Some western influence

The French Legation building, according to the guidebooks, 'you can't miss it, it's the most colorful building in Kunming. When I came upon it, I knew what it was. I think it is now a restaurant, I'm not sure. It was right next to the North entrance of Green Lake park.

A little European style cafe, this and many are popping up all over Kunming. There's a small chain of restaurants called, 'Mamafu' all over Kunming that serves both Chinese and Western food, with desserts like Cheesecake and gelato.

There's this European bakery where I spent a lot of my money everyday in Kunming. I needed a Western dessert everyday and a snack at night. It's pretty good.

One can't get away from these images wherever in the world we go. My first hotel in Kunming was pretty central and in a thoroughly modern development. I come down stairs to things like this, huge malls and American fast food chains. It's like never leaving home. Guess what? I did eat here once.

East meet West right smack in Kunming, the capital of Yunnan Province.

The old is there in the mix.

These are 'Hui' or Muslims. They are really Chinese, descendants of the Silk Road who has intermarry with local Han Chinese but still retained their Muslim faith. They are not Uighur. The 'Hui' speak Mandarin whereas Uighur don't.

A 24 hour McDonald's. Wow!

A thoroughly modern Kunming.

Tourism has brought in a lot of wealth. The airport in Kunming has flights to all major cities in China and Hong Kong is only a 2 hour flight away. There are flights from Kunming to some of the major cities in Asia. The majority of the tourists are from Asia, Taiwan, HongKong and other parts of China. There's just a sprinkle of Western tourists. While not speaking Mandarin may not be a hindrance in Beijing and Shanghai, it is definitely a problem here. Some survival Mandarin is needed especially for the independent traveler, or else you have to come with a tour group. I have trouble sometimes because all I speak is survival Mandarin. I met a girl from Spain traveling on her own. She spoke no Mandarin and she's been in China for 3 months and have managed.