Kunming's eternal spring

[Photo by Erik Nilsson/China Daily]

DAY 2: Dian ancient town

Traditional wooden boats glide across Dianchi Lake from Ancient Kunming Wetland Park－a snarl of land bridges that trace the outlines of dozens of pools bristling with reeds, lily pads and blossoms.

Two-dozen swamplands suction water from Dianchi's shoreline. Pathways and boardwalks offer strolls and cycling.

The wetlands run the gamut from bogs to beaches. That includes the sandy lakeshore that locals half-jokingly call "Kunming's Maldives".

Visitors can fish and barbecue their catches.

? Yunnan Nationalities Village

Traditional houses, customs and ethnically unique items, ranging from the sacred to the everyday, portray the social lives of the country's 56 ethnic groups in the capital of the country's most diverse province.

Performances often become interactive when visitors are invited to try the "bamboo dance"－which is like a moving obstacle course, as you must skip through rows of poles that are clacked together in sync with the music's rhythm. Or guests may join Tibetan circle dances, which are less ankle-stinging yet still require fancy footwork.

? Douhan Flower Market

Lilies. Lotuses. Chrysanthemums.

Asia's largest flower market is sensory overload－in a good way. Douban is indeed an eyeful and a nose-full, made vibrant and fragrant by the 10 million blooms it deals in daily.

Kunming is indeed an Eden in the botanical sense.

Douhan claims to command 70 percent of the nation's floral market. Visitors can buy not only fresh and dried bouquets, and potted plants ranging from succulents to bonsai, but also natural essential oils, edible goods and soaps.

The market operates 24 hours and is busiest after 10 pm.

It's worth visiting just to take a moment to stop and smell the ... you know.