And... we're off. I started my four weeks of wandering/sightseeing by joining a tour made up primarily of retired Singaporeans -- an aunt and uncle, some of their good friends, and then a bunch of other friends-of-friends. Apart from the various tour guides, I was probably the youngest by a couple decades, but they were good fun, and everyone made it through the various exertions (stair-climbing, path-trekking) in good spirits. And let's face it, it just meant I could drink my old-lady hot water without anyone making fun of me. Sadly, none of them played bridge.
We started off easy, in Kunming, the capital of Yunnan province. It's an easy transition to the rest of Yunnan because it's still a big city, and the elevation isn't too high (almost everyone on the tour took some kind of altitude-sickness precautions, of either the Western- or Eastern-medicine variety, when we started up into the mountains). However, the air is markedly fresher than in Shanghai (which is, in turn, better than Beijing and many other large cities), and the sun stronger. Hats, sun visors, and sunscreen were plenty in evidence.
Kunming is known for a huge flower market. Nowadays it's not restricted to flowers; they also sell soaps and perfumes made from flowers, and lots of other trinkets, candies, CDs, etc. But it's the flowers that are the big draw -- because of Kunming's particular geographic circumstances, the city is said to have springlike weather year-round (most people need neither heat nor air conditioning in their houses, and many of the buildings are equipped with solar panels to take advantage of the sun's intensity), which means that flowers can bloom at any time. And do. I asked around at the flower market, and while I'm sure there's room for some negotiation, a dozen roses (in good condition) on that day would have run me approximately... US$2. No word on the markup for Valentine's Day.
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