Love Never Fails

One of those things in my 2010 to-do-list is to visit Yunnan. And it just happened that I would be there for work, which I would definitely took advantage of it (:

From Wiki: Tengchong County (simplified Chinese: 腾冲县; traditional Chinese: 騰沖縣; pinyin: Téngchōng Xiàn) is situated in Baoshan City, western Yunnan Province, China. It is well known for its volcanic activity. It borders with Burma in the northwest with a boundary line of 151 kilometres long. It’s known as the last pass gate to Burma and India on the Silk Road. It is 750 kilometres away from the provincial capital Kunming and 160 kilometers westward from Baoshan city.  

There is only one flight from Beijing to Tengchong everyday with a transfer at Kunming. And this new airport just went into service in early 2009, about 12 kilometers from Tengchong County. It’s interesting that taxis in Tengchong don’t really have a meter for the charge. (And most of their restaurants don’t have a menu. You have to go to the kitchen to see what you want to order) There’s a common rule that from airport to downtown area is RMB40, and from suburb to downtown area is RMB10. Tengchong has a ubtropical highland climate, so the weather there is super nice, around 18C everyday, only that it rained a lot. As I just got half day to get around, I decided to visit the national geo park and the water wetland though I really would like to see more. 

Volcanoes （腾冲火山） 

Tengchong Volcano Group is one of the youngest volcanoes in China, with its size and completeness ranks the first. All the roads in the National Geo Park are paved with the volcanic rocks as they’re better for drainage. The volcano itself is actually very different from what I had expected, at least the color. It’s all covered in green! Scientists have proven the recent volcanic eruption in Tengchong is closer to 3800 years ago, and now it’s in the dormant period. I was told that you could take a hot air balloon to have a better view of the volcanoes. Unfortunately they were not running during the rainy season which was very disappointing to me. But still the natural landscape is glamorous and the air is super fresh! 

North Sea Wetlands （北海湿地） 

Tengchong North Sea Wetlands is national level conservation wetlands. It’s covered with “grass mats” that are over 1 m thick floating on the surface of the water. So it is safe to walk on it. It is said that the ashes spewed from the volcano fell on the surface of the lakes and caused the lush growth of a variety of aquatic grasses. Besides the floating grasses, there are many unknown flowers and occasionally you could find white egrets resting on the green green wetlands, which makes the whole scenery so peaceful. 

On the way back, we passed by the WWII Cemetery and the Jade market. 

World War II Cemetery（国殇墓园）

A little background: Yunnan only became the frontline when the Japanese decided to change their tactics and started their attacks from Burma into mainland China. The bloodiest battle took place in May 1944, as Chinese army mounted a bloody siege to win back the ancient trading town of Tengchong. More than 9,000 Chinese soldiers and 6,000 Japanese died in the battle. There are 3,346 dead honored in the Cemetery.

Guess how the names are arranged at the cemetery?! Are they ranked in alphabetical order of their names? Or by the date of their death? Or by the unit they belonged to? In Tengchong, they are arranged according to their military ranks. The lowest ranking soldiers at the bottom of the hill, and the highest ranking at the top; while generals are entombed separately. There is also a separate area honoring the 19 young American soldiers who died in the War.

Jade Market（翡翠市场）

Tengchong produces high quality gems and jadeite. Rulers of the Ming and Qing dynasties forbade sea voyages, so Myanmar gems and jadeite had to be transported by caravan over a mountainous route to Tengchong, their only port of entry in China. There are so many shops selling Jade bangles etc in Tengchong with the price tag ranging from 10,000 to 40,00,000 RMB！I’m not a fan of jade though and never trust those vendors at the tourist sites. 

Tobe honest I’m not so much impressed by the above tourist sites. I felt like that they’ve been developed too much especially the National Geo Park and the Wetlands. But I enjoyed the landscape and the talk with two middle aged ladies that worked as our tour guides and sold us their self-made flora loop at the wetland. They’re just so nice, simple and natural! 

One of the happiest moments for a traveller probably is about trying the local cuisine. Our driver took us to a small local restaurant for lunch and we loved every dish. Actually we three gals even had a taste of their home made liquor. They put some special herbs in it so it tastes a bit sweet. I’m never good at drinking and I had a little hangover later. Ooops.    

I know half day is never enough to explore Yunnan and I can’t tell you much about it. But hope that I’ll be back again soon!

P.S. Photo courtesy of Lily Huang.