In the hot summer, I was eager to find a cool world, and my eyes were locked on Yunnan, so I decided to take a trip to Yunnan. After getting off the plane at Kunming Airport, I rented a car and went to Haigeng Dam first. Parking is not allowed on the road next to the Haigeng Dam, and the car must be parked in the surrounding parking lot. I wanted to see red-billed gulls, but the season was wrong. In July, there were no birds in Dianchi Lake, only a pool of clear water.
Next, we went to Guandu Ancient Town, located in downtown Kunming. There are shops, temples, and a magnificent Vajra Pagoda in the ancient town.
Guandu Baba is a famous snack here, with many kinds of fillings. 3 yuan a piece, very cheap.
Leaving Guandu Ancient Town, arrived in Shilin County and stayed for one night. Visit the Stone Forest Scenic Area on the second day.
Park the car in the car parking lot by self-driving car, and then take the free battery car to the visitor center. Buy tickets and sightseeing tickets. It is recommended to buy a sightseeing car. It is 6 kilometers round trip from the visitor center to the actual scenic spot. There are no scenic spots on this road, and it is tiring to walk. The sightseeing car gets off at the Geological Museum. Tour groups generally do not go to this museum. Individual tourists can go in and have a look. There are many ores and paleontological fossils, which are still very meaningful.
From the museum, a few minutes walk is the Stone Forest Scenic Area. Generally, go to the big stone forest first, where there are scenic spots such as the magnificent stone forest and Zhu De's inscription.
Then enter the small stone forest, mainly Ashima attractions. Take a sightseeing car at the exit of Xiaoshilin, and get off directly at the car parking lot. If you only visit the large and small stone forest scenic spots, 2-3 hours is enough.
Leaving Stone Forest, drive to the Honghe State Museum in Mengzi City. Follow the navigation to enter the museum parking lot, only to find that the gate is closed, thinking it is not open. After calling and asking, I realized that this is the back door, and the main door is on the opposite side.
The museum has exhibitions about the history, ethnic groups, minerals, etc. of Honghe Prefecture.
The next stop is Jianshui Ancient City. This is an open scenic spot. It is free to enter the ancient city. There are some paid attractions, such as Confucian Temple and Zhujia Garden.
There is an ancient well in the ancient city of Jianshui, called Daban Well, with a diameter of 3 meters. It was built in the Ming Dynasty and is still one of the water sources for local residents. There are many tofu workshops near Gujing, which use well water to make tofu, and Jianshui tofu is famous far and wide.
Another famous scenic spot in Jianshui is the small train, which is a narrow-gauge train with a gauge of only one meter. Jianshui was called Lin'an in ancient times, and the starting station of the small train is Lin'an Station.
The small train stops at two stops, Shuanglong Bridge and Xianghui Bridge. Locally known as the Seventeen-Arch Bridge, Shuanglong Bridge is very long and has pavilions on it.
Xianghui Bridge has three bridge holes, and the entire bridge deck is covered by pavilions.
The small train stops at the two bridges for half an hour each, allowing tourists to get off and take pictures. The terminal station is Tuanshan Village, where the Tuanshan folk houses are a famous scenic spot. The train stops here for about 2 hours, and then returns to Lin'an Station, without stopping on the way back.
Tuanshan folk houses are a little different from other ancient cities. Many small scenic spots here are inhabited by local residents. Tourists can go in and visit, which is very original.