Philouise’s Weblog

Traveling through a thousand tunnels to the Spring City: from Guangzhou to Kunming

Philian Louise C. Weygan (July 15,2009)

A similarity of Yunnan and the Cordillera is the presence of tribal groups and of mountains. According to general information there are 25 tribes in Yunnan. If Baguio is the summer capital of the country because of it’s temperate climate; Kunming , the capital of Yunnan is called the “Spring City” or the “City of Eternal Spring” because of its year-round temperate climate. This city was our destination in a recent trip to China. We stayed in Camella Hotel along the Dong Feng Road where the business district is located, a mixture of the old and the new bustling commercial center.

Recently, Kunming’s economic authorities became active participants in the Greater Mekong Sub region (GMS), promoting trade throughout China, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam. As part of the overall infrastructure network, road links Kunming and Laos forming part of a transnational highway that will eventually link Yunnan with Thailand. Projects such as these and the Pan-Asian Railway, due for completion, links Kunming to Singapore via Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, with a total length of 5,600 km of rail line.

Trains from Kunming to: Beijing (daily; 48 hr); Chengdu (3 daily; 18-21 hr); Chongqing (2 daily; 23 hr); Guangzhou (2 daily; 26hr); Guilin (2 daily; 30 hr); Guiyang (5 daily; 12 hr); Hanoi (daily; 28 hr); Hekou (1 daily; 16 hr); Kaiyuan (2 daily; 8 hr); Nanning (daily; 20 hr); Panzhihua (3 daily; 6 hr); Shanghai (2 daily; 60 hr); Xiaguan (daily; 8 hr); Xichang (3 daily; 12 hr). (Wikipedia)

We took the coach ride from Zhuhai to Guangzhou and then the evening train to Kunming. It was a 26 hour train ride and the next week we took the same route on a day trip which took 24 hours. The trips were eventful and provided time to think and pray during those long trips. Bus stations are located a few meters from the railway station. They maintain at least two stations, one for the long distance bus and one for local city bus. We traveled numerous tunnels carved from the bowels of the hills and the mountains, over rivers and lakes, over valleys and mountains. Railways were protected with massive mountain engineering techniques, preventing erosion and the like.

The trains are kept clean with an attendant assigned in each compartment. They have a soft sleeper compartment with 4 berth in each cabin, hard sleeper with 6 berth and the sitting cabins. Toilets, lavatories and smoking areas are provided in each compartment. There is a small restaurant where people can go eat during meal times. At the same time, trolleys of food and fruits pass through the compartments at certain times.

Trains are air conditioned so it sometimes worries me because we have people coughing, throwing out phlegm, and sneezing very often. So when the train stops in certain stations, I would take a few minutes outside to breath fresh air.

My travel companion is Letty A., an English teacher  in Xiamen. The long travel hours were hearing different languages spoken but they speak Mandarin as it is being taught in schools. Likewise, English is taught for at least 7 years until they reach grade nine. At one of those rides we meet Ms Wang who teaches Mandarin as a second language in a college in Lijiang. She teaches foreigners as well as Chinese teachers from different provinces of China. She comes from Hainan province. We met a Canadian English teacher in Kunming going to Hongkong to renew his visa. At one time Water Engineers who graduated Water Engineering from Yunnan University were on their way to Guangdong  because they got a job helping build railways. When they said that I was wondering what was the connection, then I realized that the railways pass through rivers, mountains and valleys, so surely Water Engineers are needed when railways pass over water. We had limited conversation as they don’t speak English and I don’t speak any Chinese language. Every once in a while someone is there to be the translator. At one time there were two ladies, Michele and Cathy (their English names) taking media studies in UK did the translation for us.

I was informed that apples were grown in the north, the pears were grown in the southwest and the oranges in the south. The trains transport them around the country and also found themselves shipped in other countries, the Philippines included. Aside from people, trains transport produce, construction materials, animals, planting materials and all sorts of items.

The changing landscape seen through the train ride gave an interesting show of the Yunnan and Guangdong provinces . They practice mixed cropping where a slope of a mountain or a patch of the valley would have three or more crops in small fields. Mixing sunflower and  corn seems to be common in this part of the country. Two and three storey agriculture is also practiced, products underneath the trees. Cluster of houses and building form villages and towns in parts of the region. It is breathtaking seeing mounds of hills kept intact surrounded by agricultural farms. Similarly there were rock formations preserved as the flat grounds around them are fields and farms.

Train rides link places, link people in the train, and link stories of the place, and the people in the trains.