Farewell China

Since I am leaving soon, and the preparations for departure will take up a lot of time in the next few days, this will be the last posting from China. Momentous, I know.
But my plans for the future are even more so: I'm going to get a job.
Aside from this astounding news though, there is not much to say. Living in Kunming has been an entirely different China experience from what I had expected. Kunming is nothing like the more official parts of China, Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Beijing. And for any of you who might be entertaining the idea of a vacation in the near future, I would like to suggest Kunming as a very promising location. Not only is this semi-tropical city the perfect size, but it also is close to many of the lesser known (but by no means inferior) sights of China. Kunming's relative invisibility on the world stage makes it a wonderful place to visit. Less tourism than other hot-spots in China, better weather, more diverse culture and experiences. Not only is Yunnan (the province of which Kunming is capital) home to many of the minorities in China, it also is home to some of the most stunning scenery too. You have the Himalaya in the northwest corner, the tropical forests in the south, three major rivers, geologic features such as the Stone Forest and an entire range of volcanoes, and there are others which I don't have time to name, and still others I have not yet discovered. So a trip to this locality is highly recommended.
And for those of you who may still doubt the modernization of southwest China, Kunming comes complete with running hot and cold water (although the hot water is somewhat fickle), paved roads, western restaurants which aren't half bad, an amazing bus system, and a fair number of wireless internet spots. Don't worry about all the developing nation stuff, China's cities are almost as developed as those in Europe and America.
So if you do find yourself in Kunming, make sure you stop by Wenhua Jie and visit the "foreigner street" which runs as a small alley between there and Yi-er-yi Street. There are several restaurants here worth visiting. First is Heavenly Manna which serves up delicious Sichuan food with lots of spice. Especially tasty is their Rubin which is fried goat cheese. You can find this stuff all over Yunnan, but Heavenly Manna's is especially delicious. Also good on this alley are Free Life (another Chinese/Sichuan style place) and of course Salvadors. Salvadors claims to be Kunming's premier coffee house. I don't know if I would go that far, but it is a nice place to spend some time. Their upstairs is especially comfortable and they have pretty good coffee for being in China. But the best coffee I found in Kunming is around the corner at Yunjoy Coffee which doesn't serve any food at all, but their coffees are definitely good. I particularly enjoyed their Americano. Also notable are French Cafe, Prague Cafe, and Chapter One. It is safe to say that these places would probably be nothing special in the US, but here they are the cream of the crop.
And if you find yourself in Kunming and are bored, I can recommend a trip out to the Stone Forest (Shi-ling) or a weekend trip up to Dali. For more adventurous trips I would suggest going south to Xixuanbanna where you can experience tropical rainforests complete with tigers and elephants (even if it is a little touristy now). Also notable is Tiger Leaping Gorge up in the northwest near Lijiang. I thought Lijiang itself was a tourist pit of hell, but Tiger Leaping Gorge was phenomenal--definitely worth the hike up there. And of course, getting to Tibet is not at all difficult when in Yunnan. There are both flights and trains which head up that way.
If you can't tell, I'm a big supporter of this area. It is far more interesting than Beijing or Shanghai, and there isn't' anywhere near as much pollution. If you are planning a trip to Europe or some other lame location like that, I say you should change all the plans and head down to Kunming. You would not regret it.
But enough of the tourism plugs. I will bid you all farewell from Kunming. There is still more to the story (I might even say that I have been living an illicit double life while here, half of which has not been able to be published on the web because of its illegal nature) but I will conclude it back in the safety of the States.