The writer (third from right) with his family visiting a beautiful mosque in Dali. — Photos: Dr MOHD FAIZAL SIKKANDAR
My family and I went on a holiday to Kunming in the Yunnan Province earlier this year.
China has always been on my mind as a travel destination, ever since my wife and I went on a holiday to Beijing about 15 years ago. This time around, there were eight of us on the trip – we took our two sons, my parents and my in-laws.
We contacted a tour operator based in Kunming prior to our travels, where we put in our request for a Muslim-friendly tour, and included some places that we really wanted to check out. From there, the tour guide crafted our itinerary.
The writer (third from right) with his family at the Kunming Changsui International Airport.
After a four-hour direct flight from Kuala Lumpur to Kunming, we arrived at the Kunming Changsui International Airport. The air was cool as the airport is located in a mountainous area, about 2,000m above sea level.
Our guide picked us up and we headed to the city, driving past tree-lined streets and lively marketplaces. Kunming is known as the City of Eternal Spring due to its year-round pleasant climate. In the summer, it gets a little warm but never too hot, while winter brings a nice, cool chill that’s manageable with just an extra layer of clothing.
One of the places we visited was the Stone Forest, also known as Shilin. This tourist site was packed with more locals than foreign tourists, who mostly checked out the magnificent limestone rock formation. Surrounding these rocks were beautiful gardens, lakes and ponds.
The tour group with restaurant workers outside a halal restaurant in Lijiang.
We then went to Dali, a city which looks like a beautiful postcard that came to life. Snow-capped mountains framed clear blue skies, looming over the beautiful Erhai Lake. From afar, the famous Three Pagodas stood tall and proud, like ancient sentinels.
My teenage boys took about 200 selfies in under 10 minutes (in this city alone!) while the rest of us quietly enjoyed the amazing scenery.
We then went to Lijiang, just a little further out of Kunming. The cobblestone streets and wooden houses in the Old Town, designated as a Unesco World Heritage Site, looked like they hadn’t changed in centuries.
The air smelled of delicious grilled lamb skewers, and we tried our best to “ignore” it while listening to our tour guide explaining about the local Naxi cultures and traditions.
We made our way to the Jade Snow Mountain and marvelled at the many scenic sights, like the famous Tiger Leaping Gorge. This is a canyon located along a tributary of the Yangtze River, the third longest river in the world. Legend has it that this site got its name from a tiger that escaped hunters by jumping across the river at its narrowest point.
The writer’s son sitting on a white yak, while its carer sings a local song.
Another place we went to was the Shangri-La, located over 3,000m high. The air was thin here, but we came prepared with a few cannisters of oxygen which we had bought earlier in the city.
There was a friendly yak just grazing near a shimmering lake. We took some photos with the yak (you need to pay for this, and the price depends on which services you ask for), and its carer sang us a local folk song.
By the time we flew back to KL, we had eaten our weight in dumplings and noodles, mastered the art of slow walking with our senior family members, and learned that China’s Yunnan Province has a way of stealing hearts without us even noticing.
Our aim to visit China’s Muslim heritage in Yunnan was finally met, though I’m sure there is much more to see and learn in other regions. The beautiful mosques we visited and the friendly faces that greeted us, are treasure troves that we will hold dear for a long time to come.
It felt good to be finally back home, with suitcases full of tea and hearts full of memories. As I slowly unpacked, I thought about the words of one of our guides: “The three prerequisites to travelling are time, health and money.” Indeed.
The views expressed are entirely the writer’s own.
