I was running out of ideas about where I could go for a holiday for a few weeks within China. I had heard a lot about Yunnan so I got myself a flight to Kunming and back and decided to make a plan once I got there.
One of my main requirements from the holiday was to escape the bedlam of Shanghai, to have some peace and quiet and to relax without the sound of car horns or announcements or being pushed and shoved around the place. I met a few people in Kunming who suggested I look at the rice terraces and so off I went to Jianshui from where I could get a bus.
3:30 hours after leaving Kunming we arrived in Jianshui and what a fantastic place it proved to be. It reminded me a little of Nanjing in that it clearly had history, with a huge city gate and many old houses. I struggled to find a hotel and eventually turned to a policeman for advice. I was surprised to find he didn’t actually speak Mandarin and had to get a colleague to speak to me in Putong hua. He generously offered to take me in his Police buggy to a nice hotel where I had the last room. I can recommend Li Nan Hotel on the main street.
I went for a walk around the old part of town in the evening and stumbled upon an extended family who was preparing a feast for some occasion I couldn’t understand. They made me sit down and insisted I join them in a fantastic old house which they told me was over 200 years old. I had to wait 50 minutes as they weren’t eating until 7pm and making conversation for all that time in my limited Chinese was very tiring. There was a lot of ‘ting bu dong’ (I don’t understand).
The food was great and as I left,
everyone waved and shook my hand. It’s heartwarming that there are such generous friendly and welcoming people around who take a complete
stranger into their home and feed them. I wonder how they would be treated if they had been snooping around the old houses of Oxfordshire or Gloucestershire. I can’t imagine they would have be greeted so warmly.
If you’re looking for a quiet escape, Jianshui is a great place. The town square is alive with action in the evening, so much going on. It’s a great place and somewhere I will return to.