Kunming, the new and the old
March 13, 2008 – 5:18 amYesterday I had a look at the city and here are some impressions:
Kunming highrises in midtown
Kunmings inner city especially the shopping centre has a few new and tall buildings. However, once You leave the inner part of the city the buildings become quickly smaller. The downtown area is definitely smaller as compared to the one of Chengdu.
A typical street in Kunming, not too far from the city centre.
As I’ve already mentioned, the streets in Kunming are pretty busy. Before my stay I’ve heard, that the air is especially clean in Kunming. I can’t confirm that at the moment. Sometimes in the afternoon the inner city of Kunming becomes one big traffic jam. Then a big cloud of CO2 and dust particles covers the city and breathing is no longer enjoyable (see: update below). Maybe the winter time is especially bad and the summer will be better. I better hope so.
An old backyard
Kunming has a lot of old houses. Generally new buildings are rather rare and there is not so much building in progress.
update May 22.:
The initial ugly weather has changed a lot. The air was much clearer in April and May. April was particular hot, but in May we often had rain. Then several days in a row the weather was rather cold and it is easy to catch a cold then. As long as the sun is there, Kunming is burning hot, however once the bright ball disappears from the sky, hidden by a cloud, it can become really uncomfortable.
Kunming has a pretty even climate, winters are not cold, but the fact that houses don’t have any heating makes them cold anyways. Bring a scarf. The other thing is, when it suddenly becomes cold in the spring months like May, one has to pay attention to not catch a cold. Summers here are not that hot due to the many clods in the sky during the rainy summer. If You want to enjoy a hot season, Kunming can be You place, but for real hotness You should consider other places, like Hongkong.
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