Arrived in Kunming in the night. The tourist company came get me to hotel in the city center.
The next day, Ms. Xu, a school mate of a gentleman, Zhu, I had met in Mansa before my taxi accident, now he is working in Tanzania that he had arranged to have her show me around in Kunming. Xu is a bank manager in commercial loan in Kunming City now.
Our sightseeing started from the center of the city, where this not too little a lake, called Cuie-Hu, It was actually a cute one....but now it is their fifth year of draught so city has to pipe in water from the river close by.
I have never seen a peach this small has the cutest shape and tested so sweet with its own flavor.
Late that day we visited the Yunnan Provincial Museum, and Xu pointed out a picture on the wall not far after in side of the entrance, and said, "That is my grandfather and the important things he had unearthed with his group(s) are displaying mostly on this floor,"
Whao, what an accomplishment one could have done.
What a luck that I can see all these by my own eyes.
After we were done in the museum, Xu took me home to meet with grandpa and grandma. Both are over 80 years of age, kind, sweet and enthusiastically telling Xu where to take me to see things or to eat things......and had Xu bring out treats at home that were the specialties of Kunming's pride, endlessly......I was so spoiled at their home.
I am truly thankful for knowing Zhu in Mansa couple years back and that led to having Xu's and her grand parents' care for my visiting in Kunming.
Thanks to you all, sincerely.
Continue sightseeing.......
Xu had treated me local specials for lunch already and here we had dinner, because grand parents said so, before she walk me back to my hotel.
Kunming is a beautiful city that old and new mixed in very well.
The second day, I took bus to "Jing-Dien" (the gold palace).
It was the last home and the love nest for Wu, Shan-Kue and
his lover - Cheng, Yuen-Yuen. (Wu wanted
to become emperor from the corrupted Ming Dynasty, but knowing no competition with
the Chin that came from northeast, outside of the Great Wall, so he opened the gate of the Great Wall for them and negotiated Yunnan for his retirement. Still, he and all his family all got
killed not too long after, but long enough to rebuild this place that two
Ming’s emperor did it before him.
I had read their love story when I was very young, never think that I could have seen
this place in real. This place was
way more beautiful than it was in any writings I had read. What a home to die with a lover at side, not
really that huge but is on the whole hill top all by themselves – see the map
above and model below.
A camel was there for tourists to take pictures, it hadn't moved for more than five minutes....
What a live for him on the cement stair cases........
The two emperors in Ming used 240 tons of copper to build this palace and Wu added 14 tons more on to it, so the palace’s roofs are all shinning looked like made of gold that was how its name came from. Wu did this 500+ years back, the stone trials and stairs and all roofs looked great still.)
The bell tower and its side look.....
At the very top, through a gate, into the "Gold Palace" - below.
On the way out, I took the side trail.....felt that there were nice trials all over for the morning or evening walk with a "lover"......That was the life no need to be too long....hmm......
The way out to the street, were all on stair case.....thinking good thing that it was not raining, these stairs could be very slippery for been used by a long time and many people...
On the city bus back to hotel, I saw this university and remembered that at end of World War II, Jiang, Kai-Shick built this school and call all college students to march here to continue education, now this university is running under other name, but at side, it noted the old school's name.....
Went back to hotel to prepare the eight day trip with local tourists that starting the next day.
Cheng June 2, 2013
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