, perfect for a stroll through the old streets and exploring the local snacks of Kunming. The whole street was full of tourists and lit up with lights. I tasted some local snacks that I was interested in.
⋙ How to Get to/away from Kunming - Flight, Train & Coach
Qianwang Street and Local Cuisine in Kunming
Day 2: Explore Local Markets and Visit Museum
This morning, I first went to the Donghua Farmer's Market which is reputed as the paradise of fruit. I was very interested in Yunan cuisine which features slightly spicy and sour, and curious about the local ingredients. It was a novel experience for me because I saw a lot of vegetables and fruits that I hadn't seen before.
Then I went to Dounan Flower Market, which is the largest fresh-cut flower market in Asia. All kinds of flowers outshine each other, extending their beautiful posture. Visitors can buy preferred flowers since the price is very cheap.
A Bunch of Flowers Bought from Dounan Flower Market
After lunch, I proceeded to the Yunnan Provincial Museum with more than 200,000 collections of cultural relics. The design of the Yunnan Provincial Museum is partitioned in the vein of time. I wandered around the museum for four hours and learned a lot about Yunnan's history and ethnic minorities' culture!
Zhuang Ethnic Group's costume in Yunnan Provincial Museum
After concluding the museum visit, I headed to Kunming Railway Station to take the high-speed train for 3 hours to Pu'er City.
Day 3: Experience Tea Culture on Jingmai Mountain
After breakfast, the driver picked me up from the hotel and drove to Jingmai Mountain. At noon, I arrived at Nuogan Ancient Village which is a gathering place of the Dai ethnic group. It has a history of more than a thousand years. This village is surrounded by ancient tea forests and the villagers here have been growing tea for generations.
After lunch, my companion and I carried bamboo baskets and went to pick tea leaves with the local villagers in their tea forests. For cultivating healthy and high-quality tea, villagers here do not use pesticides, so there will be a lot of bugs in tea forests.
One Basket of Tea Leaves
It was satisfying to immerse in the emerald-green tea bushes and select the most tender and perfect leaves. As your basket started filling up, a profound sense of accomplishment grew. After picking one basket of tea leaves, I returned to the village to experience tea making.
Step 1. Spread out the fresh tea leaves for a while.
Step 2. Stir fry the tea leaves so that they slowly change color and become less watery. This step is called Shaqing(杀青) in Chinese.
Step 3. Knead the tea leaves vigorously.
Step 4. Spread out the tea leaves and dry them.
Tea Making Steps
Due to time constraints, I couldn't wait until the tea leaves were dry, so the tea store owner would mail the tea leaves to me after they were dry.
After experiencing tea making, I strolled around Nuogan Ancient Village and enjoyed a relaxing time.
Stroll around Nuogan Ancient Village
Before nightfall, I traveled to Mangjing, a settlement of the Blang ethnic group. The local villagers burned torches and celebrated the festival with songs and dances in their Blang ethnic costumes. You can take the hands of local villagers and dance with them. Despite the light rain, the Blang residents here were still celebrating by banging gongs and drums.
Blang Festival Celebration
Day 4: Dai Ethnic Costume Shoot in Nuogan Ancient Village
That night, I stayed in a B&B in Wengji Ancient Village of Mangjing. I woke up at 7:00 am and walked out to the balcony where I could see the cloudy mountains, which were so spectacular that people called it the “Sea of Clouds”.
After breakfast, I went to Nuogan Ancient Village as I would experience the Dai ethnic costume shoot here. My photographers are two very young minority girls. They love ethnic minority culture, they have their ideas about photography, and have put a lot of effort into collecting traditional ethnic minority craft dresses.
Beautiful Dai Ethnic Costume Shoot
After this beautiful and short experience, I went back to the Wengji Ancient Village, bought locally produced tea and coffee beans, and tasted the unique spice-flavored coffee.
Unique Spice-flavored Coffee
After finishing my trip to Jingmai Mountain, I once again took the high-speed train back to Kunming.
Day 5: Capture an Overview of Downtown Kunming
This morning, I went to Western Hills. After entering the scenic area, I took a sightseeing bus up the mountain. Although it was only a half-hour climb later, the stairs were very numerous, steep, and narrow. Next, I took the non-enclosed cable car down the mountain and then took the enclosed cable car directly to Haigeng Park. On the way, you can overlook Lake Dianchi and Kunming's city panorama.
After arriving at Haigeng Park, I only stayed for a few minutes before leaving.
Western Hills
At last, I headed to Culture Alley and started my stroll. There are many bookstores, coffee shops, and stalls selling all kinds of stuff. It's a good place to spend time. Walk to Green Lake, which is a modestly sized park where residents relax.You can get closer look at local people’s leisure life pace.
Day 6: Heading Home
It was time to bid farewell to the enchanting Yunnan. I embarked on my return home with bittersweet feelings. I had an unforgettable time in Kunming, Pu'er, and especially Jingmai Mountain. Many things are very novel to me. I learned about the culture of the minority ethnic groups on Jingmai Mountain and made some new friends. The villagers here are very simple, hospitable, and warm, and every family will invite you to have a cup of tea. I tasted many different flavors of tea during my vacation. I think I will return here again in the future！
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Hi, I'm Juliet. Are you interested in my exploration in Yunnan? Feel free to contact me and I will be glad to tell you more travel stories about the places I have visited. Or, if you want to customize a tour on your own, I'm always ready to help at any time. With my passion and knowledge, I promise to make the tour memorable and meaningful for you.
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