July 29, 2009 – Day 216 – Kunming, China

So we tried to go to the Bird & Flower Market but could not get to it. Then we tried to find a large outdoor outlet store but could not get to it. What is the trouble, you might ask? The trouble is that all maps in China are, hmm, how to put it—WRONG!

It would be like going to Berlin and trying to find your way around the city with a map of Paris. For some reason, it’s just like that here, except the map we are using in Kunming is actually for Kunming. Most of the problem stems from China’s massive infrastructure upgrades and constant building projects, so by the time a map is made it is already out of date. So after taking a few random city buses to try to get back where we came from, we just went to a huge city park (which tend to always be really nice and very well maintained since the people love their parks!) where we saw all sorts of strange sights.

Old people watching other old people playing cards, people of all ages Jazzercising or doing something resembling a western-Chinese mix of line dancing, other old people singing and playing strange looking musical instruments, people watching us as much as we were watching the Jazzercisers!

It was overall a pretty funny experience. We thought we were seeing some strange things and apparently so did the folks in the park, ha! But besides the massive amounts of people doing their various things in the giant park, there are a few scattered places to sit and relax but most of these are oriented more like bleachers for spectating than just sitting idly in the park.

One thing about Chinese people, they love to stare. Whether at you, the dance classes in the park or the guy washing the sign above a cafe, they will stare and typically not even flinch if you try to stare back to dissuade their original stares! It’s a strange world, this China.

Travel Tip:

You’re going to get lost in China—a lot. The signs, directions and maps are offensively illogical and don’t trust the directions on hostelworld either. You’re going to get lost but try not to worry! Just keep wandering around! You will find things that are on no one’s map and will never grace the pages of the guidebooks. These are the places that make travel special.