Arrived Kunming from Dali wee hours of 24th morning and contemplated going back to the Carmellia hostel to get my clothings but changed my mind and took the next available morning train direct to Luoping（ 罗平）. That was a big mistake.....
Weather was wonderful in Kunming but as they say here: yunnan 'shiba guai' (云南十八怪),
Luoping was drizzling and freezing cold!! I left my thick clothings in Carmellia Hostel before leaving for Dali ‘cos Dali wasn't cold and Luoping was not expected to be. It was supposed to be the sunshine clear weather season and the rapeseed (油菜花) fields are supposed to be at their most beautiful, best amongst the country, golden with full bloom and sunshine. As such, the town was flooded with many people who had come to seek the famed flower fields and even though the rooms there all do not hv heating service i had difficulty getting a decent room at an affordable price. Had to make do with whatever price i could bargain to for whatever room they had left to spare me. And it was a damp and cold room with no electric blanket but at least there was enough hot water for a bath (the heater runs on solar and the skies then weren't too keen to supply the solar energy) Sigh! as long as i get to see the beautiful flowers, i'm ok lah, i told myself....
i was told they had held the Rapeseed Flowers Festival (油菜花节) for consecutively 8yrs and this is the first yr the weather turned gloomy, in the past, it's bright n sunny !
Well, the rain didn't stop the next day still and i decided to waste no more time, took the bus to '金鸡岭' (Jinji Ling) to see the famous fields. The rapeseed flowers (油菜花) were really really astonishingly beautiful. It cheers me up just looking at them when i was on the bus from Kunming to Luoping.
Think: acres and acres of land all filled with bright yellow(golden in sunlight) blooms of the flowers, it's like 'hong tu di'(红土地) in Dongchuan except it's less terraced-like and not as multi-coloured though there are also blooms of other flowers; would really be very very pretty in sunshine had it been clear weather, nonetheless, they were still beautiful, in a sad way on a cold rainy day.....
i cut the stay there by one day 'cos i really couldn't tahan the cold(10deg & below), eventually only did the Nine Dragons Waterfalls (九龙瀑布群）, which is worth the 60yuan entry fee (was 30yuan last Sep). The several falls at different altitudes were quite impressive though they were not the most spectacular ones in China. The view from the higher vantage points ovelooking the river and the rape seed fields was worth the climb up the slippery and wet path.
Didn't do the river rafting trip down the supposedly very scenic 'duo yi' river (多依河), didn't visit the 'Buyi' tribe(布衣族) too but saw their villages around the waterfall, maybe next time.
Dinner was at a shop in town that supposedly sold claypot rice but turned out to be more like a Korean cuisine with rice served in a claypot accompanied by a course of about 8 to 10 small dishes of what looked similar to those served in a Korean meal...no complaints 'cos it was delicious and cheap. (15RMB for whole course)
Click for Luoping Slideshow
Back to Kunming
Kunming was bright n sunny again. Really like the Camellia Hostel. They should be a model for all other hostels in China. Stayed with a Korean nun one night and another with a China lady looking for job in Kunming, strange guests. Went to Xinhua Bookstore n found they have v good guide books on Vietnam, taiwan n HongKong but i couldn't carry so many things lah so i just bought the Yunnan guide. Went back to the City Cafe but the cute waiter no more there, :(
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