Yunnan used to be a province for banished Chinese officials but now it's considered to be one of China's gems because of the natural beauty and history here.  It's also home to more than half of the country's ethnic minority groups and is one of the places closest to Tibet that you can get to without actually entering the region.  While Sean and I really wanted to go to Tibet it can be tricky for foreigners to get in, it requires a lot of paperwork, you have to go with a group and it can be quite expensive.  Yunnan is a popular alternative.  While we have been here we have seen a lot of Chinese travelers and many Western ones as well who have simply continued on up on the 'banana pancake' trail from Vietnam.

We flew into Kunming, a very laid-back city of about one million, where the climate is about perfect all year round.  We've enjoyed hanging out here as there are a lot of parks, trees and plenty of places to walk without motorbikes or cars.  One of the places we walked to was the Tang-Dynasty Pagodas which were both in quiet parks filled with Chinese grandmas and grandpas looking after chubby babies, drinking tea and practicing Tai Chi.

After that we headed to Green Lake Park which was a huge area filled with ponds, walking paths, cafes, tea houses and street performers.  The weather was cool and dry and it was a great evening for walking around.  When we got back to the hostel we booked an overnight bus to Shang-Ri-La for the next night and spent the rest of the night playing cards (Cribbage and Rummy) and relaxing over some Beer Laos and spring rolls.  Sean specifically said that this trip he didn't want to stress out and try to see too much so we are trying to slow things down a bit and take it easy.  So far so good!