Kunming (昆明)
12 December 2019.
With both Yuanyang Rice terraces and the northern province of Ha Giang as my destinations this time, I decided on an overland route spanning 12 days from Kunming to Hanoi, and was glad to find out that find that there were transportation options connecting my desired destinations, leaving me with a convenient route down south into Vietnam without having to visit the same city twice. The start of this 12 day overland trip was particularly long and rough. I had booked an AirAsia flight with a 4 hour transit at Kuala Lumpur and would land at Kunming Changshui International Airport at nearly 0200 the next morning.
With my flight at 1635, I reached the airport early to collect StarHub’s Happy Roam SIM. Happy Roam works in most Asisn destinations with Vietnam unfortunately as one of its exceptions but I still purchased it as the Happy Roam package covers China and it would be much easier to purchase a local SIM once I cross over to Vietnam. The customer service officer helped with the APN settings and assured that the SIM would work once I got to my destination. Besides being able to utilise data roaming, I would also be able to make international calls. I tried turning on and sending online messages with the mobile data, it did work and was looking forward to use it during my upcoming mere 6 days in China, this SIM would come in handy compared to purchasing the relatively more expensive local Chinese SIM card especially with the recent laws which have made such purchases more complicated for foreigners.
All AirAsia flights depart from Changi Airport Terminal 4 and I had completed the online check in process from home and was ready to head to the departure fate with two boarding passes, one bound for Singapore – Kuala Lumpur and one bound for Kuala Lumpur – Kunming. I had double checked with ground staff if I needed to go through immigration at Kuala Lumpur – there was no need to as I already had my boarding pass printed for both flights. With more than an hour to spare, I circled around the souvenir shops in the departure hall admiring the varieties on display. Although relatively pricey at an average of $10 for keychains and pens, they are presented with designs that are not usually seen in local souvenir shops which somewhat explains heftier price tags.
Left: Boarding Air Asia flight, 1629 hr. Center: Kuala Lumpur International Airport 1755 hr.
Hunting for dinner whilst trying to get my overseas prepaid card to work. 1844 hr.
The flight to Kuala Lumpur was a brief one for about 35 minutes. Upon touching down in Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) at 1738, I followed the direction of the International Departures signboard, went through baggage security and was given the green light to proceed straight to the boarding gate. My flight to Kunming wasn’t until 2135 and there were plenty of restaurant options within the departure hall where I settled down for dinner. I would think that there are no water refill stations within the departure hall for I couldn’t find any drinking fountains but plastic cups of water are available for RM2 at almost all restaurants.
Fishball Kuay Teow. 1858 hr.
All whatsapp messages sent during my few hours in KLIA had an accompanying mini clock icon at the bottom, Happy Roam SIM card wasn’t working. With the free Airport Wifi, I tried to look for the solution online, even trying out the SIM on another spare phone as it would be impossible to find a WIFI connection for my Google phone once I reach Chinese airspace and even with my spare phone, I will not have Wifi connection once I leave the comforts of the Airport till I reach my first hostel. Nothing appeared to work by the time my flight for Kunming made its last boarding call and I had no choice but to hope that the Airport Wifi at Kunming would work with international phones. With all my plans laid out beforehand, I knew where to head and transportation to take for the next 12 days but nothing beats the assurance internet connection brings for both constant communication and route guidance. At the boarding gate, the officer noticed my one way ticket. “You have a return ticket from China, yes?” nodding his head as if in anticipation of a favourable answer. I nodded, and was about to explain that I had one all right but it was from Hanoi when he eagerly waved me on, instructing me to show it to the Chinese immigration officers once I land. While I was glad that he took my answer without asking to see evidence of my return flight, the saga I have read about airlines refusing the boarding of travellers with one way tickets became more real. Airlines are particular about such cases as it would be their responsibility to fly such travellers home if the country of travel refused them entry.
Air Asia Flight to Kunming. 2203 hr.
The four hour flight to Kunming Changshui International Airport had in flight WIFI which either did not work or I was not able to get it to work. I had the window seat and my neighbours were a friendly elderly couple but my attempt at a nap was disrupted by a lady sitting directly behind me who’d put up her knees against my seat when I tried to recline. She was in an extremely bad mood and after I tried for the third time, she burst out, “拜托 这里已经够窄了 你互相体谅一下好吗?!” (Mind you, this space is already crammed enough can you please try to understand?!) I looked around at everyone resting comfortably in their reclined seats, except the elderly couple beside me who sat upright throughout that whole flight. They looked back and said nothing. A Chinese man who sat beside this fiery lady also said nothing. The lady herself had a black face, her mouth unpleasantly twisted. Just my luck. Tempted to make a sarcastic remark but decided to hold it in, I adjusted my seat halfway down to make space for her supposed crammed knees and said nothing more. Throughout the four hours, the lady and the Chinese man watched shows on his mobile phones with shared earphones whilst I shifted uncomfortably almost every minute, wishing for the plane to land in the next second. The elderly couple beside me held up well in their upright seats and I tried to hold my exasperated self in, thinking about navigating the next day without instant online connection and little to no sleep. It later turned out that the elrderly couple beside me, the lady and the man behind me were all acquainted, which made sense why no one said anything previously.
13 December 2019.
Landing at Kunming Changshui International Airport at 0152 was smooth and I cleared immigration by 0230. There were a few Malaysian Chinese families on the flight and it was interesting to hear an automated voice instructing them to put their four fingers of each hand at the scanning machine in Malay. The instructions changed to English when my turn came. The officer asked how long I would be staying in China and with my reply of 6, he cleared me without requesting to see my proof of exit from China. It was a continuation of my long night as I exited the arrival hall into a small crowd of Chinese dealers asking if I needed a ride or a place to stay. There was no need to pre-book, if you didn’t mind the price and trust the dealer, you could easily get a place to spend the next few hours till daylight. I pushed past to see some travellers sleeping on chairs at the arrival floor but the sight of the departure floor was unexpectedly reassuring. Hundreds of travellers laid out in front of the check-in counters on thin pieces of cloth and more huddled over restaurant seats without interference from the staff. They seemed to have accepted that few customers would patronize their stall for refreshments in the middle of the night and allowed them to sleep in peace on their couches. I was in search of an Airport Capsule Hotel I had read about online on the departure floor which had 30 pods, each at 180 yuan for a night.
Landing at Kunming Changshuii International Airport. 0210 hr.
In search for the Airport Capsule Hotel. 0252 hr.
According to this information board, that capsule hotel is no longer in operation. Most hotels are within the outskirts of the Airport grounds, a short ride away but with only a few hours before daylight and the first city metro departing at 0620, I decided to rest at the seats of a Noodle restaurant in the midst of tens of sleeping individuals. The Airport Wifi required a Chinese Mobile Number for registration something I have encountered before and will have to dulely remember each time I come to China. Laying my head over my backpack, I managed about an hour of shut eye before throwing on my thermal wear in preparation for the 4 degree cold winds outside.
Resting Place for the rest of the night. 0306 hr.
It was 0500, the check in counters were already opened with surging crowds, a far cry from the snoozing travellers I had seen just two hours earlier. To get to Kunming City from the Airport for connecting train rides or other matters, online searches will tell you that there is an Airport Shuttle you can take for 25 Yuan but I decided on the Metro which would cost only 6 yuan. In future, for overnight rest at the Airport, besides restaurant seats, one can also head to Basement 3 where there are a lot of massage chairs where you can sit in for free if you do not want the machine operated massage service.
Queuing crowds before the day breaks. 0456 hr.
I decided to look for an information counter to ask about other ways to access the Airport WIFI to leave some messages before heading out, they might be opened by then if the flight check-in counters were already in operation. I was directed back to the Arrival Floor and before I could reach the information counter, I received a notification for a free 5 minute AIrport WIFI connection that did not require a Chinese number for registration. Strangely, that WIFI spot also worked on my Google phone. For some reason, I decided to ask about a SIM card and was shown to a convenience shop on the same floor that sold local SIM for 120 yuan. I was extremely surprised that I could actually purchase it with my passport so easily this time and asked the shopkeeper if I could also buy the local SIM at other provincial airports in China with the recent laws, unfortunately she wasn’t sure about that but stated that they sold local SIM here at Kunming’s Airport specifically for the convenience of international travellers. With the letdown of my Happy Roam, I purchased a local SIM which would go into my Chinese phone meant for the ease of travel in the Mainland. I had bought it second hand in Qinghai province when my spare phone was spoilt in a downpour. All the Chinese apps were already installed which makes it beneficial for travel within China but the downsides have been that it is unable to download instagram, Facebook or Google related applications. Chinese SIM cards are typically valid for three months and have a value of 100 RMB in them which is deducted when you make local calls and when your data usage exceeds 10 GB. If you would like to return to China and continue using this SIM, you will have to inform its Customer Service before leaving the country. For China Unicom, the hotline number is 10010. It might help in future to always check if local SIM can be bought at the Airports before heading out as with the government tightening up its control, it would be much more challenging to find dealers willing to sell cards to international passport holders.
The metro station is below the Arrival Floor, simply follow signs that state Metro Line 6. My destination was the Kunming Railway Station where I would be catching a late morning train to Jianshui and for a total of 6 yuan, it would be a 45 minute ride with three changes of Metro Lines (Line 6, Line 3 and Line 1). It was a bitter 4 degrees, skies were still dark but there were already plenty of people on the metro.
Metro Baggage Check. 0640hr.
Observed that the colour of the seats seem to be in accordance to the colour of the metro line. Line 3 train has pink seats.
Note: Upon arrival at 环城南路，change to line 1 by going to level B3 exiting the train and there will be the MRT to Kunming Railway station
Upon arriving at Kunming railway station at 0730, take Metro’s Exit A. A silent, empty station greeted me and for a moment I froze, wondering if I had gotten the right place. There were a few small breakfast and convenience shops opened beside the Railway Station and I asked one of the ladies who was washing dishes outside her stall. It turned out that the Railway Station was undergoing renovation and travellers had to make a huge roundabout detour to its entrance. That was easily a twenty minute walk and with my train to Jianshui at 1117, I had a lot of time to spare and decided to change my departure timing to an earlier timing.
Fenced up side of the Kunming Railway Station, 0736 hr.
Making a roundabout to the new entrance, which led me through neighborhoods. 0747 hr.
Something was amiss as I lined up in turn. I could not find the message from CTrip that states my ticket booking number (订单号). Usually, when you book a train ticket online on CTrip, they will send you an SMS immediately for you to show to the officer in order to retrieve your hardcopy train ticket for boarding. This time, I had assumed that the message was somewhere on my phone and did not bother to check until I needed it. I was about to begin my most unpleasant experience at the train ticketing counters in China thus far. All the ticketing counters are numbered, with each ticketing number serving specific types of customers. The first officer I lined up for informed me that tickets to Jianshui from Kunming usually do not have a booking number and if I wanted to change timing, I will need to approach the window that specially attends to such requests (改签). My fault for not lining up for the correct window, I accept. The next officer at this supposed correct window asked for my booking number. I repeated what the previous officer said to me. “What do you mean you don’t have a booking number? How am I supposed to check for you then? Go to the next counter and get your booking number.” I was sent to another counter which wrote down my booking number on a piece of paper, and I returned to the second counter for a change in train timing. The officer was about to process my request when she noticed that I had booked my ticket online with my Chinese name which was not reflected anywhere on my passport. Honestly, my fault and I had to pay by going through the hassle of approaching another ticketing window to refund my ticket (Ticket price of trains that have not departed can be refunded with an administration fee of 12 yuan) and to another window to repurchase my ticket. That was the problem. Long queues formed at those windows for ticket purchase and I had to wait for my turn patiently. It was 0830 and there was only one train to Jianshui before my scheduled departure time of 1117. That train leaves at 0900 and I had dim hopes of boarding it. With my local SIM, I was tempted to purchase the ticket online instead (was also wondered why the locals did not do that instead) but also knew that I would have to line up again just to retrieve the hardcopy ticket. I remained in line to purchase my ticket and after waiting for about 20 minutes, the saleslady at the ticket window suddenly pulled down the binds, leaving everyone waiting in exasperation. I had already been standing at these ticketing counters, being directed here and there for more than an hour and all I could do was to wait. Surely patience paid off, the binds pulled up again after 20 minutes, this time a different lady served us. Whilst one window open, the neighbouring windows pulled their binds and locals queueing unfortunate windows squeezed into us. They shoved many out of the queue with their bodies, eyes staring blankly ahead as if they did nothing wrong. It was soon my turn and I had the protection of the steel bars and was not displaced but those behind me were fighting for their original space in the queue with these inconsiderate locals who rushed over once their ticketing officer pulled down her binds. Everyone was anxious to buy tickets and it was extremely unfair to those who had been waiting patiently in line for our own ticketing lady had pulled the binds on us previously and we had waited through it. Fierce glares and shouts did nothing to deter them , it was maddening and unpleasant to see someone shamelessly putting themselves first at the expense of others. Alas, I was not in time for the 0900 train and repurchased the ticket for the 1117 departure, glad to be done with the whole process at long last. In future, make sure to receive the booking number from CTrip so that you would only need to queue at one window to retrieve the hardcopy train ticket upon arrival at the station.
Repositioned Entrance, 0752 hr. Bought my ticket at 0858 hr after a long process of refund and repurchase at the counters.
I made use of the in-built charging ports on the massage chairs of the Railway Station. It was a 40 minute phone charge for 3.99 yuan, payable by Alipay or Wechat Pay. Only one phone can be charged at one time.
Breakfast at 0908 hr.
Passengers awaiting departure at the massage chair area. 0928 hr.
I was one of the last few tens of passengers to get to the train platform, my allocated seat was in Carriage 2 which was a long walking distance away. A female attendant shouted from the doors for us to get on the train first and I jumped on board at Carriage 5. Indeed, the doors closed at 1116 so it would be better to get on the train first and then walk to your assigned carriage than to miss the train altogether. Chinese meal cabins are usually in Carriage 5 with food sets ranging from 45-68 RMB. My seat 20A alas, faced opposite from the direction of travel but honestly that was no bother at all as the Chinese Rail line is considerably quiet and stable,
Left Kunming south railway station at 1135 hr.
Reached Jianshui at 1314 hr.
Boarding the express train to Jianshui. 1112 hr.