Kunming, the capital of Yunnan, is the spring city — at 1,890 metres on the high plateau of southwest China, it has a climate of mild winters, cool summers, and almost permanent sunshine. For most travellers it is a way-station on the route into Yunnan proper: north to the Bai and Naxi towns of Dali and Lijiang, south to the tropics of Xishuangbanna. It deserves more than a single day in passing.
The historic centre runs from the willow-shaded canals of Cuihu Park down to the rebuilt Jinma Biji archways at the heart of the old town. Yunnan University and the small foreign-friendly quarter around Wenlin Street sit at the northern end of this axis; the surviving Tang-dynasty pagodas, a French-built railway station, and the new Yunnan Provincial Museum mark different points further out. The Western Hills rise straight out of the western shore of Dianchi Lake, with the Dragon Gate carved into their cliff face, and offer the best urban view in the city.
Beyond Kunming itself, the spectacular landscapes that have made Yunnan famous start within an easy day's reach. The Stone Forest of weathered limestone pinnacles is 90 kilometres east; the Jiuxiang caves a little further. The Bamboo Temple's 500 luohan statues — the masterpiece of late-Qing temple sculpture in China — sit in the hills just outside the city. Even within the centre, the cuisine alone justifies the stop: this is the place to eat crossing-the-bridge rice noodles, wild-mushroom hotpot, and the steam-pot chicken of southwest China.