My first glimpse of China and its natural beauty after retirement

My friend thought I was crazy for taking a high-speed train, instead of a flight, from Shanghai to Kunming, Yunnan province, because a flight is both faster and cheaper than a high-speed train.

Having not been able to travel much in my own country in the past 16 years, during which time I was posted as a China Daily foreign correspondent in the US and the European Union, I know what I have missed. I have closely followed the rapid development in China from thousands of kilometers away, but now I get to experience them in person.

The ride on the 2,266-km Shanghai-Kunming high-speed rail was cut short by two hours on July 1 to about 9 hours and 30 minutes. The ride used to take more than 30 hours before China's high-speed trains began operating.

Compared with a flight, the train ride from Shanghai to Kunming allowed me to see the different terrains in Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Hunan and Guizhou provinces before reaching Yunnan.

The scenery, both urban and natural, that one enjoys from the train window, is well worth the long ride. Some cities along the route in Hunan and Guizhou are now on my next bucket list. The many train tunnels are truly engineering marvels, with the longest, 14.8-km Bibanpo tunnel, linking Guizhou and Yunnan being the highlight.

China's "lucid waters and lush mountains" campaign has started to pay dividends. I have not seen the dark smoke coming out of chimneys that I saw everywhere 16 years ago. But some farmers are still resorting to the traditional agricultural practice of straw burning in open fields despite government regulations banning or restricting such behaviors across the country. The pollution and health hazards caused by straw burning are widely known.

Kunming is a beautiful city and my favorite spots are two museums and historical sites. The National Southwestern Associated University was established by Peking University, Tsinghua University and Nankai University in 1937 following Imperial Japan's full-scale invasion of China. The Yunnan Military Academy, built in 1907, too, is amazing. Many graduates from the two schools have played vital roles in modern Chinese history.

It's impossible to see everything in Yunnan, roughly the size of Germany, during one visit. My plan now as a retiree includes finding a place to escape the unbearable hot and sultry summer of my home city Shanghai. The one on my mind was Dali, from where I am writing this column. This is my first visit to the place, and I am enjoying the view of the serene Erhai Lake and the gorgeous Cangshan Mountain from the window of my room.

Over the past two decades, Dali has become home to many foreigners and Chinese people from other places who are charmed by its beauty. Its old town is often more vibrant at night than in the daytime. A couple of my former colleagues have even purchased property here. One runs a bar, the other vacation rentals.

Business is not easy, according to the one who owns homestays on both sides of the lake, but his love for Dali has not diminished.

I don't know if I will end up in Dali, but I, too, have been charmed by its beauty. There are many more cities in Yunnan I intend to explore during this trip, including Lijiang and Shangri-La that I had visited 20 years ago. I had tried to visit Lugu Lake twice then, but failed both times because landslides had blocked the only road leading to the lake. I hope to be lucky this time.

My ancestral hometown is Fuding in Fujian province which is famous for its white tea. But my late father once told me that our ancestors actually moved from central China to Yunnan and then Fujian, all probably in the past 800 to 1,000 years. As such, I have an attachment with Yunnan in a certain sense.

The great thing about traveling in China today is that high-speed rails and highway systems have made once inaccessible places easily reachable. Car rentals are everywhere. And internet connection is great even in many small towns and villages.

The author is a China Daily columnist.