Things To Do in Kunming & Kunming Changshui Airport Layover Ideas

With a history of more than 1,200 years, Yuantong Temple is the grandest and most important Buddhist temple in Yunnan Province. King Yimouxun of the Nanzhao Kingdom built the temple in late eighth century. Unlike all other Buddhist temples, you enter Yuantong Temple from above and descend along a gently sloping garden path. The temple complex is built around Yuantong Hall, which is surrounded by a very large pond. A delicate stone bridge with an elegant octagonal pavilion stands in the centre. Sakymuni, Amitabha and the Medicine Buddha, all Yuan Dynasty statues, are found in the main hall. The surrounding 500 Buddhist Arhats which are carved in the walls are noted for their perfect proportions and lively appearances. Also in this temple hall are two ten meter high pillars from the Ming Dynasty. Outside, on each side of the main hall, there are stone staircases carved out of the mountainside and wind their way to the top of the hill. From the top of the stairs, there is a terrific panoramic view of the entire complex. Yuantong Temple is a real working temple. Buddhists from many different countries come here on pilgrimages to pay homage. The Buddhist Association of Yunnan Province is also located here, making it a center of Buddhism in Yunnan.

The Yunnan University Wu Mayao Museum of Anthropology is a fascinating museum with an impressive collection of minority and Han artifacts from around Yunnan. Highlights include painted wooden torso armor of the Yi people, fearsome warriors of a traditionally caste society who historically controlled the mountainous region between Sichuan and Yunnan and whose queen was instrumental in negotiating the entry in to Yunnan of the Mongol Horde at the dawn of the Yuan Dynasty, ushering in the first real period of Han control thus beginning the widespread Sinification in Yunnan province. Unfortunately the showy modern glass presentation makes photography of some artifacts rather difficult.

Anybody interested in Yunnan's animals through the ages could spend a couple of hours in here. The Kunming Zoology Museumis adjacent to and shares a compound with a university science campus. The exhibits are arranged on five floors starting with dinosours, fossils and skeletons on the ground floor and working up to a tropical rain forest replica on the uppermost floor. There are sections with preserved fish and amphibians, stuffed animals and preserved insects. The exhibits seem to concentrate on creatures that are, or were, to be found in Yunnan. Most exhibits are labelled in English and Chinese but the longer explanations and information boards are generally Chinese only. Overall it is a pleasant, clean, museum with the exhibits well presented and usually well lit. It is not really an interactive museum; there is plenty to point at and peer at but not much to do.

The Yunnan Railway Museum is a smallish museum dedicated to the various narrow gauge railways constructed to link Yunnan with other places. These railways were brought into existence principally through French-Chinese collaboration but the equipment originated in various countries. The museum is in two sections: The first contains maps, documents, models, information boards and small artifacts. The information boards and artifact labels are generally in Chinese and English, but many of the copies of original documents and annotated drawings are in French and Chinese. The second section of the museum houses various locomotives and rolling stock. Non-commercial photography is permitted but, as both sections of the museum are poorly lit, a tripod might be useful. Railway enthusiasts can probably browse contentedly for an hour or two but small children and people with no interest in history or railways might find 15 minutes to be more than long enough.

If cute little puppy dogs, live crickets, birds, live bird food, tortoises and other things creepy, crawly and/or fluffy is your thing then it is here to be had ... along with a few flowers and a great many trinkets. The maarket is centrally located, and the most obvious stalls begin where Wuyi Road meets Dongfeng West Road.

Green Lake Park is a pleasant, smallish expanse of park and lake that serves as a mellow hang-out. Musicians sometimes practice along the paths. Plenty of goldfish and lotus plants can be seen. In the mornings it is a popular place for people to perform their morning exercises. Many people feed the birds or photograph them as they swoop past to catch the thrown food. There are a number of restaurants and tea shops near the lake and the northern edge is close to Wenlin Street where there are many restaurants.

The Stone Forest is a UNESCO World Heritage site of remarkable Karst geography, and one of the world’s most spectacular examples of humid tropical to subtropical karst landscapes. The stone forests of Shilin are considered superlative natural phenomena and a world reference with a wider range of pinnacle shapes than other karst landscapes with pinnacles, and a higher diversity of shapes and changing colours. Located 2 hours by bus from Kunming, but there is plenty to see (even you've never heard the word karst before!) and have a long layover. Consider taking a tour for this one.