A time for discovery

HOT|YUNNAN

Revelling in eternal, gentle spring

Weather is a big plus that adds to Yunnan province's value as a Spring Festival destination. Average winter temperatures range from 10 to 20 C throughout the southwestern province, and are expected to hover between 16 and 26 C in the Honghe Hani and Yi autonomous prefecture during the first days of Chinese New Year.

Arrivals typically start their travels from the provincial capital, Kunming, known as the "City of Eternal Spring". You can snap photos of black-headed gulls at Haigeng Dam, against the backdrop of the Western Hills. These prominences are also known as the "Sleeping Beauty Hills" because their peaks create the contour of a woman lying beside Dianchi Lake, the silhouette of her upturned face traced by the summits, and the slopes resembling her hair cascading into the water.

Tourists can explore Guandu Ancient Town and Dounan Flower Market, where they can not only buy but also eat the blooms, as restaurants in the neighborhood serve edible blossoms with many dishes.

Travelers can then head to Honghe's Mile city to tour the Dongfengyun Art Town's redbrick buildings, stroll through Taipinghu Forest Park's tulip fields and literally reflect on life in Honghe Water Town, where the lake's surface ripples with inverted projections of street scenes.

From Mile, you can continue to the prefecture's Jianshui to stroll through the Zhu Family Garden and absorb its regional horticultural ambiance, visit the ancient city and hop aboard the narrow-gauge rail to view pastoral scenery.

About 45 minutes from Jianshui in Honghe is Shiping, where you can visit the ancient city's lively Guanyin Temple Alley, the noted scholar and historian Yuan Jiagu's former residence, and Yilong Lake.

Here, in the province where the capital is the "City of Eternal Spring", the festival finds its ideal temperate zone — a climate of celebration that's perpetually mild and vibrant in a land that always embodies gentle renewal.