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JD and I flew back to Kunming today after a brilliant two weeks of holiday. Jiajia is staying in Shanghai for a few more days of business.  The trip felt like a practice run for moving to the UK - packing, flying, settling into new accommodation, experiencing new things. Not long now...
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I'm in no doubt that all of the family will miss Kunming for their own reasons, when we leave in a few months. Jiajia will pine for her friends and the spicy noodles. JD will have to leave a lot of toys and books behind. And it's been a comfortable life for me here for some 16 years. I know my way about and I've investigated every nook and cranny over the years [such as the super-thin "Moon and Chalice hotel", below]. 
 This scary-looking guy waves his arms up and down to try and calm the traffic. It made me laugh!
  I've been giving JD English/Maths work during the holiday (only 30-40 mins from me, compared to the daily 1-2 hours Chinese from the school!) but I try and make mine as interesting and fun as possible. We've worked out how much water is in the local swimming pool, the area of various pan lids and, for English, a project writing up the specs of various aircraft (JD's passion).  But today's homework was for JD to work out how to get to the Wanda Towers (a landmark shopping mall across the city) by public transport in time for a McDonalds lunch! He worked out the best route using my phone app (walk, underground, change trains, bus, walk) and then we went and tried it out. JD took the lead, using underground maps, bus timetables and asking locals for help where necessary. I just tagged along! We arrived 12.10pm - perfect.
We planned a different route back over an ice-cream and got back home two hours later. I am hoping JD might gradually pick up the bug for independent travel as I once did in my teens.
 After four postponements due to China's zero-COVID policy, the UN had finally lost patience with Kunming and moved the COP15 Biodiversity Conference to Montreal, Canada. Delayed for over two years, the conference will still be run by Chinese officials, but now in a place which doesn't still insist on a 2-week quarantine for those entering the country. Kunming has, for two years, been plastered with signs, displays and slogans proudly displaying the upcoming COP15. So, it's somewhat embarrassing to have finally lost it!
 Over half of the world's population live within 4000km of Kunming!
 We visited Kunming's recently opened IKEA a few days ago - Jiajia to check out the furniture and accessories, JD to buy a new cuddly toy and me for the meatballs and spaghetti bolognese!
I spotted DongBaiShaHe Reservoir on my map of Kunming the other day and thought it looked worth a visit. Two underground trains and a 20 minute walk got me to the shores, but the supposed green grass on my map is now largely construction sites and walled neighbourhoods. I found a small path by the water but, as I walked it, it got narrower and less obvious, and I ended up climbing through a hole in a wall and skipping across a stream of effluent! A couple of buses got me home. I won't go again!
JD's Primary School is in a road full of Gingko trees. Their leaves are quite something at this time of year. JD believes the oncoming car in this photo is floating!   Amazing who you can bump into on the commute to work...
 "Starting" tomorrow is Kunming's long-awaited "COP15" Meeting. This huge UN Biodiversity Conference, involving 195 countries, has been the talk of the town here for literally years, having been put back three times due to COVID. Sadly, it was announced last month that it would now be a "virtual" conference which makes all the money spent on beautification. road repairs, flower-planting and "Welcome!" posters somewhat redundant. They say there will be a second face-to-face Conference here in April next year, but that remains to be seen. [COP means, "Conference of Parties" - I looked it up!]   Big news here at the moment is the herd of 17 elephants that have been slowly making their way north from the forests of XiShuangBanna (500km away) to our city of Kunming. They have been marching and munching their way through various towns and villages and are currently some 20km from the Kunming outskirts!  Nobody is quite sure what's prompted this epic journey. Some point to the deforestation in their traditional areas whilst other jokingly mention the "International Biodiversity Conference" being held in Kunming next month! Maybe the pachyderms want to have their say?  Whatever the reason, we'll be keeping our eyes and eyes peeled, just in case!
 Spotted these strange lights in the sky the other day. Aliens?
 The flat upstairs started their redecoration and remodeling yesterday and, pretty soon, the constant hammering of the masonry drills drove me out of the house. I headed for a reservoir I'd heard about, a half hour e-bike drive away. It didn't disappoint. A haven of fresh air and greenery just outside the city. And I was surprised to see a dozen folk swimming there too, so it looks like somewhere I might take JD to sometime.   There seems to be an awful lot of roadworks in Kunming these days. Some are due to the ever-expanding subway while others seem to be for laying drainage pipes. I had a bit of a giggle at these blue signs, reminding cars to drive on the road and pedestrians to walk on the pavement. Well, who knew?
 The subway station near our house has been open for a couple of months [glass entrance to the left, above], the road has now been repaved and the surrounding pavements have been rebuilt. It seems years of traffic chaos are subsiding at last!
Kunming has finally been classified as a "civilized" city. It was one of the last Provincial Capital cities in China to get the status and had to make three attempts over five years before finally landing the award.  The requirements to pass included things like cleaner rivers and lakes, clearer road signage, more (and free) public toilets, better traffic management, fewer street vendors, less spitting, pedestrians crossing at zebra crossings (and cars stopping to let them), more controls on dog fouling, regular health and safety checks in restaurants etc.
 There's been some strange wet-dry-wet-dry weather in Kunming recently. But sometimes it all works together to make an amazing sight.
 These signs have been popping up all over Kunming recently exhorting people to "Follow the Communist Party forever". I wonder what exactly the local people think when they see something like this - it's not wise to ask. Maybe they view it as laughable propaganda, as I do, or maybe it engenders some sense of patriotism or belonging. I don't know. But I can imagine how the British public would react if something similar happened the London's streets!
Last weekend Jiajia, JD and I went with three of JD's classmates and their parents to a Bai minority village in the countryside. We picked peaches (and pumpkins) and shared a large ethnic banquet.
The drive back home saw some spectacular dusk skies and a curiously vertical rainbow. A fun trip out, despite some intermittent showers.
I often see this e-bike livery in Kunming.  I wonder if they realise they are advertising
"Jesus Christ the Son of God"? |
 AuthorPaul Hider started this blog to share his rather odd life living in China for over 20 years. Since returning to the UK in 2024, the blog now records his more "normal" lifestyle! Past blog entries
December 2024
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