Fuddland

We had more snowfall yesterday and the pavements and roads are still covered in icky dangerous ice and slush, and the novelty has long since worn off, so I’m upping sticks and getting out of here.

Tomorrow morning — snow permitting of course — I’m flying out to the warmer climes of the province of Yǜnnán (云南) in south-west China [just next door to Vietman], for what I hope will be a nice break from city life. I did have an unofficial self-imposed rule that I never wanted to fly domestically in China — I’d much prefer to take the cross-country train like I did to Sìchuān (四川) around this time last year — but having been actually laughed at by the man in the train ticket office when I enquired as to the chances of a booking this late in the day, I was pleased to find a pretty good deal online.

I’ll be landing in Kūnmíng (昆明), the capital of the province, but I’m not planning on spending more than one or possibly two nights there — just enough to get my bearings.

My first destination proper is a place called Yuányáng (元阳). You know that clichéd image you have in your brain of rural China: rice paddies tiered down hillsides in a valley that stretches off into the misty distance; farmers with ox-driven ploughs working the land — that sort of thing? That’s Yuányáng. It should be a lovely few weeks. Fingers crossed the snow doesn’t ruin everything!