Kunming is a large city in south central China. It was a 2-hour flight from Guilin. Western tourists were apparently less regular here: we were stared at more than any place else on our trip. Seemed really odd when we later learned there are Five WalMart Super Centers in the city. Oh, well. The people were still very friendly, as everywhere else.

Kunming area was famous in WWII for the activity of the Flying Tigers. It was also the terminus for airlift flights over the Himilayas to break the Japanese blockade of China. I think that history helps explain a bit more of the western influence. Our guide here also said completion was near of direct highways to Hanoi, and India (I think.)

	This is the scene from our bus, going past the main train station in Kunming. Rail travel is still very much in use in China. One of our waitresses here was from Mongolia; she said it was a three-day trip by rail back home to visit, so she didn't go very often.
	Vehicular traffic was less here, too, as shown in this typical night scene. Still, bright lights of a big city.
	Scooter and motor cycles were plentiful. This may seem congested, but it's really pretty light compared to Beijing and many other places we visited.
	One excursion was to Western Hill where we took a cable chair lift to the top of the Hill. This from the trip, about half way up. Most of the haze here was actually just himidity; a welcome change from other more motorized cities where the vista was cut by smog.
	On the way down, we stopped at several shrines. At this one, everyone had to rub the "dragon ball" for good luck. That's Linda and Jim getting their share of the good fortune.
	According to the legend, the mother cow was slated to be sacrificed. The calf distracted the farmer, and hid his knife. When he discovered the intervention, the farmer became a vegeterian, and later erected this shrine to mother and calf.
	A typical shrine. I didn't keep any notes about the various statues. At several, there was insense burning, brought by pilgrims of sorts.
	We also went to a cultural museum. These are the masks of the local people.
	Just an interesting rock in the musuem.
	A typical lunch, yet again. Notice the typical drinks in bottles, too. This is at the end of the meal, so you can see we always had plenty to eat. The soup here was not to the liking of many at the table.
	Fruit vendor outside the Stone Forest Park. This just seemed colorful. Our guide had us planned to arrive early, just after the Park opened, so the traffic was pretty light, so far. Still, it was mid-week, and perhaps even the local tour traffic was down.
	Entering the Stone Forest--a bit of a different kind of the "karst" outcroppings, similar to the Li River trip.
	View from atop the highest observation platform in the Stone Forest. The area is an international heritage site, so protected from distruction.
	Our group taking a rest, and awaiting a dance exhibition by the local people. We had to wait a few minutes for the 72-hour hold on all entertainments passed, to honor the memory of the earthquake victims. The mourning period ended at the time of the quake, 2:27 local time.
	We were told that this was one of the first western restaurant outlets to hit China. From market penetration, that seemed to be true.
	Of course, another western influence was evident. I spoke with a fellow in Beijing on my search for Olympic Park, and he acknowledged the younger generation really liked the western foods. Truthfully, we all made it through the trip without the urge to have a big mac, or fries. So, I can't say whether the flavors or even the menu was the same. (Only now do I realize I didn't even take a picture of the menu in either KFC or McDonald's.)  We did use toilets in several franchise buildings, relying on some uniformity for that little luxury.
	I have many more pictures of the stone forest, but have to sort through them a bit more.