Kunming, China's 'City of Eternal Spring'
Walking out from Kunming Station at south end of Beijing Lu I noticed the July temperatures was mild, indeed very pleasant. A few minutes later I had booked into a small hotel overlooking this main thoroughfare, it was already late afternoon. Nearby I found a cafe with an outdoor terrace. I was in no rush. Just spend a few days relaxing while discovering Kunming before heading up country toward Dali.
Not wanting to do too much on my first day, I wandered through some older streets to Green Lake Park. Street life always fascinates me such as popcorn being roasted in large cylinders rotated by hand over coal fires. Also the many people who congregated on pavements repairing shoes or household items. The park I would return to many times. On the waters, wooden boats resembling small teahouses were polled gently through the waters. In pavilions people performed traditional songs while children rode on miniature "bumping cars". Older people, often in blue cotton jackets, played cards, board games or just chatted while relaxing in the warm sunshine. The aroma of freshly prepared snacks enticed me to have some grilled chicken on sticks.
In winter months the park was renowned for the many thousands of Siberian seagulls that descend on the city. Driven south by the extreme cold gripping Russia they migrated across northern Asia to the relative warmth of this sublime city. While hibernating around the shores of nearby Dianchi Lake they would head daily toward the park where locals and visitors fed them with miniature loafs of bread!
