【旅游】Top 20 Things To Do in KunMing China 20件昆明一定要去的景点和做的事

By TianChad田七摄影 - July 30, 2018

TOP 20 THINGS TO DO IN KUNMING CHINA AND PLACES TO VISIT
20件在昆明一定要去的景点和做的事

Kunming 昆明 is the first part of China I have visited and I gotta say I am amazed with what the nature has to give and how the little human touch can make that scenic place even more enormous and magnificent. Although certain place are pretty crowded with tourist due to their 4A Grade travel locations, you will still able to find the quiet place to enjoy the similar (or better) view. I will share Top 20 things to do in Kunming from my recent 4D3N trip to Kunming with Airasia. #VacaywithAirasia #AirAsiaKunming

Time was very limited but I believe you won't believe the amount of places we have covered within this short period of time. Let's have a look at the list below and I will elaborate more with pictures:

Top 20 Things To Do In KunMing 20件在昆明一定要去的景点和做的事

昆明旧街区 KunMing Old Street
昆明金马碧鸡坊 JinMa Biji Historic Site
云南民族村 Yunnan Nationalities Village
换上云南民族服装拍照Try out the local outfit for photography
乘坐缆车索道越过滇池 CableWay across Dianchi Lake
西山景区 Xishan Scenic Spot
龙门景区 Longmen Scenic Area
昆明海东湿地公园 Haidong Wetland Park
石林 KunMing Stone Forest Scenic Spot
九乡风景区 JiuXiang Scenic Area
...... (scroll for more)

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Top 20 Things To Do In KunMing

The top 20 places to go in KunMing or things to do in Kunming is based on my travel experience and I hope with the pictures you will have more ideas on where to visit and what to do when you go to Kunming - The City of Spring.

1.昆明旧街区 KunMing Old Ancient Street

There's only one stretch of KunMing Old Street left and most of the area has already been revamped with new structure but maintaining the architecture design. Hence it is a mixture of old and new building structure nowadays.

昆明旧街区 KunMing Old Street

2.昆明金马碧鸡坊 Jinma Biji Fang Historic Site (Golden Horse and Jade Rooster)

If you ever drop by Kunming City, you will never miss this two gates (JinMa Gate and BiJi Gate) that looks different in day and night. Hence best time to visit is evening before sunset so you can enjoy both different view. Jinma Biji Fang embodies a vision of "splendor and auspice" for the ancient city.

昆明金马碧鸡坊 JinMa Biji Historic Site

昆明金马碧鸡坊 JinMa Biji Historic Site
Kunming Map carved on the center of Kunming City

昆明金马碧鸡坊 JinMa Biji Historic Site
One of the locations where you will want to take a photo for memory of Kunming

昆明金马碧鸡坊 JinMa Biji Historic Site

3 云南民族村 Yunnan Nationalities Village

Yunnan Nationalities Village is a place where you can experience all the culture consist of 26 nationalities in Yunnan. This place is pretty big hence hiring a tour guide is highly recommended. Local culture performance is different from every nationalities, there are some that invite you to dance together, or even invite you to try their local spirit /alcoholic drink. Definitely interesting place to visit and can definitely spend whole day here.

云南民族村 Yunnan Nationalities Village

云南民族村 Yunnan Nationalities Village
Drinking session

云南民族村 Yunnan Nationalities Village - Dance Performance

云南民族村 Yunnan Nationalities Village - Climbing stairs made of sharp blade

云南民族村 Yunnan Nationalities Village - Dance together with Yunnan local

云南民族村 Yunnan Nationalities Village - Live music with just wooden instruments

4 换上云南民族服装拍照Try out the local outfit for photoshoot

At Yunnan Nationalities Village, different nationality have different design of cultural costume. You can rent and wear for photoshoot session like we did in one of the cultural village. Pretty easy to wear and some are just nice with the unique design. How do we look like?

换上云南民族服装拍照Try out the local outfit for photoshoot in Yunnan Nationalities Village

Si Mgang Lih 司岗里换上云南民族服装拍照Try out the local outfit for photoshoot in Yunnan Nationalities Village

Si Mgang Lih 司岗里 in Yunnan Nationalities Village

Unique outfit for different nationality in Yunnan Nationalities Village

5 乘坐缆车索道越过滇池 Cable Way across Dianchi Lake

After finish visiting Yunnan Nationalities Village, you can take the cable way to cross Dianchi Lake and reach Xishan Scenic Spot. The cable car is not air-conditioned hence best to sit in 4 people instead of 6 people.

乘坐缆车索道越过滇池 Cable Way across Dianchi Lake

6 Xishan Scenic Spot, Kunming Dianchi National Scenic Spot 昆明滇池国家级风景名胜区西山景区

Situated on the west side of Dianchi Lake, Xishan Scenic Spot, Kunming Dianchi National Scenic Spot is China AAAA Class tourist spot. Xishan (West Mountain) was the first of "Eight Landscapes of South Yunnan" in Yuan Dynasty and the Number One "Four Famous Mountains of Yunnan Province" in Ming Dynasty. "Six Scenic Spots of Dianyang" won the fame of "Biji (Jade Cock) Summer Scene". The Huating Temple, Taihua Temple, Sanqing Pavilion, Nie Er's Grae and Yulan Garden of Xishan are scattered in deep green bamboo forest. Be ready with your sport shoes as there are lots of climbing activities involved in here.

Xishan Scenic Spot, Kunming Dianchi National Scenic Spot 昆明滇池国家级风景名胜区西山景区

Visiting Xishan Scenic Spot, Kunming Dianchi National Scenic Spot 昆明滇池国家级风景名胜区西山景区 involve a lot of stairs and climbing. Hence be ready for this especially if you are bringing your family and baby along. I find this mom is very strong because she carry her baby all the way up through these steep stairs.

Xishan Scenic Spot, Kunming Dianchi National Scenic Spot 昆明滇池国家级风景名胜区西山景区

7 龙门景区 Dragon Gate (Longmen) Scenic Area

The Dragon Gate is built right on the cliff and you shouldn't miss it. It is actually part of the Xishan Scenic Spot, Kunming Dianchi National Scenic Spot 昆明滇池国家级风景名胜区西山景区 and deserve a special mention because of its heritage.

龙门景区 Dragon Gate - Xishan Scenic Spot, Kunming Dianchi National Scenic Spot 昆明滇池国家级风景名胜区西山景区

Based on my recent experience, it is really mainly sightseeing with exercise as you need to walk and climb a lot in here. Hence be ready with your stamina and slowly enjoy the architecture and different kind of pavilions in here. We didn't explore the whole area as we departing to Haidong Wetland Park.

8 昆明海东湿地公园 Haidong Wetland Park

昆明海东湿地公园 Haidong Wetland Park is a park with wetland landscape and flowers. Some are rare and the area is pretty big too. People come here to picnic with family and fly kites in this place. A very suitable location for family and kids to hangout together. THere are people who come here for jogging and exercise too.

昆明海东湿地公园 Haidong Wetland Park

9. 昆明石林 Kunming Stone Forest Scenic Spot

One of the top highlight travel location if you ever come to Kunming. Due to it's very special natural landscape which consist of tons of stone sculpture around the forest. Be prepared as it can be very crowded at the center of Kunming Stone Forest. We took a van and drop of at the border of the Stone Forest instead of getting stuck in the crowded place. It is pretty amazing that this place is really a forest of stones and you can see 'people mountain people sea' wearing the local cultural costume to take photos right in front of the Stone Forest.

昆明石林 Kunming Stone Forest Scenic Spot

10. 九乡风景区 JiuXiang Scenic Area

九乡风景区 JiuXiang Scenic Area is one of my top favourite spot when in Kunming. You will witness the power and arts by nature. With some human touch, this huge scenic area looks even more amazing. However, do keep yourself lightweight as there will be a lot more climbing involved in here. Camera is still a must and make sure you bring a wide lens with you to capture the gigantic scenery view in cave. I will put JiuXiang Scenic Area on top of my list if I visit Kunming again.

轿子 Palanquin service is available if you are too tired to climb back up. You will end this trip with a cable way back up to the entrance of JiuXiang Scenic Area. Remember to enjoy the view from top.

九乡风景区 JiuXiang Scenic Area - 昆明 Kunming

九乡风景区 JiuXiang Scenic Area - 昆明 Kunming
盲鱼 Blind Fish

九乡风景区 JiuXiang Scenic Area - 昆明 Kunming
神女宫

九乡风景区 JiuXiang Scenic Area - 昆明 Kunming

九乡风景区 JiuXiang Scenic Area - 昆明 Kunming
轿子 Palanquin service is available if you are too tired to climb back up

九乡风景区 JiuXiang Scenic Area - 昆明 Kunming
Rewarding cableway to end this trip to JiuXiang

11. 昆明圆通寺 KunMing Yuan Tong Temple

昆明圆通寺 KunMing Yuan Tong Temple is the earliest Kuanyin Temple in China. It is also the biggest temple in Kunming City. Go in and have a look to check out their architecture. Do the praying if you want and make a donation. I personally find this place is quite instaworthy. Just scroll down this post for the photos. Can do #followmeto post.

12. 云南陆军讲武学校 YunNan Military Academy

I am not very into military and history, hence I did a quick tour in this place. Took a selfie with photogenic young soldier/students from the academy and decided to hang out beside Green Lake instead.

13. 翠湖 Green Lake (Cui Hu)

Due to limited time, we just hang out nearby Green Lake under the trees. This place is well shaded and you can see local walk their dogs without any string. Amazingly the dog will follow their master no matter how. It is a suitable place for family to hang out too. The Green Lake is huge and there's a huge pond fully grown with lotus flowers

昆明翠湖 Kunming Green Lake (Cui Hu)

14. 昆明花之城 Kunming City of Flower

昆明花之城 Kunming City of Flower gave me a very good impression with the huge peacock sculptures located right inside the green house. The view looks magnificent and you can learn more about the making of branded perfume is actually originated from Kunming due to the abundance of fresh flowers producer. You can purchase your favourite perfume right after a tour inside City of Flower.

15. 斗南国际花卉中心 DouNan Flower Exchange Market

My second top favourite place to visit in Kunming will be 斗南国际花卉中心 DouNan Flower Exchange Market. This place sell ALL KINDS of fresh flowers that I had never imagine they would have it here. You can witness their buying and selling process and they dealing by just using WeChat. Do check out the 2nd floor if you like cactus or succulent plant (多肉植物) as they have huge varieties there too. We bought flower crown for the photoshoot next day. It's only less than RMB 10 (around MYR6) if you buy more than one flower crown!

16. 云南映象孔雀舞 Dynamic Yunnan

Ever seen dancer without bones? I believe I've seen one through this Peacock Dance in Dynamic Yunnan. It is an hour and a half dance performance which involve culture, singing, dancing and the elegance peacock dancer as part of the show. You don't have to sit so near to their stage, just choose the seats at the center and behind for a wider view of the overall show. My favourite performance is when a group of them did the "Mating Song 打歌（跳土风舞）".

17. 正宗过桥米线 Crossing Bridge Noodle

People say if you never eat 正宗过桥米线 Crossing Bridge Noodle before then you are not considered you've been to Kunming. I am impressed that they serve you a bowl of just-boiled noodle soup and you need to put in all the ingredients one by one to cook it. Do remember to place in the eggs and meat first as the soup might just cool down when you are still taking photos of this Kunming dishes.

18. 野菌火锅 Wild Mushroom Steamboat

It is my first time seeing steamboat with so much varieties of mushroom being cooked in one same hotpot. You will eat the mushrooms from the steamboat first before continue with other meat and vegetables. This is because your soup will full with all kinds of mushroom texture and it will taste great. If you are ordering meat, remember to order some beers.

19. Halal Restaurant in KunMing 昆明清真餐馆

At first I thought it was hard to find halal restaurant in Kunming but they are wrong. We went to a few halal restaurants and I highly recommend these two, 海湾九号 near Yunnan Nationalities Village and 燚炎寻甸私房菜. The second shop is more innovative and family with youngster will love their cooking.

20. 买手信鲜花饼香菇脆干花 Buy Kunming Souvenir Flower Biscuits, Air-dried Wild Mushroom

Kunming is the city of Spring, which means they have fresh flowers throughout the years. Hence souvenir like Fresh Flower Biscuit 鲜花饼 is a must. I got the Original flavours which made with rose petals and it tasted pretty good. There are tons of different brand there so just choose the one you light after you've tasted it; Another food to buy is this mushroom snack. Kunming has abundant of wild mushrooms hence this snack somehow tasted pretty good and I am sure your family and friends would love it too; Other than that, maybe you can buy dry flowers from the Kunming Flower Market or the ready made bouquet that can last for a very long time.

Since we were here in Kunming for only four days, it is actually not enough to explore the whole place. But I do hope that this post can somehow give you ideas on the itinerary and things to do in Kunming. For more future travel update like this, feel free to follow me on social media. This trip is in collaboration with of Airasia and Kunming Tourism. Check out #VacaywithAirasia #AirAsiaKunming on Instagram for more of our travel photos. It was fun traveling with bunch of friends who are into travel too!

Thank you AirAsia

Now anyone can fly with cheap Kunming tickets from AirAsia. The flight from Kuala Lumpur to Kunming itself take around 4 hours. Price starting from MYR 459 for round trip. You can always check out the flight with hotels combo promo on Expedia and AirAsiaGO.

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