On the 15th, I was off to spend five days in Chengdu, via "Lucky Airlines" (story and tips within). Lots to do in and around Chengdu: Wenshu Monastery, an Irish Pub, the Giant Panda Research Base, Wuhou Temple, Qingyanggong Tao Temple, Du Fu's Thatched Cottage, Songxiau Antique District, the Sichuan Opera, Chunxi road, and Leshan (the big Buddha).

Kunming is a very nice as big cities go. It's nickname is the "Spring City" because of its temperate weather and vegetation. It’s the capitol of the Yunnan province, and the population is about 4 million, with 1 million of that being in the urban area (spread out quite a bit). It sits at about 6200 feet above sea level and is surrounded on three sides by mountains and on the fourth by the very large Lake Dianchi. It is the Northern end of the famous Burma Road, and as a result was the HQ for the American Flying Tigers in WWII. Kunming's economy is ranked 12th among Chinese cities. Kunming definitely has a something that other big Chinese cities lack.